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LMGI COMPASS
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Spring 2026
How lucky are we to work in an industry built on imagination—one that rewards the unique way
we visualize and process the world around us. How lucky are we to have built a community bound
by shared superpowers, dedicated to taming our wild minds with actual marketable skills.
This issue is crafted in the spirit of creative inspiration: celebrating what we do and how, by
connecting with each other, we learn to do it better.
In "Going Off Script: When Locations Shape the Story," writer Chris Evans talks to location
professionals whose trained eyes look past literal descriptions on the page to find spaces that
capture the emotional truth of a story that influences everything from character to action. LM
Andrea Keener/LMGI reflects on universal life lessons learned far from home in "Lessons From
Kurdistan," and LM John Lucas/LMGI finds cinematic potential in a small New Mexico desert
town in "Into the Hinterlands: Building
Eddington in Truth or Consequences."
"In the News" tracks a whirlwind international tour of events that expand and strengthen our
community: California's COLAs, FOCUS in London, the LMGI's debut at SXSW, a London panel
with a Royal Television Society and our annual "Locations Behind the Oscars" panels—plus a
Fam Tour to Stockholm, the results of the LMGI Board elections that named a new President,
Oklahoma Film & Music Day, Atlanta's first "Huddle" event and details on the Guild's new
membership tier pricing.
LM Markus Bensch/LMGI closes things out with a mind-bending image of Stockholm's Solna
Centrum Metro Station in this issue's "Martini Shot."
The LMGI Award submissions period gave the Awards Committee the opportunity to do a deep
dive into where everything is filmed and why—all in preparation for the 13th Annual LMGI Awards
gala on August 22 in Los Angeles. Every submission is a testament to the passion and craft we
bring to our work. How lucky are we to celebrate each other this way!
Until next time,
Stevie Nelson, Diane Friedman, Paul Messana, Edward Mazurek, Dodd Vickers and JJ Levine
FROM THE
EDITORS' DESK
"Creativity is a
wild mind and a
disciplined eye."
–DOROTHY PARKER
