There’s a visual-media sea change happening in Chicago right now. A growing crop of local production companies—focused on creating webseries, short films, and even commercials—is providing new opportunities for people of diverse races, sexualities, and genders.

WOTN is hosting a series of workshops and initiatives this spring intended to help women develop their production skills and strengthen their voices in a male-dominated industry. “There’s a camera workshop where we’re going to encourage a bunch of femmes to sit down and learn more of the technical end of the camera,” says Laura Day, WOTN’s creative producer. “The industry can be intimidating to, kind of, talk shop with boys. There’s a lot of patronizing, and I don’t even think people realize it.” To encourage women to take on production roles, WOTN conducts social outreach and creates safe spaces for women to learn more about the film industry’s typically male-filled tech positions.

So what is it about Chicago that engenders such distinct storytelling and production methods? “I think every city has people who want intersectional programming, it’s just that Chicago has some institutions that will actually support it and make space for it as well,” says Aymar Jean Christian, founder of Open TV. Unlike the large and competitive atmospheres of New York and LA, there’s a communal sense of support across Chicago. “Open TV’s done probably 30 events in the city, and we’ve never really had a difficult time getting organizations to give us that space so we can program,” Christian says.

How does Christian hope to address this? “I want to see folks who have left for the coasts coming back, and funders to realize that the coasts are saturated and very difficult for artists to live in and for intersectional communities to live in,” he says. “So they need to start looking outside of those cities to support innovative and community-minded work. And I think Chicago is really the perfect place to start that. I think if you’re interested in doing community-based work, come to Chicago. Fund Chicago.”  v

Sun 4/23, 3-6 PM

Chicago Cultural Center

78 E. Washington

312-744-6630

chicagoculturalcenter.org free