 Resolution Digital Studios, the largest television and film production studio in the Midwest, has chosen to become an investor in the feature film The Ellen and Ted Show, a comedy romance written by Gary and Beth Hoover slated by Story Arc to be shot entirely in Chicago this fall. A large segment of the film will be shot on-site in Resolution Digital Studios, a state-of-the-art facility in the West Loop owned by Jeff and Lee Facklis.
The film, based on a six-time award-winning screenplay, tells the story of two out-of-work actors paid by a reality TV producer to pretend they're madly in love. The feature is being produced by Story Arc in association with Fulton Market Films, a Chicago-based independent film production company whose most recent feature, the film festival favorite Being Bucky, was released last year.
Women in Film Chicago member Beth Hoover, WIFC's screenwriting mentor and a former WIFC board member, is one of the writer/producers on the project.
"Resolution Digital Studios, like Fulton Market Films, is committed to bringing high-quality feature filmmaking back to Chicago," said John Fromstein, founder of Fulton Market Films and executive producer of The Ellen and Ted Show. "This project, with its reality TV component, will make best use of the unique production capabilities and filmmaking resources Resolution Digital Studio s has to offer."
Mitch Apley, executive producer at Resolution Digital Studios, added: "We wanted to get behind this project because we believe it's one of those rare independent features that has the kind of entertainment value and mainstream appeal that's necessary to attract a wide audience. Plus, it's appealing in that it will be a homegrown project, with an award-winning director, producer and writing team all based in Chicago."
The formation of Story Arc and its partnership with Resolution is just the latest good news to come out of Chicago's production community in 2010. Last month, Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Enterprises became a 50 percent partner in Chicago-based Flashpoint Academy, whose name was subsequently changed to Tribeca Flashpoint Media Arts Academy.
More evidence of the resurgence of Chicago's film and television industry can be found in the record number of TV pilots - six - shot in the city this past spring. Two major Hollywood productions - Ron Howard's "Your Cheating Heart" and Michael Bay's "Transformers 3" - will be shooting here this summer. And the Chicago-based Midwest Independent Film Festival, the nation's only fest dedicated to the region's independent filmmaker, continues to experience exponential growth, selling out each of its monthly events since the beginning of 2009.
Of course, the December 2008 enactment of a 30 percent tax incentive for film and television productions in Illinois is also proving instrumental in drawing business back to a once-flourishing industry here.
"There is a creative revolution under way here and Story Arc is just one part of it," said Gary Hoover, writer and co-producer for The Ellen and Ted Show. "Everyone in the local film community knows that there's a rich vein of talent in Chicago - top acting talent, first-rate production people and, of course, the dark beauty of the city itself. Our goal is to tap into that creative infrastructure to make intelligent and compelling films that'll make the coasts sit up and take notice."
Attached to direct the film is Scott Smith, a director whose work has been screened at Tribeca Film Festival, HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival and other festivals. Smith most recently directed Being Bucky, a feature-length documentary that won the Audience Award and Best Documentary at the Wisconsin Film Festival.
The Ellen and Ted Show is the latest feature script from Gary and Beth Hoover, a team whose work has been honored by more than two dozen screenplay competitions and independent film festivals, including Moondance, Vail and Austin film festivals. Their work has also been recognized by Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope and the prestigious Nicholl Fellowships sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
"Since officially launching the project at an investor reading at Resolution Digital Studios last month, we've received overwhelmingly enthusiastic response," Fromstein said. "The fact that Resolution is now coming on board as an investor just adds to that momentum."
More information on the project can be found at the film's Facebook page atwww.facebook.com/ellenandtedshow or by contacting John Fromstein, the film's executive producer, at jfromstein@fultonmarketfilms.com.
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