CHICAGO — The film business in Chicago is booming, city officials said.
The number of film projects jumped 25 percent from 2015 to 2016, city officials announced.
There were 4,168 completed film permits issued by the city in 2016 — up from just 1,622 a year before, according to a DNAinfo analysis of city data.
Approximately 430 projects filmed in Chicago during 2016, city officials said.
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More than 1,600 of last year's permits were connected to four shows produced by Dick Wolf: "Chicago Fire," "Chicago P.D.," "Chicago Med" and "Chicago Justice," according to city data. (Wolf once described Chicago jokingly as "a cleaner, politer New York with slightly heavier people.")
The 2,339 film production days in Chicago translated into $499 million in spending — 51 percent more than in 2015 — and approximately 13,400 jobs, excluding extras, city officials said.
The Chicago film boom is due in part to a 30 percent state tax credit, city officials said.
Nine television series filmed across the city full time in 2016, and another two series filmed part of the time in Chicago, city officials said.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office estimates that, on average, a single season of one network television series spends $30 million to $40 million locally and hires between 250 to 400 people.
In a 2015 interview with the Wall Street Journal, Emanuel described a meeting with Wolf at City Hall about filming here. "I'm going to make sure you see us as a partner in the success of your shows rather than as a problem," the mayor said he told Wolf.
Emanuel said he expedited permits and street closures. "I've made that our calling card — when it's a movie or a show, specifically Dick's, we're going to beat New York on service," the mayor said.
