Film Offices Sponsor Screenplay Contest
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
submitted by November 15 and choose 50 for further evaluation. On the basis of creativity and marketability a second jury will narrow the field to five winners, who will be announced in June 1995. Before the scripts are submitted to Hollywood film executives, the authors will polish them up with professional screenwriters. Kellet says that of course no film deals are promised, but at the least local writers will benefit from the industry exposure. Al Cohn, Chicago FilmLetter editor and publisher, agrees: “The process at least will open up some doors for the winners and perhaps launch some careers.”
The debut of this first statewide film script competition comes as a response to what has been a down year for film production in Chicago and around the state. It’s too early for final figures, but Kellett predicts direct film company expenditures in the state for 1994 will wind up between $50 million and $60 million. If that estimate proves to be accurate, the 1994 total will represent a marked drop from the record $115 million film companies spent on location in Illinois last year. The 1993 numbers were boosted by two television series–The Untouchables and Missing Persons–that were filmed entirely on location in Chicago. Both shows were canceled for the 1994-’95 television season.
With its $35 top ticket Wisdom Bridge is second only to the Goodman Theatre, which charges $38 for a Saturday night performance. Its substantial price increase comes after a 1993-’94 season punctuated by financial difficulties. The company recently abandoned its original Howard Street facility and took up residence at the Ivanhoe Theater in a neighborhood its board of directors deemed safer and more inviting to theater audiences than north Rogers Park. Wisdom Bridge producing director Jeffrey Ortmann says the $10 jump is justified because the company expects to employ star talent for several of its shows. He also says that the increase puts the company more in line with other Equity productions in nearby theaters. Laughter on the 23rd Floor, a for-profit venture at the Briar Street Theatre, has a $39.50 top, while the priciest off-Loop ticket remains Angels in America at $45.
