Stage 18 set for new office & space move next month

STAGE 18 WILL MOVE into its specially constructed 3,000-sq. ft. office and stage space in Cinespace’s Center Building at 16th and Rockwell in mid-September.

Says Angie Gaffney, executive director of the year-old film incubator, “We will have our own sound stage available to members, along with large and small offices, common areas, a conference room and kitchen.”

Stage 18’s mission, says Gaffney, is to provide space for work, programs and events that will help enable content creators to create projects and take them from script, through production, and ultimately to pitch the project to potential investors.

Meanwhile, Gaffney, who heads Black Apple Media, is co-producer NewCity’s first film project, “Signature Move,” currently in production.

LEO BURNETT CELEBRATED its 81st anniversary on Aug. 5, the same date that adman Leo Burnett optimistically opened his agency in 1935, in the depths of the Great Depression, with its inaugural “Give Back Day” to represent the agency’s unceasing generosity over the past eight decades.

This year’s theme was “Karma Fest,” a multi-floor, volunteering event that provided staffers with many ways to do good for more than 10,000 local children and homeless families.

Partnering with charitable and purpose-driven Give2Get, the agency was able to provide support to many local programs and institutions, including the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Urban Initiatives, Special Olympics, the Children’s Hunger Fund and the Lurie Children’s Hospital.

SHOWTIME’S “SHAMELESS” SERIES, set in Chicago’s Southwest Side but filmed in LA and starring William H. Macy as the alcoholic single father of the family, returns to Chicago Aug. 22-26 for location filming. “Shameless” starts its seventh season Oct. 2.

For the Chicago shoot, Atmosphere Casting will be hiring “a large number of adults as extras,” including mothers who can work with their babies and toddlers, and preschool-aged children.

Atmosphere is also seeking photo doubles for baby girl Franny, toddler boy Yevi, twin girls Amy and Gemma. Also, a 9-year old boy and a 12 year old mixed Hispanic boy. For extras, For submission instructions, see the Facebook page, Atmosphere Casting of Chicago.

“EMPIRE” WELCOMED DIVA MARIAH CAREY to its Cinespace set on Monday. She plays Kitty, a superstar who collaborates with Jamal Lyon (Jessie Smollett) on an exciting new song. The Carey episode will air on Oct. 5.

CHICAGO ACTORS are bountifully riding the crest of work being generated by the record eight network TV series having started shooting, or will shortly start, their fall season shows on Cinespace sound stages.

SAG AFTRA’s Kathy Byrne estimates that 1,760 local actors will be employed throughout the upcoming season. “Each one of these shows hire 10 to 15 local actors per episode, per show, times eight shows.” She adds that number could be on the low side.

CHICAGO SCREENWRITERS SPEAKERS SERIES on Sunday, Aug. 14 hosts a panel discussion with board members of Troy Pryor’s three-year old The Creative Cypher collective of writers, directors, producers, editors, et al. The discussion will center on the opportunities The Creative Cypher offers to CSN members.

At Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro ,3905 N. Lincoln, 6 p.m., admission is $10.

CINEMA/CHICAGO’S Associate Board of young professionals hosts the Cinema Supper Club Aug. 30 as a fundraiser for its Education Program that brings the art of motion pictures to students throughout Chicagoland. The evening screening of the classic Academy Award winning “The Untouchables,” that filmed in Chicago in 1987, will be accompanied by a custom-crafted, film and era-inspired four-course meal at the Untitled Supper Club, 111 W. Kinzie.

Cinema/Chicago is the organization that presents the Chicago International Film Festival, to be held Oct. 13-27. Supper Club tickets are $100 and may be purchased here.

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