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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every year," says producer Dylan Brodie/LMGI, an Oklahoma native who has collaborated with Harjo for nearly 20 years and whose credits include Minari, Stillwater, Killers of the Flower Moon and Reservation Dogs. "The Lowdown has been particularly special in the sense that we get to help others see the beautiful and multifaceted city that we call home." Building a Career in an Emerging Film Market "Sterlin," says Kucharski, "is very close to his community in Tulsa. More than any other showrunner/director that I have ever worked with, he understands the importance of authenticity. It makes the show what it is and is the reason why Tulsa is as fascinating on screen as it is in real life." Chris Kucharski's path to becoming one of Oklahoma's most sought-after location managers nearly crossed with Sterlin Harjo much earlier. After moving from his native Texas to Oklahoma in high school, he enrolled in the University of Oklahoma's Film and Video Studies program just after the director had gone there. "I started college as a technical theater major because that's what I was doing for work," he recalls. "But after taking a 'Writing About Film' class, I switched majors and hoped I could make a living in the industry." Following graduation, Kucharski joined the Oklahoma Film + Music Office as its location coordinator. "That's when I really saw a path forward. Until then, I was trying to work as a camera operator and still doing tech theater." Working before digital scouting became the industry norm, he learned the fundamentals of researching locations and sharing visual possibilities with filmmakers by pasting scout pictures and taped together panoramas into file folders. Kucharski scouted for the Coen brothers' True Grit and later worked with acclaimed writer-director Terrence Malick, early experiences that exposed him to Oscar-nominated filmmakers and production designers while providing an accelerated education in high-level filmmaking. "It was kind of a little big shot," he says of working on the Malick production. "He was a hero filmmaker for me." Those opportunities led to additional projects, including August: Osage County where he worked alongside Academy Award- winning designers and craftspeople, and after a brief hiatus to work in theater, Kucharski returned in 2019 to manage locations for the Matt Damon feature film Stillwater. More importantly, these films positioned him at the forefront of a growing film industry at a time when few people in the state worked exclusively in locations. "I think at that point there were a handful of people, but they certainly weren't living here full time. It was such a small market that you couldn't really survive just doing one thing." Kucharski partnered with fellow location professional Alison Naifeh/LMGI to create a local business providing equipment and media logistic services. Oklahoma's incentive program soon began attracting larger productions, one of which would change the trajectory of his career. Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke) and ex-wife Samantha (Kaniehtiio Horn) at Sweet Emily's Café. Photo by Shane Brown/FX.