Promotional photo from "Chicago Justice" showing a courtroom scene

Monday, March 6, 2017

天天吃瓜 has been discovered.

Since 2013, the Main Campus and El Centro locations have been used as film sets for a number of television productions. Now Northeastern will appear in an episode of mega-producer Dick Wolf鈥檚 new NBC series, 鈥,鈥 which premiered March 5.

The new addition to the Chicago-oriented franchise, which includes the hit series 鈥淐hicago Fire,鈥 鈥淐hicago P.D.鈥 and 鈥淐hicago Med,鈥 finds the state鈥檚 attorney鈥檚 team of investigators and prosecutors in pursuit of justice in the face of media-fueled public opinion, power struggles and city politics. A mid-week episode of 鈥淐hicago Justice鈥 titled 鈥淪ee Something鈥 was filmed in part at Northeastern and will air Tuesday, March 7, at 9 p.m. CST.

Tania Gorgius, a senior studying Communication, Media and Theatre, was chosen to be an extra during a recent 鈥淐hicago Justice鈥 shoot. She played the role of a student, walking through the hallways and sitting in the library studying.

鈥淏eing a CMT student, I immediately hopped on the opportunity as soon as I saw the flier posted in Village Square. I submitted a photo of myself and received a response within minutes,鈥 Gorgius said. 鈥淚 was so excited! The best part about being an extra was that it took place on my campus and it was pretty awesome to stand a couple of feet from actor Jon Seda.鈥

While the 鈥淐hicago Justice鈥 pilot is Northeastern鈥檚 highest-profile role on TV, it鈥檚 far from the first.

鈥淚t was TLC鈥檚 鈥樷 that put us on the map as far as locations go,鈥 said Student Union, Event and Conference Services Director Kyle Burke, who coordinates University-led and private rental events and manages Student Union operations. 鈥淭hey use local location scouts because the show travels by nature, going to locations around the world to film.鈥

鈥淲ho Do You Think You Are?鈥 is a show that gives viewers a look at the family histories of well-known celebrities. Northeastern鈥檚 houses the (IRAD), a resource that provides selected government records, such as birth, death and marriage records, for Chicago and Cook County. The IRAD was used to find ancestral information for actors Bryan Cranston and Chris Noth, both of whom trace family roots to Illinois.

Other NBC projects also have filmed at Northeastern locations in recent years, including 鈥淐risis,鈥 the web series 鈥淏obby & Iza,鈥 and 鈥淐hicago P.D.,鈥 which used the University鈥檚 El Centro location鈥檚 unique building in a November 2015 episode.

Chicago has long been a favorite locale for national and international television productions, movies, advertising and other projects. According to the , more than 1,100 feature films and television shows have been shot in Chicago since 1980, providing jobs and contributing $2 billion in revenue.

The new sources of revenue have been welcome during uncertain budgetary times for the University. The money generated by renting Northeastern鈥檚 spaces to production companies has been used to enhance Main Campus facilities and operations.

鈥淲e introduced the first television monitor project outside the Auditorium and Recital Hall that lets us broadcast into those respective spaces and the lobby area when we have overflow crowds at events,鈥 Burke said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e also renovated a couple of smaller spaces, such as the dressing rooms, and purchased chairs for Alumni Hall.鈥

A film-friendly location, Northeastern accommodates production crews but with some limits.

鈥淲e do hold them to certain times and locations that they can be here so it鈥檚 the least disruptive,鈥 Burke said. 鈥淲e will not disrupt classes in any way, shape or form, so we usually go with Fridays, which has the lowest on-campus population. Our students sometimes get to be a part of it the filming and they enjoy it.鈥

 

Photo courtesy of NBCUniversal