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 2020 • 25 for and if during my travels, I remembered something that might be of interest, I would call him. All he would say was "This is great, you have an eye." Eventually Bob said, "You should be a location manager" to which I responded, "excuse me, what is that exactly?" Bob explained it was a new category within the Directors Guild of Canada and he thought I could do it. He said he thought my knowledge of architecture was good, that I knew how to read scripts, visualize movement, research the characters, etc., so I decided to give it a try. Bob told me about a production called Prom Night … I thought to myself … sounds like a real winner… When I enquired about the job, Bob had coached me, telling me to say I had wrapped three films in Ireland. I asked what "wrapped" meant and he explained. I then said, "I don't lie." I called the production office—the person on the phone asked, "How many films have you wrapped?" I answered, "None." His response was not in English; I was shocked and told him he was badly brought up … and he responded, "can you come in for an interview?" I said yes, hoping to meet him in person and let him experience "the wrath of Aine" but he was nowhere to be found. There were few location managers at that time in Ontario and they were busy so I gather the producers hired me given nobody else was available. I was told it was nonunion and that didn't mean anything to me. This was a real education as there was nobody to train me or give me advice (other than Bob's little tutorial). I learned how to read a script per locations, then was told by the 1st AD what would be locations and what would be studio by showing me the board (which was literally a big board with pieces of cardboard strips indicating the day, set, scene number, and day or night). They had a high school as their main location and production office so we called it the studio. It was easy to figure out the shoot days by looking at this board. I would always keep open dialogue with the 1st AD as changes were sometimes made hourly. I learned to discuss things with the director and art director (there were no production designers back then) to determine the "look" and background for each character. This was fascinating to me and I soaked it up like a sponge. Filming in 1979 was different: no cellphone with fancy apps, computers, fax machines or permits required—just notification letters to the neighborhood. I would go around with loads of quarters in my pocket and my camera in hand. I started with a Nikon F and I would take the rolls of film to be developed and paste the photos together to do my show and tell. For some reason, I got lucky given what I showed seemed to please but I hadn't yet worked "on location" other than our high school set. Another rude awakening!! Halfway through filming, a new film commissioner was appointed for Toronto, Naish McHugh, who was in Economic Development. Permits were now required. Again, all new to me, rush- hour traffic rules, fire hydrant rules and the list goes on. I kept learning. He was an amazing pal that continued for years as he taught me so much about how City Hall operated. He would go out on a limb to help productions bring their show to successful completion. This was a time when people were really excited to see a production come into their neighborhood. First day on set, my former husband's office was the location for the psychiatrist's office with Leslie Neilson in consultation with the doctor. The office was on the second floor of a building. I planned the parking (only 10-ton trucks in those days for nonunion) for the unit and crew cars in the parking lot as it was a Saturday. Everyone started to arrive. The 1st AD asked, "How do we get to the second floor?" I thought this was a strange question so I got into the elevator and said, "Let me show you … just press 2 and the elevator will take you to the second floor" … he responded with a big sigh!... "How do we get to the second floor?" …now I am thinking, he perhaps doesn't understand my response … then he said, "it is going to be on service" … oh! on service? I got the maintenance manager and he put the elevator on service for us. So that's how I kept learning the fundamentals of locations. I was the worst location manager ever on Prom Night, made many errors but learned never to repeat them. The producers mortgaged their home to do some additional scenes long after the movie wrapped. I got a call to manage the additional shoot. Publlicity poster for The Littlest Hobo