Proving the old adage that “it never rains but it pours,” Chicago is now hosting production of six television pilots, the most that has ever descended on the city in one fell swoop and in such a condensed time frame.
Two new pilots from Fox TV join four others that will dominate production here throughout March and into early April.
Production staffs for both shows set up offices Monday in the Ryerson Steel plant, which indicate that plans for the proposed Cinespace studio there are still viable.
One of new pilots is “Pleading Guilty,” an hour drama based on the Scott Turow novel of the same name and loaded with heavy hitters, starting with director Jon Avnet, on the production side. It starts shooting March 29 for three weeks.
The book is about an ex-cop who becomes an attorney and winds up having to find a missing law firm partner.
Jon Avnet (“Righteous Kill”) also will serve as executive producer along with co-executive producers Hart Hanson, creator of the Fox show, Bones,” and Jason Tracey, who wrote the script for the pilot and was also “Burn Notice’s” co-EP. Kelly Manners produces and Victor Shue directs.
Kicking off March 31 is the romantic comedy “Friends with Benefits,” centering on five friends looking for love but settling for “friends with benefits” in the meantime. It’s headed for NBC, with the hope it just might be the new “Friends.”
Scriptwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber (“(500) Days of Summer”) are executive producers along with Imagine’s Brian Grazer and David Dobkin (“Wedding Crashers”). Chicago’s Roger Anderson is production supervisor.
