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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LMGI COMPASS | Fall 2017 • 51 Kingsman, he turned it down. "I wasn't confident that I'd been in the industry long enough that I knew what the hell I was doing, so I spoke to Steve [Mortimore] and asked if he could run it. I think I would have alienated myself from the other location managers who may have thought, who's this new bloke who's just turned up and he's running the show." Buckley took an LM post instead and brought Jassal onboard. The next time he got the offer to supervise, on The Golden Circle, he took it. "He's got to where he's got on merit," Jassal says. "When you've had a long day scouting and you've still got a couple hours of sorting the photos because people need to see them, you can't fake that work ethic. And these big films can be crazy because half the time they haven't even got a confirmed script. It's a game of politics at that level, knowing how to manage expectations— manage other departments and the people in charge." Jassal adds that Buckley knows who to trust and when to leave them alone to do their job and never forgets the praise. "He does that with the people under him, and he loves that from the people above him. With locations, we realize other people's visions and sometimes it's stressful, but when you finish and that sense of achievement rushes over you, it's very addictive." Buckley's colleagues say his warm, charming personality breaks from what they expected of someone with his military background. "There's a perception that all we do is shout, but it's not like that at all," Buckley explains. "We understand what we've all been through to become a Royal Marine, so there's no need to shout at each other. It's all about how we interact to get the best out of each other. People skills are huge." He's found that's especially true in London, where it's a challenge to find locations that haven't already been shot. "You know people have knocked on their doors before and maybe they had a bad experience, so you're sheepish and you half expect people to slam the door in your face. One of the first things I say is, 'My job is to lie to you and apologize.'" Buckley adds wryly that "When you go outside London, it's a different ballgame. You stick your chest out and say I'm a location manager." Buckley's sense of humor is ever-present and disarming. He cracks jokes effortlessly and seamlessly, sometimes at his own expense, and he takes them just as well. Jassal still ribs him for the hours Buckley used to spend adding a "Gaussian blur" to his photography when he was first starting out in locations. Bottom, left: Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox/Giles Keyte. All other photos courtesy of Andy Buckley/LMGI. "Andy said he thought it looked great and I told him, 'yeah, if you don't want anyone to see what it actually looks like!"' Buckley is also infamous with everyone from Jassal to Hugh Jackman for his on-demand, au naturel impersonations of the velociraptor in Jurassic Park. "He's always doing something worth filming," says Gilford. "Almost every crewmember has some sort of video on Andy and it's usually humiliating." Buckley says the raptor spoof dates back to his days in the Royal Marines. As it happens, he went through training at the same time as Kingsman producer and fellow marine Adam Bohling. They discovered the connection during production of X-Men: First Class. When they next worked together on Kick-Ass 2, Bohling mentioned the Kingsman concept, which is based on the comic co-created by Mark Millar and Watchmen's Dave Gibbons. In the original script, Buckley says Eggsy was written as a former paratrooper. "Adam and I suggested that change, to make him and his father former Royal Marines. [We] certainly added a few corps values in the film. Being a Royal Marine is something we are incredibly proud of." Buckley adds that he and Bohling also supplied some voice- over for the first film, and there's a scene in Eggsy's bedroom where you can see Buckley's green beret and citation on the wall. Vaughn also shot a scene for the first Kingsman film where Buckley makes a cameo, but he says it didn't make the final cut. "Matthew asked me to be in this film as a tramp and I said no because it'll get cut too." Buckley would love to do some acting and says he'd consider producing at some point. He and a business partner, Ben Hartley (aka Harb Binli Red Seven in Rogue One), also run Military Film Services, a company that links film, TV and commercial productions with ex-military advisers for script, casting and location support. In a proverbial blink, he's built himself a niche in his new field, working with some of the top filmmakers in the business—a business that can be notoriously cutthroat, even for someone who's been through some of the toughest military training in the Western world. "When I was in the Marines, I knew who the enemy was," Buckley says. By comparison, he's found the film industry rife with players who put themselves first. "They run you down so they can make the way for their own career." But he feels at home with Vaughn and co., who he calls family. That family recently announced a third Kingsman movie is in the works, depending on the success of The Golden Circle, with Vaughn This photo and at right: Buckley at work.