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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34 • LMGI COMPASS | Winter 2019 Explaining what she was looking for in general, Balton says, "The producers wanted Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan to feel like the Clancy movies," she says, "but it was television. I started in Los Angeles and found desert locations and options for Turkey. I found inter- esting locations for the military base and for the streets where the mother and kids are being chased. Those scenes could have been shot in L.A." They weren't because the producers decided that Montreal was a better home base. "We had so much going on in Morocco and Paris, that Montreal made traveling easier," Balton says. "Also, Montreal is a goldmine of a city for filming. It's got so many classic European looks. I searched for the Alps locations in Europe and we decided there were locations that could work outside Montreal." Then Balton jumped on a plane to Europe. She spent some time in Rome but the scenario was ultimately, cut from the script. The next stop was Paris. They hunted for the cités (housing projects) of the 93rd arrondissement that Kaiser had cleared. "This was a challenge," Kaiser agrees. "You just can't go by yourself and scout. Cameras are not welcome in these problem areas, you must find a door opener first." "One set of apartment complexes on the edge of Paris seemed perfect, but safety issues took precedence," Balton adds. "The complex was incredible—designed for luxury. Developers thought upper middle-class Parisians would live there, but it TELLING THE STORY Let's start the way the television version of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan started—with LORI BALTON, LMGI who spent three months researching locations. "Lori has to have one of the greatest jobs," Phillips says. "She's paid to fly around the world and find the most photogenic plac- es—the beautiful places and the desperate places. I don't think she's afraid of anything. She'll go anywhere and meet anybody. She knows how to charm her way in foreign countries and for- eign cultures. She blazed the trail for the rest of us." According to him, Balton was especially effective in Morocco. "Morocco is a huge country, and there are a lot of cities we could have chosen," he says. "Lori understood that the budget wasn't unlimited. She understood that we needed to find as many locations as close to- gether as possible, and she did it." Balton, the first location professional invited to join the Acad- emy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is amused by Phillips' take on her job. "While I love my job, it's hard work. Getting on a plane and repacking every day gets old real fast." she says. "As soon as you get through Customs, you have to be awake enough to head out and scout. Sometimes with the production designer, and with a production service, I scout and report back. In Paris, Arnaud Kaiser was a great asset. I reached out to him as a result of the LMGI Awards."