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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16 • LMGI COMPASS | Fall 2019 G U I L D I N T E R N A T I O N A L TM LMGI Yes, my three siblings and I grew up in Hollywood as child actors, each with varying degrees of success. That nerdy, redheaded girl who likes Peter on an episode of The Brady Bunch? That was my sister Karen. When Sabrina put a spell on Larry and turned him into a little kid on Bewitched, that was my brother Ted. We were all "discovered" at the same time, while visiting NBC where my dad was a stage manager—apparently the smitten talent agent had a shortage of precocious carrot tops. And so I did the acting thing for several years, getting pulled out of school for interviews, being recognized every now and then for this CAREER FOCUS Hooray for Hollywood: Foulkes in Tinsel Town by Robert Foulkes commercial or that ("Was that you riding in that giant barrel of Kentucky Fried Chicken?"), until I reached the age of 13, when it started to feel like I was competing for parts with kids who clearly wanted to be (and were) real actors seeking to be cast in more signifi cant roles. With acting behind me, I shifted my creative interests to writing, and when my parents moved from Glendale to Beverly Hills, I was given the opportunity to study fi lmmaking upon discovering that Beverly Hills High School had its own fi lm and TV department. I was fi rst among my classmates to have a camcorder (the large, clunky kind), and some grumbled how unfair it was that I wasn't having to learn Super 8 splicing and sound syncing like they were but instead allowed to turn in half-hour- long, dialogue-fi lled "shorts" that merely had to be edited by transferring shots from one VCR to another. This "epic" approach did get me a Filmmaker of the Year Award, but that was primarily due to over-the-top performances from classmates Nicolas Cage (née Coppola) and Crispin Glover. I would say it was that ol' camcorder that also started my passion for scouting locations—My brother Greg chasing Crispin through the hills of Griffi th Park before a ranger kicked us out (no permit!). Nick playing Death strutting through the Century City mall in search of his next prey. MTV-inspired music video featuring iconic Beverly Hills locations for a satire on greed to Oingo Boingo's "Ain't This the Life." Admittedly, the pretentious musings of a teenager, these experiences, nonetheless, confi rmed that whatever was in store for me would absolutely, in one form or another, involve a career in moviemaking. After applying to several fi lm schools, I chose to attend Cal State Northridge (I got into USC but, yikes, those tuition fees!), and found that, while CSUN had a decent fi lm department, I gravitated back toward screenwriting as my emphasis. Upon graduation, I landed a minor agent, got a few small options on material and a couple no-budget fi lms made with friends, but, while exciting, these things did not a career make. Having lived in LA my entire young life, I relocated to Santa Barbara and landed a job at Santa Barbara Location Services, where I got my fi rst taste of what location managing entails. Preparing photo presentations, booking locations for primarily print ad photographers and assisting with logistics were my main duties. A few interesting one-off jobs also sprung up —the most nerve-wracking being a Japanese Asahi beer commercial in which I was inexplicably chosen to drive a 35-foot-long motor home containing one Kenny Loggins. It was just me and him, a legendary rock star seated in the far back, as I desperately tried to not slip a "footloose" on the accelerator and steer us into a "danger zone" through the hills of Montecito. I returned to LA with my newly acquired location skills My career in Hollywood? It began when I kissed Bob Newhart. Okay, I was five years old. And it was on the cheek. And it was for a scene on The Bob Newhart Show. Asking Bob for a goodnight kiss on The Bob Newhart Show