Media Advisory - City of Chicago Dedicates Street to the Late Nikolaos "Nick" Mirkopoulos, Founder of Cinespace Film Studios Toronto-Chicago

Media Advisory - City of Chicago Dedicates Street to the Late Nikolaos "Nick" Mirkopoulos, Founder of Cinespace Film Studios Toronto-Chicago

CHICAGO, October 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --



On Thursday October 22nd, 2015 at Cinespace Chicago Film Studios, Deputy Mayor Steve
Koch presided over a street naming ceremony honoring Nikolaos "Nick" Mirkopoulos, who
resuscitated Chicago's film and television production industry by developing a 52-acre
studio campus in the North Lawndale area of the City.



     (Photo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151022/279848 )




Just before 11:00am Chicago time, production managers from every primetime TV series
shooting at Cinespace allowed a 20-minute break for cast, crew members and office staff to
pour outside onto South Rockwell Street, the main artery of the busy studio lot, to hear
the Deputy Mayor's speech and pay tribute to the late studio owner and developer, Nick
Mirkopoulos. Currently shooting on the Cinespace Chicago lot are four primetime TV series
and a TV pilot, including Fox's smash hit "Empire", and the three popular shows under
legendary producer Dick Wolf for NBC/Universal, "Chicago Fire", "Chicago P.D." and
"Chicago Medical", and Showtime's pilot "The Chicago Project".



"Nick Mirkopoulos had a vision for the film and TV production sector of the City of
Chicago, and we owe him a great debt," remarked Deputy Mayor Koch during his speech. "So
it is only fitting for our City to recognize Nick's contributions today with this street
dedication." The Deputy Mayor, along with local Alderman Jason Ervin, Teamsters President
of Joint Council 25 John T. Coli, IATSE local 476 Business Manager Mark A. Hogan and
former Illinois Governor Pat Quinn then unveiled the new street sign on South Rockwell.
Nick Mirkopoulos passed away on December 7th, 2013.



"My Uncle Nick saw the great potential of this property, but more importantly he saw
the great potential of the people of Chicago - our talented and motivated film and
television production crews, that were underutilized while working on only one or two
projects a year," commented Alex Pissios, President of Cinespace Chicago. "Nick had the
vision to build out this studio capacity, and of course he had his legendary personality
that attracted our friends and clients from Hollywood to Chicago more often, and helped
take Illinois production volumes from $25 million a year in 2009 to over $350 Million in
2013. And we surpassed that number in 2014, and we will be surpassing it again in 2015,"
predicted Pissios.



Jerry DiCanio, Executive Vice President of Production Operations at Universal
Television, weighed in from Los Angeles on Nick Mirkopoulos' contributions, stating, "Nick
had the foresight to recognize how important it was for Chicago and the TV industry to
have series based there. We couldn't have brought our Chicago-themed shows there without
his unwavering partnership."



Mark A. Hogan, Business Manager of IATSE Local 476, made Nick Mirkopoulos a Gold Card
Member of IATSE 476 back in 2013. "Nick's impact on our industry, especially on our crews
and their families, has been immeasurable, and will be felt for years to come. I'm very
proud to have known him and worked with him on this pivotal project, one that has given
our industry an incredible boost," Hogan said.



Nikolaos "Nick" Mirkopoulos bravely ventured over to Canada from Greece in 1968
seeking adventure and opportunity, and encouraged his brothers Larry and Steve to join him
soon thereafter. He led the very successful family contracting business to upgrade many
landmark buildings in the Toronto area, and in 1988 opened Cinespace Film Studios,
Canada's largest studio operation. Cinespace began managing Chicago's Ryerson Steel
complex back in 2009, and officially acquired the property in 2011. Today, after a massive
redevelopment and repurposing of the dated but solid Ryerson buildings that was overseen
personally by Nick Mirkopoulos, the complex features 22 shooting stages and 8 production
office suites on its 52-acre campus. Cinespace's 2 million square feet on over 90 acres
between both Toronto and Chicago makes it the largest private studio owner and operator in
North America, currently hosting 15 productions inside its studio facilities.



Note to Editors:



A picture accompanying this release is available from the European Pressphoto Agency
(EPA). To view, go to http://www.epa.eu and log in using Username: prnewswire and
Password: guest01




 
Currently Shooting at Cinespace Chicago: 
Empire (Fox) 
Chicago Fire (NBC/Universal) 
Chicago PD (NBC/Universal) 
Chicago Fire (NBC/Universal) 
The Chicago Project (Showtime)

 
Currently Shooting at Cinespace Toronto: 
Heroes: Reborn (NBC/Universal) 
12 Monkeys (NBC/Universal) 
The Code (Entertainment One) 
The Strain (FX) 
Man Seeking Woman (FX) 
Beauty and the Beast (CBS) 
Reign (CBS) 
Good Witch (Hallmark) 
11/22/63 (Warner Bros.) 
Poor Richard's Almanack (Legendary) 
EmptyBreak:MARKER 
About Cinespace Film Studios, please contact: Alexander Pissios, Chicago
+1-773-521-8000; D. Jim Mirkopoulos, Toronto, +1-416-406-4000 


 





Photo:
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Photo:http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151022/279848
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Cinespace Film Studios Inc.


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