Summer 2019 eNewsletter
Leadership Note
LMGI Board President Mike Fantasia
Welcome to our quarterly newsletter! We hope you find it enjoyable and informative. 

I'd like to thank the Board for electing me to a second term as President. I'm looking forward to working with the Executive Committee - JJ Levine, Lori Balton, John Rakich and Georgette Turner - to guide the Board over the next year. I'm also looking forward to working with newly elected LMGI Board Members Ken Haber, Ed Mazurek, Georgette Turner and Walter Roshetski, along with returning Board Members Jimmy Ayoub, Les Fincher, Wes Hagan, Matt Chamberlin, Matt Palmer, Mac Gordon and Alison Taylor to advance the mission of the LMGI. 

Many thanks to departing Board Members Dorian Thomas, Mario Ramirez and Dan Taylor for their years of hard work and dedication to the LMGI. Eric  Klosterman is also departing the Board after serving two terms as President, two as Treasurer and many more as a Board member. Eric's steady hand and dedication to the Guild helped us achieve many of our accomplishments.I'd like to personally thank Eric for his efforts on behalf of the Guild and we wish him well in his job as Permit Department Manager for the California FIlm Commission.
Outgoing LMGI President
Erik Klosterman

 
2019 is in full swing and it's shaping up to be a banner year for the Guild. Our 1K/2020 membership drive is underway as is the transition of our business members to business partners. We've held incredibly successful events in Montreal, Atlanta and Vancouver and we're planning events in Los Angeles, Toronto, New York, Atlanta and at ComiCon International in San Diego before year's end. 
 
Voting will begin soon for the Sixth Annual LMGI Awards to be held September 21 at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. We have a fantastic mix of international submissions this year. Save the date and plan on attending the Awards, where you'll meet members, partners and supporters from around the world.  
 
We're working with film commissions internationally on upcoming fam tours in Chile, Canada, Colombia, Belize, Tunisia, Turkey, Poland and Mongolia. Recent tours include Korea, Trinidad and Tobago and the Northwest Territories. If you want to be considered for a fam tour, go to your personal profile on the LMGI website and update the fam tour section.
 
The Board welcomes your suggestions and contributions in shaping the Guild's future by participating in a committee. View them on our website and join one. It's a great way to meet your fellow location professionals from around the world and help the Guild promote excellence on location worldwide!

Voting will begin soon for the Sixth Annual LMGI Awards to be held September 21 at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. We have a fantastic mix of international submissions this year. Save the date and plan on attending the Awards, where you'll meet members, partners and supporters from around the world.  
 
We're working with film commissions internationally on upcoming fam tours in Chile, Canada, Colombia, Belize, Tunisia, Turkey, Poland and Mongolia. Recent tours include Korea, Trinidad and Tobago and the Northwest Territories. If you want to be considered for a fam tour, go to your personal profile on the LMGI website and update the fam tour section.
 
The Board welcomes your suggestions and contributions in shaping the Guild's future by participating in a committee. View them on our website and join one. It's a great way to meet your fellow location professionals from around the world and help the Guild promote excellence on location worldwide!

Mike Fantasia, LMGI Board President

LMGI Awards 2019 - Saturday, September 21
The Sixth Annual LMGI Awards will take place on Saturday, September 21, 2019 at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica and promise to b e our best event ever. We've received hundreds of submissions from around the world... all of them showing an adept understanding of the value of locations for setting and enhancing the narrative. Our nominees are visual powerhouses that will knock your socks off. Truly an amazing assembly of engaging productions. Nominees will be announced, and online voting begins Thursday, July 18, 2019.
 
Honorary Awards and presenters will be announced soon-an equally impressive group. We are the Emmy precursor so there is already a lot of buzz around our show. With members coming from around the world, tickets will be going fast - be sure to get yours early!

LMGI Compass Magazine
The cover story in the Summer 2019 issue of LMGI Compass Magazine is Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, with a look at how the hardworking location team transformed Hollywood into a 60-minute time capsule. Other features include S.W.A.T. (another story of the location team making the impossible a reality), and an article on "Set Jetting" or film tourism... how movie and television productions are the gift that keeps giving long after the shooting company leaves town.
 
If you are interested in contributing stories and images, or in submitting interesting candidates for our "In My City," "Career Focus" or "Next Generation" columns,  click here to contact our Editors or call (310) 967-2007. See back issues at www.locationmanagers.org/lmgi-compass

To reach the location pro community with your advertising message, contact Advertising Director Dan Dodd at 310-207-4410 X 236 or click here to send an email. 
Upcoming Event: Comic-Con July 18-21
For the 7th year in a row the LMGI has been invited to present a panel of Location Scouts and Managers at Comic-Con International in San Diego July 18-21. Details will be announced shortly and we look forward to another packed room for the panel. Click here for updates and to see past LMGI panels at Comic-Con.


