This has box-office boondoggle written all over it:
Todd Stroger wants to get into the movie business.
The Cook County board is expected to create The Cook County Film Commission when they vote on the idea sometime in November. If all goes according to Stroger's plan, the new commission will be open for business by January 1, 2010, according to Reel Chicago.
Stroger, of course, would appoint the commissioners.
Stroger himself came up with the idea, Reel Chicago reports, ostensibly to create one-stop shopping for filmmakers interested in various locales around the county.
That's the theory, anyway.
No word yet on when Stroger will propose one-stop shopping for county government.
Local
At least some segments of the local film community are not amused -- if Reel Chicago's commenters are any sort of guide.
"Great, so now we will have three entities to deal with when shooting in Illinois! Why don't we just put up a closed for business sign and shut the doors?" writes Linda Wolfe, of Views on Cue.
"The Chicago Film office and the Illinois Film Office serves a solid purpose, but other than collecting revenue for the bankrupt Cook County government and paying for the salaries of Todd Stroger's cronies who will undoubtedly staff this boondoggle, what purpose will it serve?"
Well, maybe we'll land a horror film set in the Cook County Forest Preserves. Or in the county budget office.
Starring Todd Stroger.
Steve Rhodes is the proprietor of The Beachwood Reporter, a Chicago-centric news and culture review.
