Location Managers Guild International

14 • LMGI COMPASS | Winter 2021 G U I L D I N T E R N A T I O N A L TM LMGI My fi nal show was Vice, the biographical dramedy, starring Christian Bale as former US Vice President Dick Cheney, which fi nished in January 2018. My work partner, Leslie Thorson/ LMGI, and I probably location managed more days in the city of Los Angeles on feature fi lms than anyone. On Vice, we had the wonderful opportunity to fi nd seven countries and six states for a story that spanned six decades, in and around the zone, with a production team that had little experience working in Los Angeles and a relatively short prep CAREER FOCUS John Panzarella: A Career Retrospective schedule. It fell on us, with a stellar supporting cast of location scouts, to fi nd all these elements and pull them together effi ciently. Fortunately, we had a spectacular production designer (Patrice Vermette) and director (Adam McKay) who picked locations at a success rate I'd never seen before. With few exceptions, they picked the fi rst locations we looked at. One day in the scout van, Adam said, "I don't want you to think I'm a pushover, picking locations so quickly ... you're just that good at fi nding the right ones." It didn't always happen that way. Often, we worked with directors who'd want to see 50, even 100 houses ... before eventually picking one of the fi rst ones we'd shown. That was one of the things we had to be prepared for ... that, and change. Constant changes, whether with the schedule, the script or casting issues ... if you're not equipped to deal with the inevitability of change, you don't want to be a location manager! I, however, was probably born to be one ... receiving early training from my father without either of us knowing the job of location manager existed. I remember him sitting me down to listen to the soundtrack of West Side Story and bidding me to visualize the scenes. I particularly remember the song about Offi cer Krupke. I think those exercises went a long way toward helping me know what to do when I read a script and how to go about fi nding the locations that were called for. My father and I used to go out and drive around, looking at period houses and neighborhoods with an eye to what comprised superior craftsmanship and architectural style; at an early age, I was already "scouting locations" without being aware of it. He also took me into Manhattan when I was 8 for the premiere of The Longest Day, and I've been in love with movies ever since (I still have the program!). My cultural education continued under the tutelage of an older cousin, who took me to see the Beatles at Shea Stadium. Many concerts later, I left New York for California, a surfer bound for the Pacifi c Ocean, trading the Fillmore East for Winterland. The fi rst time I smelled eucalyptus and redwoods, I knew I'd made the right (only) choice for my new life. I enrolled at UC Santa Cruz and immersed myself in fi lm studies. After Santa Cruz, I moved to Los Angeles in search of fi lm work. It didn't take long for me to fi nd it. My earliest jobs were nonunion, and not in locations ... at least not offi cially. I worked as a production assistant, as a set builder (on The Beastmaster—indisputably a classic!), transportation coordinator (on Alligator), John Panzarella/LMGI on the set of Aloha. All photos courtesy of John Panzarella/LMGI I'm retired now. After 39 years in the business—36 as a Hollywood Teamster location manager—I have to say, I don't miss it one little bit.

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• 20-27 In My City Chicago
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