LMGI COMPASS
|
Summer 2024
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41
Phillip Roope/LMGI - SLM
David Watts/LMGI - On-set LM
Lisa Scope/LMGI - LM
Daniella Watson - LM
Simon Marshall - LM
THE FALL GUY
LOCATION DEPARTMENT
TEACHER, TRAINER, LOCATION MANAGER
Phillip Roope
has followed a
very unique career
path to becoming a
supervising location
manager with a string
of impressive credits
to his name.
"I had been teaching
English and history for
six years when I got
a call from one of my
mates whose band,
Hoodoo Gurus, had
become very famous in Australia," says Roope. "One night,
the band invited me to bring my dog Molly to their latest gig
as Molly was known to 'sing' along whenever I sang or played
music."
Roope put on a coat, got a diamond collar for Molly and,
between sets for the band, the pair would head on stage to
entertain the crowd.
"We brought the house down," Roope recalls. "People were
throwing money onto the stage!"
That same night, someone stepped out of the audience and
asked if Roope would be interested in doing the act on TV. At
first, he passed, but having always had an interest in film and
television, eventually relented and was soon appearing on all
the popular nighttime shows in Australia.
Riding on the back of Molly's TV success, he made a
couple of government-funded short films, starring his prize
pooch, one of which screened at the Sydney Film Festival
and resulted in a surprise offer from a well-known local
producer.
He proposed making a feature length film called,
appropriately, Molly, for a budget of $A1.5 million, and
Roope would be brought on in a variety of roles. "By the
time we started, I was the associate producer, co-writer,
location manager, unit manager, publicist and a few other
titles as well," he laughs.
Despite the best of intentions, it wasn't the success
Roope had hoped for, but the experience hadn't dulled
his interest in film. The next year, his teaching credentials
landed him a gig on a major Australian production. "I got a
job looking after the feral children on George Miller's Mad
Max Beyond Thunderdome!"
That job opened
the door to working
with Kennedy/
Miller as a location
manager on their
early TV series
Vietnam, starring
fellow Aussie
Nicole Kidman.
Roope's reputation
grew steadily over
the years, and he
eventually became
one of the most
in-demand SLMs on
the continent.
Left to right: Ryan Cearns, Daniella Watson,
Simon Marshall, Lisa Scope, Lola Pedder,
Phillip Roope, James Doherty, David Watts
Photo courtesy of Lisa Scope/LMGI
Ryan Cearns - LM
David Singleton - LM
James Doherty/LMGI - Location Coordinator
Sarah Abbey/LMGI - Location Coordinator
Lola Pedder - Location Assistant
