Location Managers Guild International

Fall 2019

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 | Fall 2019 • 17 A and an eye on becoming an assistant location manager. My stepbrother, veteran line producer Steve Nicolaides, helped me achieve this goal when he set up an interview for me on a TV movie, Roe Vs. Wade, starring Holly Hunter, with location manager Mike Casey. We hit it off, and he brought me onto a his next series, Equal Justice. For LA location trivia buffs, that's the short-lived courtroom drama that started Dos Carlos ("DC") Stages, east of Downtown. But it was my next gig, and fi rst feature as an assistant, that was the most expensive movie ever made at the time— Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Who knew that weeks could be spent prepping one or two locations! The Terminal Island Freeway, where an entire night's fi lming consisted of crashing a helicopter rig into a moving pickup truck for what would amount to mere seconds of screen time. An entire neighborhood's traffi c rerouted so a pulley rig could be erected in the middle of a busy intersection for a semi- cab to hurl itself into the L.A. River. With location managers Steve Dawson, Richard Klotz and Jim Morris at the helm, my fi ve months in the trenches on T2 was a mind-blowing and hugely educational experience. If the fi lmmaking itself wasn't intense enough, the production coincided with the Gulf War, and while I'm not one to chat much with actors on set, I'll always remember standing at the craft service table with Linda Hamilton, watching the apocalyptic visions of real war playing on a nearby TV, as she refl ected on her mind being consumed by the similar visions of her character Sarah Connor. A groundbreaking classic like Terminator 2 aside, as a moviegoer I've always been drawn more to a great character-based drama than VFX-saturated fl avor of the week blockbusters. These are the types of movies I have found most rewarding to work on as well. My favorite fi lm of all time since the day I saw it twice in the same week upon its release is Paris, Texas, which also happens to be one of the greatest location-centric fi lms of all time—every scene, every landscape, so beautifully and hauntingly photographed. Essential location manager viewing. I still love Paris, Texas so much I decided to take myself on a fi eld trip seeking its LA area locations for a before- and-after photo essay—Not easy without a location list but that was part of the fun. After so many years of working strictly LA-based projects, I was excited to get a call from acclaimed production designer Jeannine Oppewall, to travel with her to snowy Iowa for an offbeat, indie thriller called Peacock. That great experience with new locations, faces and jurisdictions, got me to seek out more out-of-town gigs. This "one in town then one out" approach has familiarized me with the rest of the country, resulting in projects in Iowa, New Mexico, Michigan and North Carolina. Other than some initial scouting on a couple projects that never happened there, I'm amazed I have yet to end up on one in Georgia. Another project I did in Iowa was a clever Miguel Arteta comedy called Cedar Rapids— well, almost done in Iowa. In what became a legendary story of sorts among those involved—One fateful day, four weeks from the start of shooting, with all locations locked in the Des Moines area, we received word that all fi lm tax incentives were immediately frozen, due to a corruption scandal that erupted in the state fi lm offi ce. Within hours, Miguel, the line producer, designer and I found ourselves scrambling on a road trip through Michigan in search of a way to keep the movie on course. (Michigan also had desirable incentives at the time.) I compiled a list of every Holidome in the state and mapped out our best route. Our key location was a Holidome—a bygone era hotel that features a large, typically domed roof over a central court swimming pool, and each year there are fewer in existence. After being discouraged that none felt right nor available for a lengthy shoot on short notice, it was down to a fi nal candidate, in Ann Arbor. With fi ngers crossed, we pulled up, stepped inside its strangely vacant lobby and I blurted out, "It's perfect!! And it's even closed!!" At which point, a front Sometimes you have to fi nd unlikely places to sit and get some work done! (Hermosa Beach Pier) I didn't win one but I got to hold David & Sandy Wasco's!

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