Join the Crew
Get the best resources for producers delivered to your mailbox
Get the best resources for producers delivered to your mailbox
Loring is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, and creative producer. His work has been commissioned by a diverse range of clients- from Havas Worldwide to Wisecrack, inc.- and has been screened around the world. Through a background that blends project development with physical production across multiple formats, Loring has developed a uniquely eclectic skillset as a visual storyteller.
At Wrapbook, we pride ourselves on providing outstanding free resources to producers and their crews, but this post is for informational purposes only as of the date above. The content on our website is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for legal, accounting, or tax advice. You should consult with your own legal, accounting, or tax advisors to determine how this general information may apply to your specific circumstances.
There are several options for connecting with the Illinois Film Office. For specific inquiries, you can contact the IFO team directly via phone or email. Filmmakers can also stay up to date with the latest news via IFO’s social channels on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, and X.
For questions related to the Illinois Film Production Tax Credit, productions should reach out to the team via email at FilmTaxCredit@Illinois.gov for further information.
The production industry in Illinois is expansive. Regional film offices have emerged in response to increasing demand and diversity, providing localized support to filmmakers working around the state.
Below, we’ll introduce you to five regional film offices that productions should keep in mind when scouting Illinois.
The Central Illinois Film Commission is a membership-supported non-profit organization “dedicated to promoting central Illinois as a historical and film-friendly region.” The group acts as a hub for local professionals, supporting local projects and seeking to attract outside productions to the area.
A tiered membership fee—$15 for students, $25 for a single standard membership, and $75 for families of four—is mandatory to take advantage of the CIFC’s services.
The Chicago Film Office (CFO) is the administrative core of Illinois’ largest production center. For filmmakers, the organization is “a one-stop liaison for all City of Chicago production needs including permits, city services, and logistical support.”
In other words, if you want to shoot anywhere in the Windy City, you’ll have to go through the Chicago Film Office first.
The Chicago Film Office also acts as a crucial connection between the production industry and the local film community. The CFO offers film exhibition programming in partnership with community organizations and sponsors events that celebrate all forms of Chicago filmmaking.
Experience Champaign-Urbana is a tourism organization that also handles essential film office duties in the Champaign-Urbana area. They manage filming permits for public property, including available locations at the University of Illinois.
Productions planning a shoot in the area should also take advantage of Experience Champaign Urbana’s unique expertise. Their familiarity with the tourism industry makes the organization an ideal resource for location scouting, lodging, and catering options.
The Northwest Illinois Film Office promotes the Northwest Illinois Region as an ideal filmmaking destination. They act “as a liaison between local governments and communities with production entities by educating, setting standards of professionalism, serving as a clearinghouse for production information, and proportionally increasing the economic impact of the industry throughout the region.”
Productions can reach out to the Northwest Film Office for critical assistance with securing permits, scouting locations, sourcing vendors, and more. The Northwest Film Office acts as a central contact point to facilitate anything filmmakers might need to shoot in the Northwest Illinois Region.
The Rockford Film Office assists filmmakers with logistics and administration in and around the City of Rockford. Committed to streamlining professional filmmaking activities in the area, they work closely with city government to ease the permitting process and facilitate community cooperation. The Rockford Film Office also provides other valuable services, like location scouting, catering selection, lodging coordination, and hiring local crew members.
With competitive tax incentives, established infrastructure, and a thriving culture of local professionals, it’s easy to see why Illinois continues to succeed as a cinematic destination. The Illinois Film Office is a crucial collaborator for any production in the state. If you’re planning a shoot in the Land of Lincoln, be sure to reach out and take advantage of everything that IFO has to offer.
For more information on shooting in Illinois, check out our in-depth exploration of Illinois tax credits or our collection of essential government forms for filmmaking in Illinois. If you’re hunting for the perfect location for your next shoot, take a look at Wrapbook’s Production Incentive Center, where free resources like our Incentive Comparison Tool can equip your team with better information at a faster speed.
The Illinois Film Office (IFO) holds the keys to one of the most enticing states for filmmaking in the entire U.S. From the classic city streets of Chicago to breathtaking prairies, rivers, and other natural vistas, the state of Illinois has everything a professional filmmaker could want and more.
