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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34 • LMGI COMPASS | Summer 2024 brought in Daniella Watson, whose experience and organizational skills made her a shoo-in." Watson mentioned that Simon Marshall, the main filming liaison for the city of Sydney, was keen to experience filming from the other side. "So, we offered him a position knowing that his vast knowledge and experience in big events in the city would be crucial for what we were planning to do," says Roope. They also needed someone who could handle the logistics of parking an enormous unit, setting movement orders, liaising with transportation and organizing security. "For that, we turned to Ryan Cearns, who performed magnificently," Roope says. UNDER THE EVENTS BANNER Early on, LM Lisa Scope was informed that, due to a number of factors, the production would be treated by Screen NSW as a "special event." This would be a workaround to a more cumbersome film-permitting process and would radically streamline communication and, hopefully, approvals for what they already knew would be very ambitious filming requests. The Premier's Department in New South Wales runs the Events Operations Group, which comprises roughly 80 departments and includes representatives of city property owners, councils, as well as the owners of significant buildings like the Sydney Opera House. They would also have the benefit of a Premier's Memorandum, stating that Sydney was to be recognized as a film-friendly city and that everyone, including local councils, should do whatever they could to approve and accommodate filming permissions. "Being under that events banner was great because we were able to get everybody at the table at once and give them the pitch," explains Scope. "We were able to highlight how good the film would be for Sydney, and I've never experienced the New South Wales government come together quite like they did for this project." THE FIRST FALL The first sequence in the film sets the tone for what's to come in terms of insane stunts. It's a nearly three-minute "oner" that starts with Gosling walking from a basecamp trailer down a street and into a modern high-rise where he passes the working crew and gets into an elevator that rises 12 floors. Exiting the elevator, he walks around a beautiful, open central atrium enclosed with glass railings to an area where one of those railings has been removed and a platform has been installed. Several stunt riggers then approach Gosling and hook him into a harness that's connected to a winch as he coolly turns to camera, puts on his sunglasses and then leans back over the atrium! Now hanging there, suspended 12 stories up, he lets go of a safety line, gives a thumbs-up and, on "action," drops. It's worth noting that Gosling actually performed the 12-story fall himself. "I tried to get out of it a million times, but David wouldn't let me," says Gosling. "The reason I put on the sunglasses in that scene is because I had to hide my fear." L to R: Director David Leitch and Ryan Gosling on the set of The Fall Guy