16 June 2010

ABC Drama 'Detroit 1-8-7' to be Filmed in Michigan

Detroit Free Press



ABC’s new fall drama “Detroit 1-8-7” is not just using the city’s name. The entire series is going to be filmed here, producers say.

Today, the show’s creators and its writing team were wrapping up a visit and clarified that the character-driven crime series, based around the lives of a Detroit homicide unit, will be fully produced here, the first-ever network series to be shot completely in Detroit.

Shot during the winter, the show's pilot was filmed in Atlanta. There were previous news reports stating that the entire series would be filmed there or Los Angeles, but Atlanta was never a consideration, producers said.

“We want people to fall in love with this show and its characters and come back and visit Detroit every week,” executive producer and creator Jason Richman says, adding that there have been some misrepresentative reports since ABC announced it greenlit the show in January. “It doesn’t serve us as storytellers to slam a place,” he says.

Executive producer and show runner David Zabel (“ER”) says a studio and stage sets for “Detroit 1-8-7” are currently being constructed in Highland Park before filming commences in mid-July. A symbiotic relationship between the show and the community is a must Zabel says, adding that ABC allocated a budget that will inject more than $25 million into the local economy through production costs for its first 12 episodes. The network plans to hire 190 full-time employees here, not including countless extras.

“Hopefully this goes and goes for a bunch of year and years, Zabel adds. “This is a crime show but we will explore various nooks and crannies in the communities and within that context there’s a lot of opportunity to see what’s positive in the city and see what’s heroic about the people fighting for what’s best for the city of Detroit.”

The series is scheduled to debut at 10 p.m. Sept. 21.

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