Atlanta outranks Chicago in film production and the weather, but it also outranks Chicago in crime.
You read that right. You are more likely to be a victim of a violent crime in Atlanta than in Chicago.
According to detailed statistics by 11 Alive, Atlanta’s leading news station, even though Chicago is a larger city with more crime, per capita, the likelihood of being the victim of a murder, shooting, or aggravated assault is higher in Atlanta. The data was provided by both the Atlanta and Chicago Police Departments.
Fortunately, there’s been no report of violent crime directly impacting the Atlanta film community, but they have experienced a significant amount of robberies in the past eighteen months. According to one tally, over three million dollars’ worth of camera equipment has been stolen, in forty-five separate incidents. Storage rooms, equipment rental companies, and similar businesses were hit, sometimes two or three a night and some more than once.
There is a misconceived notion that Chicago is the crime capital of the USA — Surprise, it isn’t. The crime rate is not rising, as McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski recently made a point of saying. In fact, at a time when crime rates are climbing all around the country, Chicago’s crime rate has dropped two years in a row.
My intention is to shed some light on the cities that are wrongfully consider a safer alternative for filming. So while I’m on a roll, let’s talk New Orleans. Chicago recently lost a film to New Orleans. I’m not sure why, but if someone tells me it’s due to the rising crime in Chicago I think my head will explode.
Fact:
The crime rate of the popular filming location of New Orleans, has always been off the charts, but it has now managed to rank as the most murderous city in the U.S. — and it is leading by a considerable margin. The anything-goes Big Easy is considered to have a murder environment that just doesn’t exist anywhere else in the Western world.
Yet, New Orleans has produced 6 TV series and 3 feature films in 2022.
Here’s a recent survey by Jeff Asher, co-founder of AH Datalytics, a nationally recognized data analyst with expertise in evaluating criminal justice data. (note: Chicago crime data was available for this survey.)
Forbes also recently completed a survey of the top 10 cities with the worst crime rate. Chicago is not on the list.
McDonald’s’ Kempczinski focused only on Chicago as a problem for his restaurants making no mention of the cities with higher crime such as the over 260 McDonald’s in Greater Atlanta area, or the McDonald’s on practically every corner in New Orleans.
Starbucks on the other hand announced it would close 16 locations over safety concerns “in locations that have experienced a high volume of challenging incidents.” Chicago is not on the list.
So why is everyone picking on Chicago?
#1 Political gain. I won’t say any more on that, other than Chicago has always been a hot bed of political chaos.
#2 Chicago is becoming a major competitor in film and TV production. So take a jab at the competition. We’ve all witnessed how creating fear is an effective weapon against a competitor.
#3 It’s trending. So there are hundreds of reporters out there jumping on ways to cover whatever they can come up with about Chicago crime.
Chicago’s reputation has been shaped by portrayals in movies and TV; sensational news coverage; misinformation; and political messaging.
Face it, Chicago has had a gangster reputation since the Capone days. Personally, when I told my friends five years ago, that I was moving back to Chicago, the response was, “What? Chicago has all those gangsters.” It’s tough to change that mindset.
Chicago has struggled mightily to contain violence. But there’s still a significant crime problem in Chicago. No major city is without gangs.
There are areas in Greater Los Angeles, home to our sister publication Reel 360 News, that have extremely high crime rates. I think it’s safe to assume no one is filming in these areas.
New York City which has done a commendable job in lowering their crime rate to below the national average saw a more than 30% increase in crime this summer, completely derailing their recovery. The peaceful artsy little mountain town of Asheville, NC spiked a 35% increase in crime this summer. Even Toronto demonstrated an increased crime rate in all categories, with the exception of homicide.
I hate to oversimplify this but if you want to film safely in Chicago, it’s a really big, amazing city, just stay out of the high-crime areas. If you set up shop in the middle of a high-crime area, you just might witness a crime.
What I don’t want to ever hear from a set is, “The locations department put us at risk.”
There are a lot of factors involved in choosing a filming location. Logistics are one, but the producers and director have the final say on locations, and what matters most is authenticity. Of the 60+ films and TV series I’ve worked on in Chicago, I cannot think of one production that didn’t point out, “We can’t get this look in L.A.”
Wielding decades of Film & TV production experience, Barbara Roche is the editor/publisher of Reel Chicago and Reel 360, and founder of Reel Chicago Films.
