NEAR WEST SIDE — Film in Chicago is booming, generating a record $184 million in spending in 2012, Gov. Pat Quinn said Friday on the set of “Divergent,” the largest feature film ever to be shot in the state.
“We have a world-class sound stage and studio right here. One of the very best in the United States, indeed the world,” Quinn said at Cinespace Chicago Film Studios, 2621 W. 15th Place.
The film, starring Shailene Woodley and Kate Winslet, began filming at Cinespace in early April. The production is expected to spend more than $30 million in Illinois and create 1,000 jobs.
In 2011, Quinn signed a 10-year extension of the Illinois Film Tax Credit, which gives tax breaks to production companies that film in the state.
The state also contributed $5 million from the Illinois Jobs Now! capital improvement plan to help construction at Cinespace Studios, which opened in May 2011.
Based on a novel — the first of a series of three books — by Northwestern graduate Veronica Roth, “Divergent” is a science-fiction action film set in a future dystopian version of Chicago.
Summit Entertainment — also responsible for the "Twilight" saga and "Hunger Games" franchise — is producing “Divergent” and bought the rights to Roth’s book before it was published in 2011.
The film is set for release March 21, 2014, according to the Internet Movie Database.
Cinespace sits in the ward of Ald. Jason Ervin (28th), who was also at the conference.
“We’re just glad to be a part of this record-breaking last year for the film industry, the City of Chicago and also, for the West Side,” Ervin said. “We’ve seen great productions come here, and we hope that they will stay here, and I’m looking very forward to seeing the final product.”
