‘Fargo’ set standard for film crews in new COVID-19 era
CHICAGO — Coronavirus was the plot twist the team behind the FX series “Fargo” did not see coming. Most of the fourth season had been shot when filming of Chicago TV shows stopped in March 2020 because of the pandemic.
“We were actually within two-anda-half, three weeks from completing ... our mission,” executive producer Warren Littlefield told the Tribune by phone. “And I think it was very difficult for everyone to go, But, we’re so close! We had one actor that basically packed his bags and went to the airport and said, Yeah, no, I’m leaving.”
Chris Rock and Jason Schwartzman star on the anthology series’ fourth season, which follows two warring 1950 Kansas City crime families. This was the first time “Fargo” filmed in Chicago; past seasons shot in Canada. Littlefield said the show’s team looked at the architecture in Toronto, Kansas City and Cleveland before setting up at Cinespace Chicago Film Studios on the West Side in 2019.
Cinespace at the time was also home to “NeXt,” a technology drama helmed by John Slattery. On March 9, 2020, it was reported a “NeXt” crew member tested positive for the coronavirus as part of a new handful of cases citywide. Littlefield said the “Fargo” team made the decision to suspend filming after consulting with FX and producing partner MGM Television. “Despite our desire to complete our mission, it was just very clear that we didn’t know how to control this. We would be putting people at risk, and we didn’t even know how to define those risks,” Littlefield said.
The Chicago Film Office stopped issuing permits March 16. Cinespace tenants “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago Med” and “Chicago P.D.” cut their seasons short, while the cast and crew of the Fox drama “Empire” didn’t get to film their intended series finale. Littlefield said making do with what had been shot was not an option for the “Fargo” team. “We knew that while a lot of our season was done, we knew that we didn’t have a conclusion.”
“Fargo” season four was initially scheduled to premiere in April 2020, nearly three years after season three finished airing in June 2017. The premiere was delayed, and the show’s team spent the monthslong shutdown studying a 40-page document on how to return to work safely. Littlefield said each department participated in a series of Zoom presentations on the new protocols. “Health and safety managers (came) in to educate us, and we had doctors that we were in consultation with. Hundreds and hundreds of hours of education preparation in order to go back.”
When the team was ready to return to work in Chicago, series creator Noah Hawley wrote a note to the cast and crew that said, “We have your back. You’re safe and you’re protected while you work for us. However, you also have a responsibility of when you’re not working for us,” Littlefield said. “Although because it’s Noah, and he’s such a brilliant writer, he turned it into a story about Tom Cruise doing a movie in outer space. That note is just kind of suitable for framing. It was a wonderful call to action.”
Littlefield said “Fargo” began filming again in late August 2020 with two new production units that were not supposed to intersect — a unit dedicated to stage work and a unit that worked on location. Beyond Cinespace, “Fargo” shot in Chicago neighborhoods, just outside the city and downstate. “The feeling was, if COVID became a factor, if we found that we had to shut down, there would be another unit that ideally would still be up and functioning and could get us to the end,” Littlefield said.