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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32 • LMGI COMPASS | Winter 2021 task in the case of television, as all members committed to watch a minimum of one to three episodes of every series— which made for a staggering amount of peak TV-viewing hours. "We had over 100 entries for television," says Nelson. "We were blown away by the quality of the work—in scale, in scope and in execution." Balton was equally impressed with the feature entries. "Every year, we see a rise in productions that fi t the bill and truly have creative use of locations as a lynchpin for storytelling. Regarding the Film Commission Award, we were pleased to have such strong international representation—all with impressive visual contenders. This award in particular illustrates that the LMGI Awards are global." Not to be outdone, the commercial team parsed over 75 spots. "We didn't have too much issue narrowing down the top 10 but had great issue in cutting that number to fi ve," admits Ledgerwood. "It was important to the committee, and especially the location scouts and managers that work in commercials, that the nominations truly showed the best of what our medium can produce and inspire others." "Our primary objective was to choose work in which the story was so clearly told through the locations themselves," explains Miller. "We decided early on to watch the commercials, as a group, with the sound off, to test if the clips stood on their own. In the end, our nominees represented projects from China, Argentina, the UK, Spain and the U.S." Narrowing the submissions is an intense process, with several rounds of voting within each subcommittee. "It's not about how many or how beautiful the locations are, or even how logistically challenging they are to fi lm. We look for that magic mix—location, character, action—all have to work together to tell the story," says Nelson. By the end of July, the fi ve or six nominees in each category had been selected and were ready to present to the LMGI membership for a vote. Finalists were announced in late August. LMGI administrative manager Erika Howard picked up the ball from there, gathering contact data and guiding 81 nominees through the event process. "I keep an eye on everything and swoop in to make sure that nothing falls through the cracks!" she explains. In the past, sponsors and nominees were fl own to L.A. for the awards gala and treated to a pre-awards mixer and after-party. Howard was worried that this year they might feel short-changed. "I wanted to fi nd a way to give them more exposure and meet each other. I got this idea to create Zoom panels for the fi nalists in each category. I had already been in contact with all the nominees about recording their acceptance speeches in case they won, so I just took it to the next level. I sent out invites and we recorded a series of moderated conversations with whoever could join in to share their behind-the-scenes stories. The location team on ZeroZeroZero worked across three continents and had never met before! Jill Naumann/LMGI and Paquita Hughes/LMGI hosted several of the panels and they did a great job! The panels were a great way to create excitement and publicize the show on a number of platforms leading up to the event. We also invited our sponsors to a Zoom "brunch" to meet nominees and LMGI members. Over 150 people participated! "For the fi rst time, sponsors were invited to contribute video ads," says IDM sales rep Carol Skeldon. "Some of our past supporters had to understandably bow out this year, but we were able to bring in companies who had COVID services to promote and international fi lm commissions who had beautiful locations to show off. We could be like the Super Bowl, with the ads being a part of the program!" By fall, presenters in all categories had been confi rmed. Finalists, presenters and award honorees sent in acceptance speeches or intros recorded on their phones. Everyone had adapted to the Zoom universe and felt more confi dent taping themselves. The honorees for the Guild's signature Trailblazer, Eva Monley, Humanitarian and Lifetime Achievement Awards were falling into place. The last puzzle piece arrived just in time. "Spike Lee had agreed to accept the Trailblazer Award early on," shares Balton, "but getting the actual footage was a nail-biter—it was the very last thing to come in, just hours before our production deadline." "We were so excited to honor Spike this year," says Event Subcommittee member Alison Taylor/LMGI. "Both Tim Stacker/LMGI, Spike's location manager on BlacKkKlansman, and I felt strongly that Spike was truly deserving of this award. He was the fi rst person to have people of color on EMMA PILL/LMGI NOMINEE, 1917 MIKE FANTASIA/LMGI DAVE DOUMENG/LMGI PRESHOW