Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago P.D. have opened their production offices at Cinespace Studios Chicago, with a small group of essential staff members.
Construction crews are scheduled to begin prepping the stages on November 1 but if the SAG-AFTRA strike settlement continues to stall, that date will likely be pushed. The date has already been pushed from October 26 to November 1 due to the breakdown in negotiations and suspended talks between the studios and actors.
It will take longer than usual to prep the sets for filming, due to the lengthy downtime. The normal hiatus between seasons is 10 weeks but they have been shut down for almost 6 months. Normally the crews have 8 days to prep for a new episode. We can expect that a few extra prep days will be necessary.
Meanwhile, if a settlement is reached and SAG issues a tentative agreement, it will open up all production, allowing the actors to return to work and filming to begin. The ratified contract will take longer than the WGA ratification due to the number of members in the union.
All three shows were wrapped last season by the first week of May. The normal startup of filming for a new season is mid July and the number of episodes in a season is 22. The late start will reduce the number of episodes this season.
As of this writing, SAG/AFTRA and the AMPTP have not reached a settlement, however, it is encouraging to know that the One Chicago series will be prepared to start filming as soon as an agreement is met.
We are hopeful that the leaders of SAG-AFTRA and the major studios are ready to resume bargaining this week.
ALSO READ:
