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 | Summer 2019 • 59 research. I consider myself a digger. History intrigues me and knowing the origin of things seriously sparks my curiosity. I fell in love with architectural drafting in high school. I walked away from it to pursue a career in entertainment, and after all of these years, I am pleasantly surrounded by architecture again. My greatest enjoyment is working on era-specific projects in which I am surrounded with amazing architecture. I love every flourish, every cornice and every embellishment! PM: What have you found to be the most challenging? JF: A challenge for me has been to balance work and personal time Monday through Friday. I also want to perfect my storage systems to best organize and add metadata to my photo galleries. As a fly chica, I need to work on my transition from day-to-night outfits, too! PM: Atlanta seems to be synonymous with your work but do you see yourself taking on new cities or countries? JF: I am absolutely comfortable with the idea of working in various markets. Prior to now, I have always had regional job titles and responsibilities and implemented a turnkey approach to my work situations. PM: Do you have any advice for any young assistants just starting out and why? JF: My advice would be to respect people on all levels of the project. Being thorough has always been something that followed my career. Because I have worked in the entertainment business since the '90s, people were always on standby for my job. I always want to be a strong asset to my team which means I need to be able to make my team better, faster, smarter and quicker. I do not only want to land a job, but keep a job. PM: What's the best location advice you've received? JF: I take advice from veterans in the entertainment business who are respected within all sectors of film and television entertainment and not solely within the Location Department. I once worked with an art director who gave me great advice about scouting locations in the woods to 'always make notes using a compass.' A veteran location manager once advised me to 'always shoot straight' and an assistant director once advised me that 'my photos should always be a visual storyboard.' A transportation captain once advised me to 'always maintain balance and take time for myself.' With the continuous pressure surrounding location deliverables, the need for life balance and self-maintenance is what I believe will keep me refreshed enough to continue to grind over my career span. I eat extremely healthy, too. I teasingly say that I want to be 'Angela Bassett fabulous' in my 60s. I share the same advice. PM: What are your tools of the trade? What car or tech gadget or tool can't you live without? JF: My favorite tool is Google Earth Pro to aid in scouting rooftop structures, parking lots, streetscapes and the earth's textures. I absolutely cannot live without Wi-Fi and I like having multiple gadgets on me that allow me to surf the web or text/ talk simultaneously. Smugmug and Dropbox are tools that aid me with photo organizing and photo sharing. For my car, plush reclining leather seats are a must, and I recently discovered an amazing anti-theft device called Pacsafe Anti-Theft Backpack and Bag Protector. PM: What made you decide to join the LMGI? JF: I joined the LMGI because it is an organization comprised of people who share my work experiences. On a daily basis, we are highly likely to relate to each other's career struggles and achievements. I also love that the LMGI membership in the southeast region is a growing one. I love the idea of being on the ground floor of growth in the market in which I work.