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 | Summer 2019 • 43 To get to that point, Mapel delved deep into the nitty-gritty. "We took a T-shirt store and turned it back into Larry Edmunds Bookshop, where it used to be on the boulevard," he says. "We took a tourist gift shop and turned it into a record store from the outside. We removed huge awnings and signs from a Mexican cantina that was part of the Vogue Theatre and installed a full marquee set piece to make it look exactly like it did in 1969. In today's world of filmmaking, a lot of this would frequently be achieved through visual effects. That was not the case on this film. We used the in-camera approach. What you shoot on location is what you see on the screen. We even worked out deals with billboard companies so we could skin over their billboards with movie posters from 1969." GETTING PERMISSION Schuler says, "Actually, we did the closure twice for two different sections of the boulevard. The first time from Highland to Cahuen- ga and the second time from Cahuenga to El Centro." It didn't hurt that Schuler took Tarantino to meet with the local business stake- holders, LADOT, the City Council office & FilmLA— the people who would be giving permission to shut down the street. He advised the director to talk about growing up in Hollywood, owning a theater in Holly- wood (the New Beverly Cin- ema) and making a movie about Hollywood. Permis- sion was quickly granted. "The dates were carefully chosen," Schuler says, "landing on a Monday and Tuesday and avoiding any large Hollywood Bowl event, even though the month of July was the worst month to be doing this kind of thing because of the tourist season. I gently pitched the tourist season might prove to be the best time if one were to think of the bigger picture of selling Hollywood as a destination to a world- wide audience." Once Upon a Time line producer Georgia Kacandes describes the Hollywood Boulevard sequences as "the big black hole in our production plan—we had no idea what it would cost. Quentin's love for Hollywood and specifically his love for Hollywood history went a long way to getting what we needed. Rick took Quentin to meet the decision-makers in person, and it was great for them to see a filmmaker who cared about their investments, a guy who eats at Musso & Frank once a week. It was the perfect marriage. We weren't killing people. We weren't apocalyptic. We were just portraying two guys coming out of Musso & Frank and driving down Hollywood Boulevard in 1969. It was positive exposure. We asked, 'Can you help us?' And they said, 'Yes.' Luckily, Rick had done some work with the Hollywood Boulevard Association be- fore so they trusted him. He also had the philosophy of paying top dollar, so we pretty much greased our way in there." Kacandes, who served as executive producer and UPM on Tar- antino's The Hateful Eight, knew what to expect when he invited her back for the new film. "Quentin is a true leader," she says. "He knows what he wants, so he can guide his cast and crew to give him what he wants. He was exacting in his study and recollection of what Hollywood in 1969 looked like when he was a boy. He had a factual and visceral understanding of what he wanted to portray. In the scout van, QT and Barbara Ling would go back-and-forth … Remember that store that sold records on that corner? … Oh yes, it was called … This was the constant conversation that went on week after week in a small van with recordings from 1969 KTLA radio shows inspiring us on our journey." Although filming was mostly on location, Kacandes says, "We did go into Raleigh Studios. Netflix generously let us rent some of their Left: Was there a Peaches Records & Tapes on Hollywood Boulevard in 1969? Yes! Above: Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio at the Musso & Frank Grill.