Chicago could be on the “Fringe”

Chicago could benefit from the loss of New York’s film and TV production tax incentives ? and the loss of a lucrative TV series.

Gov. David Paterson increased the existing tax break to a more competitive 30% last April. The state allocated $685 million to fund the program through 2013, but it was so successful it ran out of money in less than 10 months.

New York state legislators will vote on renewing the incentives program in late April.

Consequently, the first loss to Gotham is the popular Fox TV sci-fi series, “Fringe.” Production company Warner Bros. Television said it would not stay in New York without the tax breaks. It will shift location from Manhattan by the end of April and film its next season in Vancouver.

Now there’s talk that “Fringe” might enjoy Illinois’ 30% tax credit by shooting in Chicago at some point, perhaps after a season in Vancouver.

No question that it would be a welcome stimulus as it spent $4 million an episode and employed around 100 people in New York.

Created by J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, the show is about the FBI teaming up with a formerly-institutionalized scientist, who performed experiments on the fringe of real science and his son, to investigate weird crimes that may be connected with global company Dynamics.

Along with the “Fringe” talk, “a couple of movies and a TV pilot have shown significant interest” in working here, notes CFO director Rich Moskal.