In this post, we’ll take you on a deep dive into the services and resources offered by the Illinois Film Office. We’ll show you how the IFO can unlock the tools you need to upgrade your next shoot.
The Land of Lincoln boasts a rich cinematic resume packed with fan favorites and critical darlings alike. From The Bear to Chicago Fire, The Dark Knight to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the state of Illinois has been producing world-class film and television for decades.
The Illinois Film Office acts as a hub for the culture and industry of filmmaking all across the state.They connect the state’s repertoire of professional crew members, cutting edge industry infrastructure, diverse locations, and financial incentives at a single point of contact, providing essential information and expertise for productions in the region.
For filmmakers of any stripe, the IFO is an invaluable resource. Let’s take a closer look at how you can leverage their services to enhance your next project in the Prairie State.
From location scouting to film finance, the Illinois Film Office supports the full spectrum of a professional filmmaker’s needs. Directly or indirectly, they can connect productions to whatever resources or information they require.
Below, we’ll break down three key areas in which the IFO can provide critical advantages to your next shoot.
Illinois is a surprisingly diverse state. Within its borders, filmmakers can find historic city neighborhoods, picturesque small towns, rolling prairies, and 58 miles of “pristine Lake Michigan beaches.” From noirish back alleys to breathtaking natural vistas and state-of-the-art soundstages, Illinois has something for every project.
For out-of-town filmmakers, scouting the sheer variety of location choices can be daunting, but the Illinois Film Office is here to help. Between their expert staff and their extensive locations library, working with the IFO is the fastest way to identify and secure the right locations for your production in Illinois. Best of all, the IFO Locations Department will work with filmmakers no matter where they are, providing continuous communication and access to digital location photographs.
Production incentives are an essential component of modern film finance. The state of Illinois offers a competitive tax incentive program that draws major studios, television networks, and indie productions alike.
The Illinois Film Office adds the advantage of expert assistance to your incentive strategy within the state. A portion of their team is devoted entirely to management of the tax incentive program. The Illinois Film Office tax credit experts provide a direct line to all the information you need to maximize the credit’s value and optimize your budget’s spending power.
While Chicago is without a doubt the most prominent production hub in Illinois, the industry’s presence is felt throughout the state. Critical information on infrastructure, personnel, and administrative processes is spread across multiple regional film offices and individual municipalities. Left to their own devices, out-of-state productions would have a difficult time acquiring the right information at the right time.
With the help of the Illinois Film Office, however, sourcing local resources and expertise is a breeze.The IFO can assist with the coordination of virtually any lawful production activity in the state. Need to permit a random field in Calhoun County? The Illinois Film Office can tell you exactly how to do it.
The Illinois Film Office offers material support for professional filmmakers through digital tools and incentive programs.
Let’s take a look at two specific resources from the IFO that you can leverage on your next shoot.
The state of Illinois boasts a robust production industry that it’s developed over decades. It is now home to a large population of companies and individuals that service and supply professional productions, each in their own capacity. That includes equipment vendors, soundstages, production service providers, highly qualified crew, post-production houses, craft service providers, and many more.
The Illinois Production Guide is a comprehensive directory that collects all of these resources into a single, searchable location.
You can search the Production Guide for any crew member or industry vendor you might need at your convenience and at no cost. New and updated listings must be verified by the Illinois Film Office before being made available to the public, ensuring that information is as accurate as possible and providing productions a streamlined connection to the local industry.
Films and TV shows produced in Illinois should absolutely take advantage of the state’s competitive film production tax credit. The fully transferable tax credit offers a remarkable 30% to 45% return on qualified expenditures incurred in the state. Plus, there is currently no annual funding cap for the program, a rare and highly valuable characteristic among even the most competitive state incentive programs in the U.S.
In conjunction with the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, the IFO directly administers the state’s production incentive program. The Illinois Film Office tax credit experts therefore have the inside track on the latest tax credit guidelines at all times. That means they can provide guidance that caters to your specific project, helping your team leverage the value of the Illinois Film Production Tax Credit for the best and most personalized production experience possible.
