Chicago magazine

Why Is Netflix So Obsessed With Chicago?

Four of the streaming service’s recent original movies (, , and and its sequel) and one series () have major Chicago plot points. Though there is a tax incentive to film in Illinois, that’s not the reason, since most of those works were filmed out of state. Netflix says it simply acquired a lot of scripts that happened to be set here. So we went to the writers: Why all the Chicago love? Mostly it’s our Midwesternness — and the weather. “Chicago is interesting in that it is well known, but it is not as well defined as New York,” says Robin Bernheim, who wrote “Plus, I had to set it somewhere famous for winter.” Former Chicagoan Tiffany Paulsen, who wrote , wanted to feature the season changes. “Chicago also just has good vibes,” she says.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Chicago magazine

Chicago magazine6 min read
A Man About Town
YOU NEVER LEAVE THE NABE,” A FELLOW ROGERS Parker once told me. “Why should I?” I responded. “I can buy my groceries here, I can go to the tavern, I can go to church. If I go somewhere else, I’ll have to pay for parking.” Neighborhood life is the ess
Chicago magazine4 min read
The Sox’s New Voice
A FTER A DISMAL 101- loss season and the defection to Detroit of beloved announcer Jason Benetti, the White Sox could use a little positivity these days. And they may have found it in their unabashedly enthused new TV play-by-play man, John Schriffen
Chicago magazine1 min read
Eyes On The Prize
THERE’S A LINE FROM EARLY IN THE SECOND SEASON OF The Bear that has stuck with me. Sydney asks Carmy what it takes for a restaurant to earn a Michelin star. “You’re going to have to care about everything, more than anything,” he says. The same holds