91ÊÓƵ

Los Angeles must be getting old for actors, producers, and everyone else involved with TV these days. First, the TNT hit Leverage came to shoot in Portland, (though the show takes place in Boston). Then Portlandia on IFC showcased our, ahem, quirky nature.

Now, two writer-execs of Buffy and Angel fame see fit to custom-tailor a show to Portland, dubbed . David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf use Portland as a backdrop, capturing our constantly gray skies, sprawling forests amid a city skyline, and the City of Roses’ natural draw toward fantasy amid reality.

“We wrote this for Portland…we never considered another location,” Greenwalt said at the Portland sneak-peek premiere on Monday, Oct. 24. “It has the look of the Brothers Grimm stories.”

Set in modern-day Portland, the show follows homicide detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) as he discovers that he is the last in the Grimm family line, whose duty is to protect the public from living fairy-tale evil. This includes witches, werewolves, and the like, and Nick’s partner Hank Griffin (Russell Hornby), his love interest Juliette Silverton (Bitsie Tulloch), and bad-wolf-gone-good Eddie Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) are all on hand for support as Nick comes to terms with the truth of his heritage.

Grimm is intended for a multi-year run, according to Kouf and Greenwalt, meaning there will be plenty of construction of shooting sets, temporary road closures, crews setting up actor trailers on location, and more while the show places Portland even higher on the entertainment chain.

“The city is its own character,” Hornby said of acting in Portland.

Tom McFadden, executive director of the , said that shows such as Grimm and Leverage spend roughly $50 million per season, and those are funds that positively impact the area where a show is being shot on location.

“The economic impact is quite broad,” McFadden said. He added that the Grimm budget involves hundreds of people who work on, among other areas, the set lighting, set designers, set builders, set painters, transportation coordinators, makeup trailers and flaggers.

That means plenty of work for laborers in the area, particularly those seeking work among creative enterprise. Grimm airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on NBC, with a full season in the work s and—based on the positive fan reaction at the early screening—a good chance to stick around for a while.

Photo courtesy of NBC Universal