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/1545239
38 • LMGI COMPASS | Spring 2026 Ryan Smith/LMGI, United States Smith is a prominent supervising location manager in the film and TV industry, known for his work on major productions like Severance, Max's Love & Death, tick, tick... BOOM! and The King of Staten Island. He brings a holistic, bespoke sensibility to location work, approaching each environment from a filmmaking perspective—considering how seing can singularly inform character, establish tone and propel narrative. "When I go scouting, I want to find special and unique locations that speak the language of the project." –Ryan Smith/LMGI. Severance This intelligent, dystopian Apple TV thriller-comedy follows a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. Winner of 10 Primetime Emmys, the show filmed on stage, as well as at a variety of impressive outdoor locations across North America, including New York, New Jersey and Newfoundland, Canada. "Working on Severance, we were brought into the creative process so early that they were actually writing the script around the incredible locations we were photographing," enthuses Ryan Smith/LMGI, SLM and second unit director on the second season of the show. Smith was also supported by location manager "extraordinaire," Grace Kwon/ LMGI. Smith points to one particular standout location for an episode in which Patricia Arquette's character Harmony Cobel returns to her hometown of Salt's Neck, a small, economically ruined fishing village on the coast. "We were spitballing ideas, thinking about a real-world version of the fishing village in Robert Altman's Popeye (shot in Malta)—trying to find something that screams fishing village and 'other,' but still feels reachable by car from our established world," says Smith. It's not actually clear where Severance is set, but the climate and terrain are familiar, so Smith and his team wanted to stick to North America. "Our scouts went up the Eastern Seaboard to the top of Maine, which is beautiful but didn't have the 'otherness' we were after. There was a familiarity to it. I was chatting with our cinematographer, Jessica Lee Gagné—who's also a producer on the show and from Montreal. She had L-R: Ryan Smith/LMGI, Austin Siegert, Grace Kwon/LMGI previously shot on Fogo Island, off the coast of Newfoundland, which she thought might have what we want." Smith headed there, keen to check it out for himself. He flew into St John's and drove the entire northeast coast, up and down the peninsulas, exploring each village along the way. "The week I went, the internet was down for a good part of the time, so I didn't have GPS. I just had paper maps and a highlighter and talked to store owners and residents. It was proper old-school scouting," he says. "Eventually, I managed to get a boat across to Fogo Island and Severance "Scissor Cave." Photo by Ryan Smith/LMGI "When I go scouting, I want to find special and unique locations that speak the language of the project." –Ryan Smith/LMGI