‘The Bear’ Films on Water Tower Campus

The award-winning, Chicago-based drama “The Bear” spent a day filming on Loyola’s Water Tower Campus Feb. 25.

Production crew for the upcoming season filmed inside fine-dining restaurant Alpana, located at 831 N. State St. on the ground level of Loyola’s Quinlan School of Business, attracting a crowd of around 50 people — many of them students.

Actors Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Matty Matheson were spotted on site. A production assistant who requested to remain anonymous told The Phoenix Allen White wasn’t there to film and didn’t stay long.

The assistant said Allen White bypassed their “base camp” for checking in actors and seemingly left after picking up a copy of the script. The assistant also said although the production company is based in Los Angeles, the show’s crew is largely local.

Pink flyers were posted along West Rush Street, West Delaware Place, West Chestnut Place and North Michigan Avenue the previous day. The flyers indicated locations of filming for a production nicknamed “Four Seasons,” in reference to the show’s upcoming season. 

The flyers claimed production would take place from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 24 and from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Feb. 26 — though no filming occurred the previous day, according to the assistant.

Early Tuesday morning, supplies rental company Haddad’s equipment trucks parked outside of the School of Law and Arrupe College. Both the flyers and trucks were ordered by Minim Productions Inc. — a Los Angeles-based film production company, according to their website. The flyers additionally cited address 2558 W. 16th St, the home of Chicago’s Cinespace Film Studios.

Chicago Police Department officers monitored equipment unloading outside Alpana and blocked cars from passing through West Pearson Street. Cartfulls of equipment lined the outside of Alpana, as craft foods were set aside for crew and a lighting crane was hosted in the air. 

Between filming, actor and internet chef Matheson took photos with onlooking students spread across the street corners of Arrupe College, Mister J’s and CBD Kratom. Production wrapped by 5 p.m.

Neither Alpana nor Minim Productions were available for comment at the time of publication.

The next season of “The Bear” has yet to be given an official release date.