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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30 • LMGI COMPASS | Summer 2020 One potential host school that Kemp said was initially open to renting lunch and staging areas during the first season backed out after a coalition of guidance counselors "wrote a letter warning the district of their perceived dangers of the show. That quick rejection played out a few other times at different campuses, many of them colleges, over the three seasons that followed." The show found an ally in the West Sonoma County High School District, which leased the campus of Analy High School in Sebastopol to stand in for the fictional Liberty High—the epicenter of the story and the keystone location in all four seasons. Its administrators read Asher's book and supported the show's good intentions. They were also dealing with a budget crisis that outweighed their concerns about the liberties Hollywood might take. "This was a way for us to generate a large amount of revenue," said Jennie Bruneman, who managed the contract for the district. "Looking back four years later, I would have asked for more money," she joked. "It was a lot of work." After the series wrapped, Bruneman reported to school officials that the show paid a total of almost $500K over the course of its four seasons, including the lease payments, staff overtime wages and infrastructure improvements that would be left in place. She had nothing but praise for the cast and crew for their professionalism and minimal impact, whose production schedule sometimes overlapped with the school calendar. "A lot of it was a shell game," Bruneman said. "I moved football games, choir, every practice you can think of. We were willing to be flexible and I'll give it to Hollywood, they are not afraid to ask. The answer is always no unless you ask, and I wanted to help them make something that was bigger than all of us." The first season of 13 Reasons Why broke records for audience demand, according to seemingly every available metric (save for actual ratings, which Netflix does not release). The show also drew mixed reviews and fierce criticism. In a statement, then Netflix VP of Original Series Brian Wright said, "We saw global conversation explode on the controversial topics covered by the series and understood we had a responsibility to support these important discussions." The streamer commissioned a study that showed the majority of teens and adults who watched the first season "found the show relatable" and said it "made them feel more comfortable processing tough topics," among other positive findings. When Netflix greenlit a second season, Bruneman found it was a harder sell with school officials. "We didn't have a book to reference," she said, adding that every season was carefully considered. "It was never a done deal." That sort of uncertainty was an obstacle for the Location Department for the rest of the series. "Whenever I met a person who said something to the effect of 'that awful show glorifying teen suicide,' I would ask them if they had seen the show," said Kemp. "Every time they would reply that they had not seen it, but they had heard about it. It was challenging to proceed with someone who had a preconceived notion." Season 2 dealt with the ongoing consequences of bullying, sexual assault and rape, and the suicide that changed the characters' lives in the first season, while they faced new struggles with peer pressure, mental illness and addiction. On top of that, Yorkey expanded his vision for the scope of the show: "I was able to say to the team at Paramount Studios—hey, there are a lot of eyes on this show, and it needs to look good and it needs to be