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/1521905
shoot from every single business in the area." Aikawa assumes the police figured that he and the team would simply abandon the request given that it meant speaking with and gaining the permission of a few hundred businesses. They were wrong. "We went to every single owner multiple times over that six-month period until we got permission," says Masa. Ultimately, they were given limited control of the street for just six hours, from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Poul chalks up the approval to a number of factors. "First, Masa and his team just did a great job putting it all together. And then, I think, it's that once the first season had aired in Japan, they realized we weren't doing with our show what other foreigners had done before which is to make it all into this sort of cheesy exoticism. "At the same time, we had sort of become VIPs in a way thanks to a couple of members of the parliament and our U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, who is no stranger to the entertainment world and even hosted a party on our behalf at his official residence. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, it was down to the cooperation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) under the leadership of Governor Yuriko Koike." Koike even asked Poul if he'd be willing to serve as the official Tourism Ambassador for the Tokyo Metropolitan government. "Believe me, I'm not so deluded to think that that carries a lot of weight with the cops, but it does create a superficial perception of our being welcome in the city," he says. Members of the local Japanese industry are amazed by what Aikawa and the producers have pulled off. Poul has been asked to give a seminar to some 300 industry professionals under the auspices of the Visual Industry Promotional Organization (VIPO), a quasi-governmental agency in Japan that is trying to facilitate production there. Fortunately, with the first season having aired to much critical acclaim, it seemed the doors had opened a bit wider to the team when they reassembled for Season 2. JAKE'S APARTMENT During prep for the pilot, Mann was wandering around the city when he found himself in Akabane (赤羽), a neighborhood in Kita, Tokyo, near the border with Saitama Prefecture. He was immediately taken with it as the place where the young reporter might live. "I had already found another location in an area Michael had been to quite a bit," recalls Aikawa, "but from what I heard, he had gotten lost in Akabane and decided he liked the atmosphere there." Aikawa knew that filming in Akabane would not be an easy get—particularly since much of the shooting there across both seasons would require night work. "Of course, with night shoots, you're mostly worried about noise complaints," says Masa, "and we did get some, but in the end, we worked it out with people, and I guess we did OK because when Season 2 came around, we were allowed to come back." Akasaka road. Photo by Masa Aikawa/LMGI