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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56 • LMGI COMPASS | Summer 2020 Sharing essential on-the-job training for running a base camp and parking a unit, each session is 45 minutes, with a total of six sessions. Boot camp covers how to fuel plant equipment, understanding a call sheet, operating a tower light, operating bowsers and setting up catering; cables and distribution; and signage. There are 12 instructors, two per session. A mixture of classroom and hands-on learning, Turner designed a curriculum incorporating the many things that can no longer be learned on the frenetically paced job. The feedback has been gratifying. From concept to execution, the boot camp came about in three short weeks. The stars aligned and on the day of, 60 participants arrived from as far away as Scotland and Ireland, eager to learn. "They were so grateful for the opportunity. There was so much camaraderie," Turner proclaims, "it's incredibly rewarding. My only regret is our next session is on hold due to COVID-19." Turner believes patience is a critical skill for novices to develop. That and "respecting the process and learning how to listen," she adds with a characteristic grin, "admittedly though, I have to remind myself of these skills sometimes!" LMGI Board member Mac Gordon also identified a need as Atlanta swiftly grew into a production hub. This dovetailed into LMGI regional seminars. Gordon believes education of current members and training the next generation is an area where the LMGI can have a lasting impact. "It's simple really," he states. "My generation came up with mentors; the rules were clear. The world of permits, neighbors, prep time, and so on was less complicated or compressed. We knew who the good LMs were and who to avoid." He shares Lawrence's sentiment that "Production is now booming all over the world; a new generation is coming up without mentors or rules. Mediocre LMs teach bad habits, and we are all so busy that new members are not prepared. Novices work for LMs who recently came up and were never properly trained themselves. Without fundamental education, movie crews are not going to be welcomed anywhere," he cautions. Matching Atlanta's dramatic growth in production, the demand for location staff has skyrocketed. Gordon comments, "Very eager but inexperienced people have been drafted in with mixed success. I decided to stop complaining and try to fix it." With help from colleagues, Gordon held a class for location PAs and ALMs. Dismayed by low attendance, he nonetheless enjoyed challenging people to think. The next year, LMGI President Mike Fantasia and Business Partner Sharena Hall of Southscout conceived the Drone Event, which really took off—a presentation of state-of-the-art equipment with the FAA and licensed pilots. Fantasia's team anchored by LMGI Board members Mac Gordon, Ryan Schaetzle and Matt Chamberlin raised sponsorships and at- tendance. Next were two successive events hosted respectively by Stone Mountain and Pinewood Studios that included classes in scouting, fundamentals, supervision and LM roundtables manned by experienced LMGI location pros. These well-attended sessions are models for continued success. While rewarding to see the classes take off, Gordon laments, "It's frustrating that these events take a lot of time to execute, while working full time. But bad location decisions made in the field negatively impact all of us by association, inspiring me to keep teaching. Some fundamental elements of our job can be taught. I'm interested in ethics and the defense of the department—critical skills, yet many don't get it. They surrender to domineering UPMs, allowing their team to be abused—maybe they were abused with 16-hour days when they came up ... patterns continue. LMs must learn to protect our team, defend our departments from zealous Scouting on location at Heathrow. Opposite page: Mike Leon/LMGI teaching Lightroom Workshop for Teamsters Local 399. Photo courtesy of Tim Hillman/LMGI. Heathrow 2015