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/1528194
34 • LMGI COMPASS | Fall 2024 time of the day," says McWilliams. "That makes our scouting very complex. Even to the point where we're going in and doing LIDAR scans of a location before they're even chosen. They'll build a quick, virtual model so they can previs the shots for the director." Saying no to the directors/designers is one of the toughest parts of the job. "As an assistant, I used to be able to say, 'no, this can't be done.' But now, as a manager, I find myself faced with having to do a really difficult job and accommodate every difficult whim and request without objection. The approach is 'we're going to make it happen, no matter what,'" says Oliver. LOCATION CHANGES Inevitably, location managers also must deal with ever-changing locations wherever they're shooting in the world. Keeping tabs of these changes is a job in itself. "There are a lot of 1980s Soviet-style buildings in Lithuania, which are great for films and TV series, but they're not cultural heritage sites or protected by UNESCO, so they get torn down or changed as we modernize, which is happening at a rapid rate in Vilnius (the capital of Lithuania)," says Spokas. "The Lukiskes Prison we used for Netflix's Stranger Things, for example, was empty when we took it over, but is now being used as a creative community hub for musicians, artists and parties." Some location managers make good money from their digital location libraries, which are constantly updated. One said they are employed as a consultant because they have pictures from all over the world. She often gets requests like, "Can you send me the top 10 beaches in Thailand or the best streets in Budapest?" and she'll do most of the research from home. A-TEAM The increased demands on location managers inevitably means the need for them to have bigger location teams. "I did a film called The Hole, starring Thora Birch, about 20 years ago and it was just the two of us in the Location Department. A film of that scale now would have a SLM, plus six or seven," says Lawrence. Supervisors understandably push to have their own guys onboard, although this isn't always possible. Many studios and production companies choose to shoot in a location to access the financial incentives, so want to use as many local crew as possible to meet the approval criteria. "I try to push for a mix of my core guys with local folk, which works well," says Fantasia. "However, I've got a friend who's working in an incentive state and they were told they couldn't bring anyone from LA, everyone's going to be local, and that's killing them." He argues that it's short-sighted. The production manager is saving the airfare, hotel and per diem (so a few thousand bucks), "but when one guy screws up and the caterer is an hour late getting in or the grips can't park their trucks, that costs more than $5,000." Locals often have their own way of working too. Oliver points out: "When I worked on the first Black Panther movie in Busan, South Korea, there were times where the local crew would do their own thing, and that's great. But there was too much uncertainty over getting permits and closing down streets. That doesn't fly when you've got 200 crew members waiting to descend on a location to do a massive stunt scene, so it required a bit of people management. But the locals were onboard, especially as they knew it would be a great showcase for their city." Photo by Dodd Vickers/LMGI