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
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1488629
MF: The rest of the family worked/works in post-production, so our paths never crossed. My grandmother was slowly retiring when I was coming up as a PA; my grandfather was retired by the time I was a teen and my father works in a sound studio so he is never out on location or in the production office. I did work with a few sound guys who recognized my name and knew my father but that was about it. My grandparents were NYC based for most of their lives. When my grandmother became an executive at Warner Bros., she and my grandfather moved out to LA. That was sometime in the late '90s. My father still works in NYC out of SoundTracks F/T. PM: How long have you been working in locations and what do you primarily work on? MF: I met Carol Cuddy in 2009 and she gave me my first opportunity on a big show as a set PA on the film Remember Me. After PA'ing for a while, I had the opportunity to jump over to locations while working on the TV show Gossip Girl (the original). Two amazing location managers, Sascha Springer (Sisterhood of Night) and Michele Baker (God's Pocket), both gave me separate opportunities and took a risk with a young guy and allowed me to shine as an ALM and scout and I never really looked back after that. PM: Was there a particular moment while scouting/assistant managing that really made you think about this field as a long-term career worth pursuing? Are there particular people or productions that have inspired you to take this current career path? MF: When I moved up from location PA and actually got to get into the nitty gritty of scouting, contracts, negotiations, all the "fun" so to speak, I found that I have a knack for working with people. You are oftentimes the first person the community sees or hears from and that first impression is so important. You can truly pave the way or burn a bridge before anything even begins. Working in locations also allowed me to use my talents for hunting out new places and organizing logistics. On my first ALM job, Sisterhood of Night, we filmed in Kingston, NY, a city about an hour and a half north of NYC. This was before the big film boom in Upstate New York, so even though we were a tiny production, we were some of the first film productions a lot of the city had seen in a while. This was before locations on the East Coast were unionized either, so we all wore a few hats. Being such a small production, you really got to be involved in every aspect, from meetings with the mayor and town officials to scrambling for a second meal at 11 pm out in the woods. I learned a lot on that job and it really helped me sharpen my teeth for future projects. One of my passions has always been to travel. Pre-COVID, I was on the move to a new country every chance I got. I literally returned a rental car at the airport after wrapping a job once and jumped on a plane. I've been blessed and can say I have made it to all seven continents. The film business, while all encompassing, does allow you the freedom to enjoy life a little bit more than a 9-5 would. The work life balance is a constant and real struggle. PM: So what's next? Is there anything you are aspiring to do in locations? MF: I always dreamed about doing one of those around-the-world jobs, like Gemini Man, 007, Mission: Impossible, etc. To be able to scout for locations around the world and help facilitate that filming would be a check off the bucket list. But besides that, I'm really just trying to take it one opportunity at a time. My wife and I have started to have the conversation of possibly moving out to California to be closer to family.