When the Chicago-set blockbuster "Divergent" hit movie screens in March, fans of the series flocked to the theater. But Kate Levinson had her own reasons to be excited. "Going to see 'Divergent' was kind of the best day all year, because every other scene I'd be like, 'I know where that is!''I know where that is!''I know where that is!'" Levinson said. "I took the day off and ate popcorn."
It's no wonder the city's scenic nooks and unexpected crannies looked so familiar to the 31-year-old West Town resident-as the founder of Levinson Locations, Chicago is Levinson's business. In addition to the thousands of local houses, public buildings and natural settings cataloged on her office computer, Levinson's grasp of the city and its surrounding areas has been honed with her peep-toe leather booties on the ground. At clients' requests, she's found parks, theaters and pharmacies; lined up photo shoots under bridges and between buildings; and left her contact information in countless mailboxes when a unique home catches her eye.
"Everyone's always like, 'Oh, you're a location scout, what do you do? Drive around and look for cool stuff?' Sometimes [I do]," she said. "Those are really fun days. There are a couple days a year usually when someone's like, 'Could you go scout dairy farms?' And I get to spend two days driving around the country, meeting farmers, taking pictures of cows."
On the rare occasion that Levinson is at her desk in the funky West Town studio she shares with two staffers-and a mounted flea-market buck's head dubbed Bobo Snacks Sandpaper-she's verifying insurance, pulling city permits and ironing out other less glamorous details. The administrative workload has compounded as Levinson's business has grown. Since founding Levinson Locations in 2009, the one-time assistant to former Chicago location scout Hilary Rose has added both colleagues and a new brick-and-mortar workspace in the past 18 months. It was her time with Rose that introduced Levinson to the idea of scouting. "I would have never known about this job," Levinson said. "Who knows about this job?"
Growing up in north suburban Deerfield, Levinson had imagined she'd be a teacher. She linked up with Rose as an intern in 2004 when an interest in magazine publishing was sparked during her years at DePaul. When Rose retired a few years later, Levinson gradually took the reins-along with several of Rose's major accounts like Crate & Barrel and American Girl.
There is no typical day for Levinson, but here's what she was up to on a recent Thursday: She'd already scouted one location in Hyde Park that morning and before she heads to the set for a Cat Footwear shoot in a River North parking lot, she's pulling together images on file for another project. At the next desk, Emily Sutherlin, 29, researches houses that might work for a Mattel shoot. The search to find exactly what a client is looking for, Levinson and her team agree, often is the most challenging aspect of the job. A recent gig locating a photo-permitting food processing plant for a paper towel company, for example, meant days of hunting and only two viable options out of the hundreds Levinson Locations identified in the area.
"Scouting for new stuff is really challenging and it's really rewarding when you find something," Sutherlin said. "You've done the research and you gone out and taken photos of something and the client is like 'I love this!'"
Though her work revolves around capturing particular Chicago-area spots, Levinson has no formal background in photography. Her eye has developed, she says, after years of practice, and in the process she's accumulated resources many photographers can't.
"Let's say Bounty paper towels is doing a shoot and they want a white kitchen," Levinson said. "If you're a photographer, maybe your mom has a nice white kitchen or your neighbor, but how many options do you really have? ... When somebody calls me, I can show them 20 white kitchens in an hour."
Something else Levinson provides? A rehabbed Class A camper-turned-mobile production studio. On this particular day, this latest venture is waiting for Levinson in the River North parking lot along with her husband, Mike Muschong, who co-founded MoPro Chicago with her last summer. With more than half of Levinson's clients requiring a place for wardrobe, makeup and other shoot essentials, combined with Muschong's years co-owning a valet service, the endeavor seemed like a natural extension.
"I think [Kate] likes that challenge," said Muschong, 36. "When we hear about a project that sounds almost impossible, she's determined to make it possible."
Production staffers greet Levinson as photographers utilize the industrial ambience of the surrounding buildings, catching the whir of the Kennedy Expressway against the September sun as it slants through a cutout in the concrete. NBC's "Chicago Fire" filmed on the same block just a week earlier. The recent spate of Chicago-set TV shows and movies, Levinson says, has kept her especially busy. As other local film and television-focused scouts are scooped up for visiting productions, clients in need turn to her. And in a city like this one, Levinson says, there are always more places to discover.
"Within an hour of Chicago, you have 'the ocean' ... you have dunes, you have wilderness, forests, there's a big city, there's rural. There's everything here. It's really amazing," she said. "[Clients will] be like 'Can you find me a beach that looks like the Hamptons?' and I'm like, 'Yeah, totally.'"
gpurdom@tribune.com | @gwenpurdom
This profile is part of a series about Chicagoans with unique jobs in the arts. Know someone who deserves to be profiled? Email redeye@tribune.com with the subject line "Arts jobs" or tweet us @redeyechicago.