Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1506077
LMGI TRAILBLAZER AWARD 2023 BETH TATE D ramatic landscapes and architecture wowed visitors at a groundbreaking 2003 photo exhibit in Hollywood called "In the Zone: Los Angeles Through the Eyes of Location Scouts," showcasing the important role of location professionals in film production. The Los Angeles Times called the photos "creative tools unseen by outsiders, yet in many respects, they are the overlooked link in the chain that connects somebody's fantasy with everyone's reality." The exhibit's co-producer, gifted filmmaker and location scout Beth Tate (China Lake), aimed to change that dynamic by repositioning location management as a vital component of filmmaking. Tate, a seasoned line producer, production manager and location scout, was comfortable establishing her own career path in a time when few women held technical positions behind the camera. After studying film at the University of Texas, she worked at the local PBS affiliate in the electrical, sound and set decoration departments, later earning her place as an electrician on All in the Family. "One minute I was in Dallas working at a small commercial house, and the next I'm holding a ratchet wrench and circuit tester watching Carrol O'Connor and Rob Reiner run through their lines," she recalls. "It was surreal." Beth drew major industry attention when she co-wrote and produced the gritty short film China Lake in 1981, shot on short ends more than 11 days in Joshua Tree. "It was very avant-garde, very edgy—before its time." Catapulted into the studio system after the film's reception, Tate got a development deal to produce genre films in Spain. "Whatever I developed, I got to produce, so it was fantastic because I got to pull in all my filmmaker friends who are really talented but didn't fit in. This was perfect because they wanted to do horror, action, comedy—but kind of low- budget, edgy, Tarantino stuff." Tate then worked as a story executive at 20th Century Fox, where she brought in then- unknown writer Clive Barker. Missing the hands-on production life, Tate went on to work on projects for filmmakers David Giler, Sam Peckinpah, William Friedkin, Michael Tolkin, Danny DeVito, Danny Boyle and Stuart Cornfeld, among many others. She continued a thriving career in commercial and print scouting, working with famed automotive director and car print photographer Tim Damon. By 2003, Tate's production chops and studio experience had given her a unique understanding of the labor inequities that held location professionals at