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LMGI COMPASS
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Summer 2019
"For me, the most wonderful part job-wise was collaborating with
other people and departments. When you get a team that's very
tight, it becomes creatively a big payoff. You can find the perfect
street, but everyone on that street has to say YES. If one person
says NO, that's the end of it. That's where Rick shines. He'll walk
up to people and talk and say, 'Would you mind having our film
crew here for many weeks?' That's a talent—to be able to make
people feel comfortable and calm. That can have a giant impact
on a neighborhood."
SWEET-TALKING AN ACTOR
Schuler's most surprising encounter while hunting locations for
Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood came from an actor. "As I stood
there viewing the gate of this house, one of the owners drove up,
lowered his window and gave me that look of 'what are you up to
in this neighborhood?'" Schuler says. "The short version of what
transpired is that he was an actor and swore that he would NEVER
allow someone to film inside his house.
"After numerous friendly meetings over beers at first and then
red wine and pasta afterward (he cooked pasta like he was an
Italian and come to find out he had lived and worked in Italy
some years before), he said to me, 'I don't know why I'm doing
this, but I trust you guys.'
"So without a signed contract in place but based solely on a hand-
shake, he handed us his house keys before he and his wife left for
Wisconsin to visit his kids. Although the filming is a bit of a distant
memory, our friendship with him and his wife endures. What an
amazing couple! The owner of the companion house, as well as
the rest of the neighborhood proved friendly and accommodating,
although it took the expertise of veteran Scott Fitzgerald to pull it
all together. And as is always the case with Scott in any neighbor-
hood that he makes his own, we could roll back in and be greeted
with a friendly welcome."
Schuler's vocal support of his core team has built up a strong
bond among them. "I work a lot with Rick," Fitzgerald says. "He's
a great guy. He's not just a boss. He's a friend. That's what makes
our team effective. We'll work really hard for each other and help
each other out. Steve Mapel took the Hollywood Boulevard loca-
tions under his wing. That was his thing, and he got it up and run-
ning. But we helped out as a team to support him. It's about trust."
