Reel to Real

It looked like a Hollywood opening, but it took place in a much more unlikely place, the Milwaukee suburb of St. Francis. With more then 500 people in attendance, guest of honor Tony Shalhoub cut the ribbon on Jan. 8 for the new RDI stages, a 27,000 square foot facility hoping to attract greater film and television production work to the area.

The opening comes at a time when Wisconsin just completed year-one of its tax incentive program and enjoyed the biggest financial year on record for film, television and video gaming work. The year was kicked-off with the Johnny Depp film Public Enemies, but also included several smaller independent films. 

In attending the opening, the multiple Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning star of Monk announced that he would be coming to Door County, Wis. in February to shoot a new feature film, Feed the Fish.

It probably comes as a surprise to most people that Shalhoub is a “Cheesehead” who grew up in Green Bay.

At the studio opening, Shalhoub was besieged by fans who wanted him to pose for pictures with their children, sign their Monk bobbleheads and other memorabilia.

Shalhoub described the upcoming film as “an homage to Wisconsin, especially to rural Wisconsin." It will be the first time he has filmed in his home state, but with the new tax incentives, he said he’d like to return more often for work reasons. He comes home several times a year to see family. 

Now in its seventh season, Shalhoub says when he goes in front of the cameras again in March for the eighth season, it will probably be his last.

His visit to Milwaukee was brief as he had to grab the next flight back to L.A. to attend the Golden Globes. What are your favorite episodes of Monk? Did you watch the Golden Globes?