The Location Managers Guild International (LMGI) is the largest organization of Location Managers and Location Scouts in the motion picture, television, commercial and print production industries. Their membership plays a vital role in the creativ
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LMGI COMPASS | Winter 2019 • 37 had to control all the side streets. We worked with the city for one month in advance and had great police support and the mo- torcade brigade to help block intersections, one after the other. It was a double-up day. While they were filming elsewhere, we had to take care of that huge shoot simultaneously. It was a chal- lenging night. We also filmed with planes, but they were in an airport environment. The city of Montreal really rolled out the red carpet for Jack Ryan. That made my job easier." The eighth episode might have been the most difficult. "We had a lot of explosions, stunts and chases," St-Arnaud says. "The stu- dent pizzeria explosion was challenging for spfx. The restaurant and neighborhood were not used to filming and needed to be reassured at every step. The (Nevada) casino scene, which we shot in Montreal, involved the provincial government-owned society, Loto-Québec, which manages three casinos and lottery here in Québec. It was the first time they had to deal with such a big production. We used a lot of their poker and roulette tables with their staff behind. "A lot of our studio sets involved things you see in Morocco for Syria and Lebanon—the interiors of the houses and cells where the hostages are kept. Montreal subbed for Yemen, Lebanon, Syr- ia, Turkey, Washington and Nevada (where the drone facility and Air Force base are located). All of the sets were designed in Mon- treal, even those shot in Morocco, where some sets were built. In the end, it was quite a challenge to deal with five directors and multiple designers trying to accommodate so many visions." THE MONTREAL LOCATION TEAM: Location Manager: Michèle St-Arnaud, LMGI Key Assistant Location Manager: Josée Francis ALM/Scouts: Kim Beaudoin, Brigitte Renaud, Patrick Laurendeau, Aïcha Raïhani, Maryse Desrosiers On-set location person: Bruno Lemire Photo (left) courtesy of Amazon Prime Video. Top photo: Myles Aronowitz/Amazon Prime Video WASHINGTON, D.C., & MARYLAND PEGGY PRIDEMORE, LMGI, who lives near Washington, D.C., origi- nally wanted to be an actress. She soon changed her mind and became a location assistant instead on Broadcast News in 1987. Two years later, she moved up to location manager. Her 44 LM credits include JFK, The Firm, Forrest Gump, Clear and Present Danger, The American President, Minority Report, Wedding Crash- ers, Argo, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Jason Bourne. "Peggy is the location manager I thought was most wizard-like," Phillips says. "She certainly seemed dialed in. She was really good making sure everyone knew the rules to filming in sensitive loca- tions and everyone obeyed them. She even knew which side of the street you could walk down when filming near the monuments. "One of the late asks was a mansion on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. I thought we'd never find one, especially inside the Zone with a water approach because of the helicopter's ar- rival. She kept sending photos until she found one that was pic- ture perfect. It had a backyard and a view of the Chesapeake Bay that was gorgeous. And it was near an airport, where we could base the helicopter. It was perfect and such a call to adventure. 'Dr. Ryan! Dr. Ryan. You've got to come with us!'" "Finding an appropriate mansion on the water (for a character that is one of the wealthiest people in America) that would let us land a Sikorsky helicopter on their lawn was my biggest chal- lenge," Pridemore agrees. "It took me a month, but we ended up using a house that had been filmed before, which is rare in our