Location Manager
Robert Bentley/LMGI
Survives
by Shaun O'Banion
All photos courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment except where noted.
Problem-solving, facing fear, overcoming
obstacles—are escape rooms, a heightened
version of moviemaking and perhaps—life?
LOCKED IN
Picture this: A group of people—o en friends or colleagues, but
sometimes complete strangers—willingly enter a room and are then
locked inside. To get out, they must work together to solve a puzzle
or series of puzzles in a given amount of time. The time it takes to
"escape" from the room can vary anywhere from 45 minutes up to
an hour and a half, depending on the skill level of the teams and
intensity of the room. There are so-called linear rooms, in which the
puzzles have a set order, and nonlinear rooms, in which the puzzles
are chaotic and extremely complex.
For some people, this might sound like a nightmare, but for a growing contingent, the
experience is an exhilarating obsession. They're called "escape rooms" and they've
become big business both in the United States and abroad. Recently, they've even become
a staple for U.S. corporations that use the rooms for team-building exercises. Jumping
on board this global phenomenon, Sony Pictures Screen Gems released Escape Room in
2019. Building on the phenomenal success of the fi rst fi lm, the sequel—Escape Room:
Tournament of Champions—was not far behind. Also fi lmed in South Africa, it has just
been released.
When LM Robert Bentley came on board the project he was well equipped for the
challenge not yet realizing that—metaphorically speaking—he would also be plotting his
own escape.
"My friend and colleague, Deon Du Preez/LMGI, did the fi rst fi lm and was working on the
second one when he had a personal issue that required him to step away. I took over the
show from him and had to hit the ground running. Fortunately, I had a good KALM to bring
me up to speed," he says.
ESCAPE ROOM:
TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
