LMGI COMPASS
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Fall 2017
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role (A Merry War) in locations. I accepted, not knowing what
a location manager was, and it morphed into a path that was
just perfect."
In the two decades since then, Pill has built a strong career,
making her one of the top LMs in the U.K. Over the years, she has
worked with such directors as Kenneth Branagh, Tim Burton,
Marc Forster, Paul Greengrass, Phyllida Lloyd, Chris Nolan and
Steven Spielberg. Right now, she is working on Disney's Christo-
pher Robin for Forster, due out in 2018. "It might be a smaller cast
and crew, but you still have the same amount of work," she says,
comparing it to Blade Runner 2049. "I have a pretty challenging
schedule. There are a hell of a lot of locations.
"It really depends how you set up the team on the schedule.
Sometimes we have three to five locations where we're prepping,
shooting and striking at the same time. I have 13 or 14 on the
Christopher Robin team. You have to be a bit more creative on
your deals and budgets. We don't have a Bond budget, but we
have a similar number of people on the team. I have amazing
producers who listen when I say, 'This is why I need X, Y and Z.' If
I had two locations and 20 people, something would be wrong."
Pill found one of 2049's most
striking locations in an old tin
factory. Shown is the basement.
Looking back on how her career progressed from hanging
out in the woods to basically closing the Thames River for a
spectacular action sequence in Spectre, she says, "You start by
doing small films. You work with key producers and production
designers. When they get bigger films, they request you. You end
up going with the flow.
"For me, everything changed in 2005. Munich was my first launch
into big-boy films. The film shot in two countries. I did Malta
with location manager Mark Somner, and was there for about six
months. We doubled Malta for seven other countries, including
Israel, Spain and Italy. The good thing in Malta is that English is
their second language, so I was able to bring a few of my team
from the U.K."
LMGI's Ali James, who was Pill's assistant for eight years and
served as ALM on Munich, has some colorful memories of that
Spielberg film. To illustrate her boss's determination to get the
job done, James describes an incident that occurred during
their time on the island. "We found a location we wanted," she
Photo
by
Emma
Pill/LMGI
