Iconic Illinois Locations Used for Filming ‘The Batman,’ ‘Station 11’ and ‘Fargo’
variety.comZoe Hewitt Maintaining the location library of 20,000 photos is one of Illinois Film Office assistant deputy director Louis Ferrara’s favorite parts of his job. “Producers always laugh when I say that, but it’s true,” he says.
The massive quantity of location photos are categorized into various curated files so when productions have a need, the film office can readily supply whatever they desire. “We scout locations on a regular basis to freshen up the library,” says Ferrara, noting that they also send letters to homeowners and businesses to help with continually growing the resource.
There’s no time wasted when productions choose to film in Illinois, and no need to retread the same locations. Of course, there’s no better stand in for Chicago than, well, Chicago.
The city’s iconic sites have appeared in multiple shows as “themselves” over the years. The iconic elevated trains and platforms are in high use when the city stars as itself in productions, whether they’re period or modern day shoots. “The [Chicago Transit Authority] has been historically extremely film friendly,” Ferrara says.
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