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/996734
LMGI COMPASS | Summer 2018 • 21 Stevie: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING IN LOCATIONS? HOW DID YOU START & WHAT DO YOU PRIMARILY WORK ON? Daniel Fontoura: I was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro. I have been working as a location manager since 1997. I came from a filmmaking family. My father, Antonio Carlos da Fontoura, is a direc- tor. He is one of the precursors of Cin- ema Novo—a movement that started a new way of filming, departing from the traditional Brazilian cinematography. He directed eight feature films and has a long career as a screenwriter. My mother, Denise Kaner Correa, was an editor on more than 20 Brazilian feature films. I was essentially raised on a set and, as a nine-month baby, I had my first filming experience, appearing in my father's fea- ture Cordão de Ouro. As a child, I had a successful career as an actor in several features. My best known job was a popular TV series, Anos Dourados. When I was 13, at the height of my acting career, I realized I did not like to be recognized in the streets by strangers. At 19, I had an opportunity to work behind the cameras as a PA. I loved it from the start! Two years later, still working as a PA on a major commercial, after three failed attempts by seasoned location managers, I approached the director and told her I could do it. She told me that I would not know how to do it. I told her: Neither did they, right? She gave me a chance. I succeeded and have not stopped since. My bread and butter is in commercials but I also do features, TV series, reality shows and everything that falls in between. I work for all of the larger production service companies for the foreign markets, including Zohar Cinema. I am very happy with my career, proud of my inheritance and even happier that my wife is also a location manager and both my kids are following our path. Stevie: WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE PRIMARY DRAW FOR FILMING IN & AROUND RIO DE JANEIRO & ITS SURROUNDING AREAS IN GENERAL? WHAT KIND OF "LOOKS" ARE THERE? DF: Rio is a place of many possibilities. In one shooting day, you can travel from a wild jungle to a wonderful beach and a booming downtown scenario, all within a 40-minute drive. Rio is the home of the largest Brazilian broadcast company and is also the city where most of the TV and movie stars live. The most popular filming locations are Copacabana Beach because it is the most iconic beach in Rio; Grumari Beach because it is a wild paradise within a 40-minute drive from anywhere in the city; and multi-faceted down- town Rio that allows us to shoot many different places in one. Stevie: WHAT TYPES OF PRODUCTIONS FILM IN RIO? DF: Commercials, TV shows and series, reality shows, feature movies, both foreign and domestic. Stevie: WHAT CHALLENGES DO YOU FACE IN YOUR JOB? DF: Rio is, perhaps, the city with the closest proximity and coexistence among very different social classes within a very small territory. In the same neighborhood, at a distance of about 300 yards, we have the wealthiest people living in the most expensive square meter in the country, as well as the lowest income people living under drug dealers' rule. The biggest challenge is to travel between them, to be trusted and to earn the confidence of these very different worlds in order to make production happen. Stevie: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES TO FILMING SPECIFICALLY IN RIO OR IN YOUR GENERAL FILMING TERRITORY? All photos by Daniel Fontoura/LMGI, except as noted. Photo: Courtesy of Daniel Fontoura/LMGI Co-editor Stevie Nelson gets a tour of Rio de Janeiro from member Daniel Fontoura "Rio is a place of many possibilities. In one shooting day, you can travel from a wild jungle to a wonderful beach and a booming downtown scenario."