Tech group bets $4 million on Chicago as next big film production town

The SHOWRUNNER team

Startup tech company, SHOWRUNNER has announced that venture capitalists from coast to coast have invested $4 million to fund its film production technology.

They’re betting that Chicago will be the next big film production town—and that their technology will make billion-dollar waves in the entertainment industry.

The company’s software tools aim to help both industry giants and independent creators produce film content more efficiently—and to fulfill the company’s founding mission of getting Hollywood to treat their crews better.

production
Sylvia Brindis, Nicholas Bartlett, Brandon Jordan, Shane Snow, and Sir Remy Bear

“Film is an industry that everyone wants to work in because the end product is magic,” says SHOWRUNNER CEO Shane Snow.  “But it’s also the only industry where workers both spend a ton of time waiting for other people to do their jobs and have to work inhumane overtime. We think it’s time to stop taking advantage of crews’ love of film and actually start making the job easier—so they can focus on being creative and get home in time for dinner. And we think technology is the key to that.”

Though its tech was born in NYC, SHOWRUNNER’s team performed an exhaustive analysis of film and streaming trends around North America to determine that Chicago is the ideal place to build its home base, including a high-tech showroom.

“We looked closely at Mexico City, Salt Lake, and other regions where we think the film industry is about to see outsized growth,” says Snow. “And after all that research, we’re all-in on Chicago. This city is going to be the next big production hotspot.”

As if to confirm this hunch, days after SHOWRUNNER closed its funding round, the Illinois State legislature passed attractive new film incentives that reward producers and stars for bringing out-of-town movies and TV series to the state.

SHOWRUNNER is hitting the ground running with job openings for full stack engineers, Unreal Engine and IOS developers, content marketing experts, and enterprise salespeople—with a particular focus on building a company that’s as diverse as Hollywood ought to be.

The company is currently building out a headquarters and high-tech studio in Chicago, from which it will direct its remote development team and international sales efforts.


Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest film, TV, advertising, entertainment and production news! Sign up for our free elert here.