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 2023 Charlottenburg Town Hall Another logistical challenge in Season 3 came in the form of the Lumberjack Games, an axe-tossing, tree-sawing logger sports extravaganza filmed over seven days at the Grouse Mountain ski resort, vacant thanks to COVID. Already familiar with the spot from his key location production assistant work on American Pie Presents: The Book of Love, Millar knew he could generate badly needed revenue for the resort while capturing incredible views. "It was such a joy working with Grant Wahl, the resort's director of operations, and their team, there's so much mutual gratitude because they got the income and we're getting these ridiculous amazing visuals. "I was taking a dirt bike up and down the back forest service roads to figure out how to get the trucks up there. Transport was leery about the 45-minute drive up and back, and the only other way is these two massive European-style James Bond gondolas." So, they moved the equipment to the peak in the empty gondolas, built tents for extras and gear, and waited for the completion of a week-long set build. Then over the long Thanksgiving weekend—just before filming was to start—a windstorm destroyed everything. The crew rallied, shot what had remained standing, and rebuilt what they could as they filmed. "You're on a mountain in the middle of October and it's getting close to ski season, so the weather is always going to be a factor when you're at elevation," says Millar. "The teams were such troopers up there, just phenomenal. Then two days to wrap, a snowstorm came and buried a bunch of our electrical gear and crushed our tents, thousands of dollars in damage." Millar feels that the resulting scenes of Jack and Mel hurtling through the spectacular landscape on a zipline made the extreme effort it took to shoot well worth it. He also hired Grouse Mountain staff to teach the cast the literal ropes and reached out to the producer of the actual lumberjack games who brought in a crew of real-life loggers to chainsaw, log-roll and speed climb in the background. The show's narrative pace offers continuity challenges, too. Shooting a days-long storyline over five months in an area with profound seasonal changes means adjusting technically and logistically to melting snowlines, shedding deciduous trees and whip-fast weather shifts. "We're always trying to make December look like June," says Hay. "When we did the cannabis camp for the first time, we were on location for three days and you need continuity, but the first day we showed up there was 3½ inches of snow on the ground and we weren't expecting any. We thought that there's no way we would be able to keep that for three days because in Vancouver it usually rains by the next day, so it was a bit of a panic. But luckily, the weather gods were with us, and it stayed cold and there was no rain for three days and it all worked out." Tenney explains how they worked the surprise snow into the Photo by Robert "Fluffy" Millar/LMGI