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LMGI COMPASS
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Spring 2025
Mark Freid
I moved out to California at 19, and got my first job on a film
set working with my brother Gary Kesell, who happened to be
a location manager. It was a movie of the week called Maximum
Liability, and I did craft service.
Then I met a group of people through friendships that were
doing little film and TV jobs, and we ended up working as PAs on
these HBO specials for Tom and Roseanne, the famous Arnolds.
We were there when the fights happened. This is what Hollywood
was for me as a kid at the time.
While doing that, I got to know director Peter Segel, who was
producing the HBO jobs. He brought us along to work at Lorimar
Television on The Jackie Thomas Show. Then movies followed,
including the Naked Gun films. So, I was hanging out with OJ
Simpson, Anna Nicole Smith and Priscilla Presley. But also working
my ass off.
Eventually, I kept working through a load of positions, including
post-production coordinator on kids shows and a regular
production coordinator on a bunch of projects.
Then I started making my own little movies and entering little
film festivals and got into producing broadband content for a
video on demand broadband service in San Francisco. That lasted
about 2½ years before the company went bankrupt.
My brother then called me to work as an ALM on a show called
First Monday and I loved it. This led to shows and films with other
people as an ALM and KALM, including Confessions of a Dangerous
Mind, Bruce Almighty and Hollywood Homicide.
My first location manager role came on the feature Rampart,
which was life changing, working with director Oren Overman in a
super creative environment. It was neat having a job where I really
got into a director's head and understood the vibe. I brought my
wife and newborn to the set to see Woody Harrelson's character
beat the crap out of someone.
I also got to work on The Details with Tobey Maguire and
Elizabeth Banks. But then I moved more into corporate and
commercial work and fewer episodics and movies.
I had a good run on The Sex Lives of College Girls while it filmed
in Washington, but have primarily been doing commercials,
especially car jobs, because that's the most prolific work that
comes through in Seattle.
Then Imperial Woodpecker came in with this Toyota job and
Lisa referenced a Ford commercial we did, which was epic. I mean
I've done big movies like Evan Almighty, but that commercial was
huge. We had an entire company up on a ski resort. I love the work
I do.
Filming at Ebey's Landing National
Historic Reserve, Whidbey Island.
Photo by Mark Freid/LMGI
