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The Lake County Board of Commissioners gave a Fox television crew permission to use the third floor of the Superior Court in Gary, Indiana to shoot the "Untitled David Elliot and Danny Strong Pilot."

The group is shooting a one-hour legal drama, said Matthew Iammarino, a location scout for the production, and scouted 50 locations in Chicago before settling on the Gary courthouse. Iammarino said the show is based in Chicago even though the court scenes would be done in Gary.

Commissioner Michael Repay, D-Hammond, said he doesn't know of any major production companies that have sought to use county buildings for filming but has gotten requests from attorneys wanting to use the facilities for TV commercials or mock trials.

Repay said the county's buildings have potential.

"We've got a lot of neat structures," Repay said.

Commissioner Kyle Allen Sr., said the old courthouses in Hammond and Gary have some good architectural features. ... See MoreSee Less

21 hours ago

Fox to film pilot episode of new legal drama at Gary courthouse

chicagotribune.com

A Fox production crew will take over the Gary courthouse for two days next week to film the "Untitled David Elliot and Danny Strong Pilot."

A nice round-number anniversary is usually ideal when it comes to posting #TBT articles tied to specific dates - but in this case, we can make an exception. March marked the 46th anniversary of the release of The Godfather.

The 46th anniversary? What sort of random statistic is that? Well, when the work of cinematic genius in question is The Godfather, it may be wise not to ask awkward questions, lest they result in you being made an offer you can't refuse.

From Vito Corleone's home base in Staten Island to his roots in Forza d'Agro in Sicily, here are seven filming locations from the celebrated trilogy. ... See MoreSee Less

2 days ago

The real locations from the Godfather, from New York to Sicily

telegraph.co.uk

A nice round-number anniversary is usually ideal when it comes to writing travel articles tied to specific dates - but in this case, we can make an ex...

The building boom across Southern California has revitalized neighborhoods and brought new prosperity to the region. Downtown Los Angeles, especially, has benefited from the rise of new office buildings, multi-purpose structures, places to live and things to do.

One business, however, hasn’t exactly been positively impacted by a decade of gentrification. Movies and TV shows that used to count on Downtown L.A. for locations that looked like older urban areas of Anycity, U.S.A. are finding it harder and harder to fake 20th Century New York, Chicago or even vintage L.A.

“I’ve been in L.A. for 25 years; there are huge changes,” noted Mike Fantasia, a location manager with a number of Marvel movies under his belt and a vice-president of the Location Managers Guild International, a professional organization that promotes best practices and the art of the craft. “When I first moved here from Montana, Downtown was a ghost town. Every parking lot was empty. You could shoot any sightline and never have a problem. Now there are always new buildings, especially in the southern part of Downtown near Staples Center.

“The film industry sustained Downtown Los Angeles in those lean times when everyone left the urban core to decay,” Lori Balton, a founding member and former president of LMGI whose most recent location scouting work can be seen in the mostly California-shot “A Wrinkle in Time,” said in an email. “We basically pumped enough money into those great old buildings to keep them from being torn down, and now they have all been retrofitted into expensive condos."

But it’s more difficult than it used to be.

“It’s kind of a double-edged sword,” Location Manager Tim Hillman reckoned. “We’re losing our old, period buildings and vintage look. We used to be able to go down to Spring Street and Main Street at Seventh and Sixth and Fifth, and they had all the old buildings that doubled as New York or Chicago or St. Louis. Now they’ve all been gentrified – which is bad, we’ve lost all of our old stuff. However, it’s good because now we have all this new, hip stuff to shoot when we have a modern-day show like ‘Lethal Weapon.’ I can go down there and find all these really cool loft spaces and great clubs and contemporary L.A., and really show off our beauty.” ... See MoreSee Less

3 days ago

Downtown LA is booming, but for filmmakers it’s no Hollywood ending

dailynews.com

Modernization is taking out blocks of vintage filming locations. Great filmmaking cityscapes still exist, but it’s getting harder to find appropriat...

Collateral - Netflix is a state-of-the-nation political thriller from acclaimed screewriter David Hare.

The series follows the fall-out from the shooting of a pizza delivery man, who is also a Syrian illegal immigrant. The drama examines politicians, the police, journalism and more as the death of Abdullah unravels across four fast-paced episodes.

Director SJ Clarkson said about the series, "I'm not going to lie - [London] is not the easiest of cities to film in. I’m sorry to say I think London is slowly pricing itself out of TV. However London is a huge part of Collateral. It’s a character in its own right and I don’t think the piece would be what it is without having the city as the backdrop. It is so diverse in both its people and places - so rich and layered and offers up so many visual opportunities. I wanted to capture the spirit of the city, the energy, the attitude and the atmosphere."

The pizza parlour used for the opening scenes is Hot Munchies, which can be found in Southwark. The following scenes following the moped were shot in Lambeth and Southwark.

Other landmarks you may spot in the series include the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms on Great Queen Street in Camden, the Hippodrome in Leicester Square, the Albert Embankment in Lambeth and Waterloo Station.

The Old Central St Martin Building in Holborn and Civil Aviation Authority building were used for the police station interior and exterior respectively.

Filming also took place outside of London at HM Prison Ashwell in Rutland for the immigration detention centre scenes and Wellington College in Berkshire for the army base.

Lead Carey Mulligan on filming in London, "You get to put these iconic places on camera and there is something wonderful about getting to walk along Westminster Bridge with the Houses of Parliament behind you and to see parts of London you never go to. When you are shooting in your hometown, you don’t really think about where you are and then you put it on camera and you just realise that you live in the most extraordinary city. ... See MoreSee Less

4 days ago

Where is Collateral filmed? Secret South London locations used in the BBC Two series

tv.bt.com

The series stars Carey Mulligan, John Simm and Nicola Walker.

Australia's film industry is to set be a big winner as the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games wraps up.

Village Roadshow Studios , which sets the scene for some of the world’s biggest blockbusters, hosted events like squash, boxing and table tennis.

“We now have the biggest foot print in the southern hemisphere with the sound stages,” Village Roadshow studios president Lynne Benzie said.

The real benefit though will be after the Games, according to location scout Duncan Jones, with crews wanting to bring more productions to the Gold Coast.

“Once they're on the ground and in the car or in the plane looking at these amazing locations... It sells itself,” he said.

The city’s already got films from the Marvel franchise on its resume. Aquaman will hit screens later this year, following the success of Thor Ragnorok, which grossed $853 million at the box office.

It’s estimated the city’s attracted around $3.6 billion in films and while those films were in production around$ 2 billion was spent here.

The cast and crew of Thor booked out 160,000 hotel rooms and close to 3000 crew for Pirates of the Carribean spent $1 million at the local Bunnings. ... See MoreSee Less

5 days ago

Film industry could be big winner of Commonwealth Games

9news.com.au

Village Roadshow has given 9NEWS rare access to the studios that set the scene for some of the world’s bigg...