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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LMGI COMPASS | Fall 2024 • 33 HARRIET LAWRENCE "In the 1990s, your location manager that you were assisting usually was juggling two or three projects and would leave you to it. I remember having to manage a commercial involving steam trains and trucks across a level crossing and an actor tied to the railway line. I was ill-equipped but managed it. You learned by geing things wrong. That's no longer the case." KYLE "SNAPPY" OLIVER "I had been an assistant for many years on several big projects before taking the step up to location manager on the TV series Penny Dreadful, but it was difficult and I was surprisingly ignorant of everything the location manager does. I was suddenly having to manage multiple people with different personalities and requirements, and handling the challenges and consequences for every action, big or small. I'm geing beer at it as I go along, but there are a lot of responsibilities." CHRISTIAN McWILLIAMS "If I spot a good, keen person on set, I'll give them experience on productions. I've used Set Ready quite a lot to bring in trainees. One of the key stipulations, though, is that they have to be able to drive. We then give them plenty of support on set and many have climbed up to marshals, scouts and location managers." TISHA JEFFERSON "I had been a key assistant for a while, but then got a few calls from producers offering me location management work, and so I made the jump on a show called Maggie. It was a great experience, but sadly the show was canceled aer one season. "It was interesting going from thinking about one or two locations to the overall project in its entirety. I was suddenly having conversations with the producers. But my experience as an assistant at least gave me an understanding of how locations work and the responsibilities on set. I'm still hands on with everything like the generators and communicating with residents and municipalities for permits, but now from a position of power. Plus, I had the support of the producers and production staff. I love juggling the creative and logistics side of things." Breaking Into Location Management Location managers discuss what it's like starting out in the role… showing all normal and crazy options immediately, even Google pics." McWilliams adds: "With a multi-episode show, sometimes it's also not just one location a day, but four. So ideally, you want to find everything within a mile or two." This is where having trusted locations that can be used from season to season helps, so there is familiarity for the cast and crew. And ideally, directors/showrunners with a clear vision for the show. "This is difficult too because often there are different directors for each season with their own visions and they're brought in late to the party, so you have to adapt quickly to their requirements," says Haecker. "We're generally handing them locations, and they'll only change them if it's completely wrong to their vision." By contrast, on films, particularly the major Hollywood ones, the lead time is usually longer, so the creative team can collaborate better. "I'm with David Fincher for at least 15 months to 17 months on a project. Fortunately, he is very meticulous in his prep and knows exactly what he wants, so we plan everything and then hand the studio our locations, production design, schedule, full script and budget, ready to start," says Doyle. The difficulty is that on films and TV series now, the demands can be more precise and onerous in a world of high-end production values and visual effects. "We're getting specific requirements for shots, like needing a cliff facing in the perfect direction where the sun hits at a certain