CHICAGO — Film production companies in Illinois spent a record $703 million in 2025, reflecting a growing film and TV industry in Chicago and beyond, lawmakers and industry leaders announced Thursday.
This marks a 25 percent increase in film expenditures since before the pandemic in 2019, making Illinois a leading destination for film and TV production, according to Gov. JB Pritzker’s office. Production companies also supported an estimated 18,000 industry hires.
The growth of Illinois’ film industry is largely thanks to the Illinois Film Tax Credit, which offers a 35 percent transferable credit for productions filmed in Illinois, Pritzker said at a Thursday news conference at Cinespace Studios Chicago, a film and TV production facility in North Lawndale.
The credit, which has been extended through 2039, has attracted over 90 percent of the state’s film and TV production, Pritzker said.
“The future of film, the future of storytelling, is going to be shaped right here,” Pritzker said. “Whether your dream is to be a TV star or a movie star, an A-list director or renowned cinematographer, Illinois is the place to be.
“As a lover of movies and TV shows myself and as governor of the great state of Illinois, I’m looking forward to making that happen and seeing all the incredible work that will be produced right here in the Hollywood of the Midwest.”
The state has also invested in film and TV production through other measures like the Illinois Soundstage Capital Grant Program. The 2024 initiative managed by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity has provided $10 million in funding to construct and upgrade film studio infrastructure.
Illinois is also the first state to offer production companies “uplift” for environmentally friendly filmmaking, said Peter Hawley, director of the Illinois Film Office. As part of its 2025 Film Production Tax Credit Act, productions that meet certain sustainable criteria can receive a 5 percent tax credit.
Hawley said he’s “personally been bothered by the environmental impact caused by film,” including food waste and diesel generators running for hours each day.
“Being first is both a great honor and a lot of responsibility,” Hawley said. “The eyes of the production world will be on Illinois. Fortunately, we’re in a good position to start.”
Actor, writer, director and producer Joe Minoso — best known for his role as Joe Cruz on “Chicago Fire” — also took to the podium at Thursday’s news conference.
“Fourteen years ago today, actually, we were filming the pilot of ‘Chicago Fire’ in these very streets,” Minoso said. “I remember thinking, ‘Man, if this works, it’s going to change everything.’ And it changed everything to be a part of the universe that Wolf Entertainment built right here in Chicago — not in a lot in Burbank pretending to be Chicago.
“I still remember when we were first shooting, Cinespace was not what it is today. It was pretty much … empty buildings and gravel lots, and now it’s one of the most active production facilities in the entire country. That kind of transformation is the spirit of Chicago. We don’t abandon our spaces; we reinvent them.”
Minoso also credited Illinois’ tax credit incentives for helping him start his own Chicago-based production company, Mass Epiphany Studios, which launched in late 2020. The studio is creating short films “pretty much on an annual basis,” he told Block Club.
“When you’re making a film that costs $50,000 but 35 percent of that is going to be something you can recoup and cost through the credit, you get so much more value on camera,” Minoso said. “You get to do so much more with the money that you have to really make the film you want to make. And that I think is one of the greatest gifts that you can give an artist. … I’m from New York, but I’ve told so many people I think that this town is the town to be an artist.”
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March 20, 2026 at 08:07AM
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