Locations Behind
the 2026 Oscars!
On March 14, the LMGI presented its
much-anticipated annual Zoom panel:
the 2026 edition of "Locations Behind
the Oscars."
This year's event was produced and
moderated by yours truly, with guidance
and co-moderation from Los Angeles-
based LM JJ Levine/LMGI and LMGI
Communications and Operations
Director Erika Howard assisting behind
the scenes.
We had the great fortune of being joined
by location professionals from nearly
every Oscar-nominated film and were
equally excited to add several new LMGI
co-moderators to the panel to better
represent our Guild's global presence,
including Canadian-based LM Robin
Macdonald, UK-based LMs Dee Gregson
and Mick Ratman.
First up, we had JJ Levine discussing
Frankenstein with SLM Andrew Michael
Buckley/LMGI who joined the call, while
on location in Malta.
by Sasha Alvarez Denisoff/LMGI
I spoke with Tom Woods, the UK-based
SLM for Bugonia, as well as KALM
Joseph Raines/LMGI who represented
the portions of the film that were shot in
and around Atlanta, Georgia.
Mick Ratman chatted with UK-based
SLM Charlie Hayes/LMGI about his
work on F1, as well as Brazilian-based
LM Isabela Cunha about filming The
Secret Agent in northern Brazil.
Dee Gregson caught up with colleague
and former assistant Lindsey Powell
who was on the call to talk about her
work as the SLM of Hamnet.
Robin Macdonald joined us from
Canada to talk to New York City-based
SLM Matthew Kania and LM Ross
Brodar/LMGI about their experiences
filming Marty Supreme.
Having previously spoken to SLM
Elston Howard/LMGI about his work
on Sinners just prior to the LMGI
Awards, I was thrilled to continue the
conversation about filming this project
in Louisiana.
JJ Levine led the discussions about
Train Dreams, which was represented
by LM Nick Ader, ALMs Pete Moroz and
Phil Andrade, production supervisor/
transportation coordinator Marc
Dahlstrom and production coordinator
Jennifer Gatts—it was a robust selection
of the proverbial village it took to film
this project in Washington State.
One Battle After Another closed out
our panel as I spoke with LMGI Board
member and SLM Michael Glaser and
KALM scout Rich Heichel about their
extensive preproduction scouting all
over California, as well as LM Michael
Wesley/LMGI who helped smooth out
the logistics of the chosen locations,
and ALM Jacob Cena/LMGI about how
he held down the fort in El Paso, Texas.
While we could have easily spent hours
talking about each film, whetting the
appetite with a taste of each Oscar-
nominated team's experience made
for a fun-filled afternoon hearing from
colleagues who are truly at the top of
their game. Producing this panel is as
inspiring as it is informative, and we
look forward to the next one!
If you missed seeing the panel live,
you can view it on our LMGI YouTube
channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
pJNh4hIkw_o&list=PLhat08t510nB
Ed_yvpN3XyO4iMubT8quT
