ATF, a new CBS television drama, was filming on location at Northwestern’s campus on April 5. Crew trailers were set up around Long Field, with the set constructed along the beach next to Evanston’s Grosse Point Lighthouse.
“We’re shooting the pilot for today,” said Katie DiMento, associate producer of the show. “It’s called ATF right now, but we’re probably going to change the title.”
ATF is named for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – the federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice. Based on Robert Gregory Browne’s novel Kiss Her Goodbye, the show follows Jack Donovan (Dylan Walsh, Nip/Tuck), an ATF agent who works to track down the most dangerous criminals while struggling to raise his 15-year-old daughter, according to Celebrifi.
“In the pilot, Dylan Walsh’s character and his partners are chasing this robber who’s eluded them for months,” DiMento said. “Terry Kinney plays Gunderson, the bad guy that Walsh is chasing.”
In addition to Terry Kinney, founder of Steppenwolf, other notable cast members include Michael Rapaport (Prison Break) and Sean Patrick Thomas (Barbershop).
ATF crew arrived in Evanston around 4:30 a.m., according to a security guard on set.
“We’ve been filming [in Chicago] for – this is our seventh day,” DiMento said. “The book is set in Chicago, but the director and writer, Michael Dinner, did a show, The Beast, a couple years ago…he’s a big fan of Chicago, so he likes shooting here.”
DiMento anticipates the show being picked up by the network in fall 2010.
“We’re shooting for another week and a half in the Chicago area,” she said. “Then we’ll go back into the editing room, give it to the network, and hopefully it’ll get picked up. If we do, we’ll probably be back here in the summer shooting.”
Thanks to commenter “Rob Gregory Browne” for pointing out the duplicate title error — it has since been corrected. North by Northwestern sincerely regrets the error.