Gentrified: Losing Logan Square

May 17, 2017

The ink on his degree is barely dry, but Timothy McManus already is gaining notoriety for a short documentary he shot while studying at Loyola University Chicago’s School of Communication.

McManus, 30, produced a nine-minute documentary focusing on gentrification as part of his capstone project for his graduate program in Digital Media and Storytelling. McManus received his master’s degree from Loyola during the May 11 School of Communication commencement.

The documentary discusses the gentrification of Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, and how new development is raising rents and making it difficult for longtime residents to stay.

Gentrified: Losing Logan Square includes interviews with Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (Ward 35), State Rep. Will Guzzardi, and local activists such as Justine Bayod Espoz. It also features interviews with residents affected by gentrification.

“I moved to Logan Square when I enrolled at Loyola, and from the first day, I saw evidence of gentrification,” McManus said. “The changes were dramatic. I saw three-story condos replacing working class homes.”

McManus, from Austin, Texas, studied at Loyola because he was drawn to its social justice mission. He felt the Digital Media and Storytelling master’s program enabled him to examine social justice issues through documentary filmmaking.

McManus credits Loyola School of Communication professors Aaron Greer and Richelle Rogers with inspiring him to shoot documentaries.

“The classes I took with them were transforming,” McManus said. “Professor Rogers taught me how to tell a story, and Professor Greer taught me how to film and edit a documentary.”

Gentrified: Losing Logan Square was recently featured in an article on Chicagoist, a news blog.

McManus hopes to show Gentrified: Losing Logan Square at local and national film festivals.

The documentary can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rFRichsqaY&t=3s