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/1524995
56 • LMGI COMPASS | Summer 2024 OUTSTANDING FILM COMMISSION CITY OF SYDNEY & SCREEN NSW – THE FALL GUY People, cars and even dumpsters flew, crashed and exploded through the streets of Sydney in a series of world first-action sequences, thanks in large part to the City of Sydney & Screen NSW. Their unwavering logistical support helped to bring incredible stunt work to the screen during an unprecedented lockdown. With major streets, including the Sydney Opera House strip experiencing restricted access to traffic, the stunt team was able to transform these areas into a playground for their creativity, showcasing explosive scenes at the Sydney Opera House and Bennelong Point involving a barge detonation in Farm Cove. Coupled with a GMC K2500 truck jumping over walls, intense multi-story falls, and even Ryan Gosling vehicle-surfing across the Sydney Harbour Bridge while hanging onto a shovel, added an intense cinematic dimension to the story. GLASGOW FILM OFFICE – INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY A moon-landing parade comes to Glasgow in the fifth installment of the Indiana Jones adventure series, requiring a number of city center streets to recreate New York City in the late 1960s. The Glasgow Film Office worked with colleagues in traffic and events to open a three-week shooting window, juggling the European Championships and a second feature film production nearby. With filming taking place in a recently reopened business district following several pandemic lockdowns, the team was faced with PR challenges above and beyond the usual inconvenience of location filming. The large production footprint also required road closures, parking restrictions and removal of street furniture, with era-correct shop fronts created which required extensive discussion with many businesses. Parade dressing was also placed on buildings and a fake subway entrance was created, with eco-friendly ticker tape completing the celebratory illusion. NEW MEXICO FILM OFFICE – OPPENHEIMER The New Mexico Film Office helped transport audiences to the birthplace of the atomic bomb, transforming the 21,000-acre Ghost Ranch outside Santa Fe into a World War II-era desert laboratory—and a film industry asset. Securing Ghost Ranch as a qualified production facility unlocked an additional tax credit for the production company, in exchange for permanent sets built onsite to benefit the area by drawing in film tourism. The vastness of the property also allowed for the construction of a full-scale 1940's Los Alamos replica, while the film office also helped the story transcend the screen by working with the Los Alamos Historical Society to grant access to several of the actual historical buildings. The office also supported filming in Belen, whose stark beauty provided a faithful representation of the bomb's testing grounds in Socorro. FILM IN ICELAND – TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY A deadly mystery unfolds on Alaska's frozen tundra in the town of Ennis, reflected in Iceland's vast landscapes where the story was lensed. Film in Iceland helped to coordinate increased tax incentives and access to government agencies, playing a fundamental role in securing locations around the country. The story required several settings that could communicate the desolation of the land itself, along with the physical challenges of an extreme- weather environment. A small ski slope near Reykjavik was the perfect setting for the scientists' remote Arctic research station, while the seaside town of Ennis was created in Keflavik and Dalvik.