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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24 • LMGI COMPASS | Spring 2019 Caballero had never worked with Rodriguez, he says. "I don't make movies in Mexico. I'm from Mexico City, but since I did Pan's Labyrinth (for which he won an Oscar for Best Achievement in Art Direction in 2007), I work around the world. But when we started to work together, I saw that he was a good listener. He told me he wanted to see the places where the real story happened. Only when we started looking did we acknowledge it wasn't possible because many things had changed a lot in 50 years." Caballero speaks highly of Rodriguez. "I've worked with many location managers in my life," he says. "Most of them are very good, although sometimes I find they want a very fast answer rather than a thoughtful answer. Horacio hears what was said, understands and makes notes. He asks questions and comes back with solutions. I was impressed with his strength and that of his team. They really think outside the box. They try to understand what the director and designer want. They worked very closely with me. I think locations has to be part of the art department. Continuity was very important. A good part of what's on the screen is actually locations, especially in a film like this. "Horacio and his people are really team players. They were very professional in terms of 'You cannot do that because it's a histori- cal site.' They tried to provide some solutions of how to approach certain ideas. They found beautiful locations, but we spent many hours looking for them. If I do another film in Mexico, I'd want to do it with Horacio." Nancy Mills spoke with Rodriguez about his career and his work on Roma. Caballero provided additional comments. Nancy Mills: While filming Roma, did you have any difficulties working with Mexican bureaucracy? Horacio Rodriguez: In Mexico, Alfonso Cuarón is well known, and that helped us a lot while making Roma. Mexico City authorities agreed to fully support the project, and that's how we managed to avoid any bureaucracy. Each week, we planned a meeting with all the city authorities to discuss our needs. If we needed to close a street, some subway ac- cesses or some pedestrian accesses, they knew about it. Together, we found alternative routes in advance so as not to collapse the city in some areas. Working one or two weeks in advance helped a lot. To film the revolt that we see in the furniture store scene, where a student uprising occurred because of government repression in the '70s, government support helped a lot. It meant being able to control two days of filming in a section of Mexico City that was completely closed, where daily life takes place on a main street. NM: Can you describe the process for filming in Mexico? HR: The Mexican Film Commission has its headquarters in Mexico City. It is a support tool because it depends on the Mexican Institute of Cinematography, which operates at a federal level. It's linked to the 32 states in the country and tourist offices in charge of receiving film projects. There are no independent offices of cinematography. The Film Commission issues all the permits. It is the only body authorized in the city to give permission to production houses so they can film on the streets and park the trucks and deal with all the logistics involved in filming. To film in any of Mexico's 32 states, you must also make contact directly with that state. They are the ones that support you and set the local regulations, depending on your resource capacity. They can give you transportation or a tourist guide who can show you the whole state, whether you are looking for an urban or rural loca- tion. Unfortunately, there is no regulation that applies to all states. NM: On Roma, were you working in dangerous areas? HR: Like all large cities, Mexico City has areas where certain pre- cautions must be taken. And yes, indeed, we were in that type of zone. Fortunately, we made contact with the government au- thorities, and that helped a lot. The whole shoot flowed in a safe way for the more than 100 crew members, plus the extras. In order to film in Mexico City, you have to be in constant con- tact with the city authorities to control the street and access, whether it be pedestrian, vehicular or bicycle. It's normal to hire security teams—we call them logistic teams. Depending on the size of the production, they can be two people or 50 people. Photo courtesy of Horacio Rodriguez/LMGI Director Alfonso Cuarón, LM Horacio Rodriguez and production designer Eugenio Caballero.