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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Brian DePalma, Griffith's many credits include Proof of Life, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Bourne Legacy, The Bourne Supremacy, Jumanji, Always, Arachnophobia, Tropic Thunder, Crimson Tide, Sleepless in Seattle and Contagion. In his intro, Hackford noted, "You know how much I and my colleagues value you because when it comes down to it, on so many levels, you deliver the look of our films. And the collaboration between me, my production designer and you as a group and as individuals on each film make the look of the film. And real locations make directors' lives easier when it comes to performances… I'm here to celebrate a friend, a collaborator and an amazing talent—Dow Griffith. "To go out and find the look of the picture, you need a great scout but to handle problems, you need a manager. Dow has both talents, although he would rather scout than manage. I'm here to celebrate someone I love. The fact that this organization is giving him the Lifetime Achievement Award pleases me immensely." In accepting the award, Griffith said, "I owe my career to Taylor Hackford, Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Richard Vane. Brian DePalma gave me my first job as a location manager in 1975. Since then, many other people have dared to give me assignments that created this "lifetime achievement" which is really an award for showing up to work every day to have fun making movies, so people around the world can enjoy them. It's like saying being paid for traveling the globe and learning from such inspired and talented people is somehow an award-winning achievement when really it's a privilege." He also marveled at how far location managers have come as professionals from when he started. "Back in 1976, I was able to help out with organizing one of the studio lots, along with Richard Vane. And now, Hollywood location managers are represented by Teamsters 399! Progress! Here's some of the other things that were lacking when I began going down this long road: film commissions, location libraries and services, cellphones, digital cameras, GPS, geo tagging, digital maps, email forums like SoCal Scouts and Locolist, computers and the entire world wide web! Visual FX became a reality so we no longer have to do things like remove telephone poles and electric lines for period films—I still can't believe we did that! We now have teams of assistant location manager professionals so that we don't have to do the job solo. "And most importantly, we now have the Location Managers Guild International where location managers from all over the world finally have found what they are looking for—a home, a community. Happy anniversary, LMGI!" Griffith credits this profession with making it possible for him to meet influential people from time to time, including legendary location pioneer Eva Monley! He recalled meeting Monley in London where she invited him to her flat for lunch. The 2023 EVA MONLEY AWARD was presented to legendary Academy Award-winning director, producer STEVEN SPIELBERG honoring his more than four decades of extraordinary work. Presenting the award to Mr. Spielberg was longtime Spielberg collaborator and Oscar-winning production designer, Rick Carter. Said Carter, "We all know it's an art form that we are doing here. And yes, there a lot of strategic, logistical considerations and financial considerations that we have to have as part of our work. But that 'vision thing' is so much at the center of what we are actually doing when we first go out with that blank canvas and want to understand what the world is that we are making a movie about. "Steven turned me on to a couple of concepts; the first is he approaches the scouting process, casting locations like he does his characters. You 'audition' locations asking them what they can bring to the role of the place that is going to be in the movie. The second concept is to identify what it is you are actually doing when you are looking for the location. It all comes down to answering L-R: LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD RECIPIENT DOW GRIFFITH/LMGI WITH PRESENTER, DIRECTOR TAYLOR HACKFORD LMGI COMPASS | Fall 2023 • 25 PHOTOS BY CRAIG T. MATHEW/MATHEW IMAGING