LMGI Atlanta 'Location Workshop & Picnic' Recap
On April 13, we hosted our largest event ever in Atlanta offering training and networking opportunities to location professionals. The event, co-hosted by Stone Mountain Park and the Evergreen Marriott Hotel, drew a crowd of over 125 people. Three professional development workshops were held: Scouting Basics, Fundamentals for Assistant Location Managers, and Round Table for Location Managers - offering an educational opportunity for professionals of every level.

LMGI President Mike Fantasia welcomed members and also non-members interested in joining the guild. "The LMGI is thrilled that our Atlanta membership is growing and we are excited to continue to invest in the advancement of the craft as a whole," said Fantasia.
 
Numerous commercial sponsors also attended the cook-out portion of the day and networked with the locations community. Both city and county government representatives for filming also attended. According to Mac Gordon, LMGI Board member and co-organizer of the event, "The sheer number of people here today reflects the astonishing growth of production in Georgia as well as the impressive growth of the support industries we all rely on to make movies and TV shows. All these vendors and sponsors have Georgia-based employees and have invested in this region, and it's all built on the state-wide tax incentives. The LMGI is thrilled to begin offering local training for those in our craft and more educational events are on the horizon."


LMGI Vancouver 'Leadership on Location' Event Recap
For a second year in a row, the LMGI, The Directors Guild of Canada BC District Council, Creative BC and the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of British Columbia again hosted an industry stewardship event on May 31 in Vancouver, based around the simple equation that Talent + Energy + Heart = Location Leadership.

The 'Leadership on Location' event began with a Friday fam tour of some of the incredible locations that British Columbia has to offer, leading into Saturday's programming which included a series of entertaining Petcha Kucha presentations from local and visiting Location Managers and several fun, engaging and informative panels of Location Professionals and Film Office Liaisons discussing topics like the art of location management, the relationship between Location Managers and Film Office. Attendees then listened to stories from a panel of incredibly strong and talented women, and enjoyed a wonderful closing rooftop reception. The event panels featured LMGI members Mike Fantasia, Robbie Boake, Rino Pace, Georgette Turner, John Rakich, Ann Goobie, Onya Furey Stevie Nelson, Adrian Knight,Jina Johnson and Dan Kuzmenko.

Thanks to LMGI members Matt Palmer, Hans Dayal, and Jina Jo hnson, Kendrie Upton and Andrea Moore from DGC BC, Leslie Wooten from MPPIA and Marnie Orr from Creative BC for the hard work in putting together a great event reminding us that no matter the geographical distance it's the similarities in our skill, talent and passion in what we do that brings us together.


LMGI at NYC 'World Trade Center Film & TV Scout Showcase'
LMGI Board Members Les Fincher and Jimmy Ayoub, LMGI Member John Hutchinson
On March 18, LMGI members attended the 'World Trade Center Film and TV Scout Showcase'presented by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in partnership with the New York State Governor's Office of Motion Picture & Television Development .The event was held in the "Aspire" at One World Observatory, a 9000 square foot event space on the 102 Floor. The sun-filled observatory presented commanding 50-mile views. The event showcased the unique locations at the World Trade Center16 acre site. The collective hosts delivered a sincere welcome to the Location Scout community with open invitations for cooperative visits and production solutions.
 
New York based LMGI members shared the benefits of LMGI membership with attendees as an incredible sunset topped off the truly special event at one of the finest views in the United States.

LMGI at 'San Bernardino Valley International Film Festival Media Expo'
LMGI Board Member Dan Taylor welcomes guests
On April 25, the LMGI hosted a table at the 'San Bernardino Valley International Film Festival's Media Expo', designed to reach out to college students looking for an avenue into the world of filming.  The LMGI's goal was to educate those coming up into the industry about the importance of a Location Manager to the success of a film. Local PBS Station KVCR covered the Expo, which attracted the likes of New York Film Academy, California State University, San Bernardino and Columbia College Hollywood.
"The more we educate, the more we will succeed," said Dan Taylor of Inland Empire Film Services, LMGI Business Partner and past member of the LMGI Board of Directors, "Out of all the students I spoke to, only one was aware there was a career in Location Management and in the end, several were excited about the potential career path."

LMGI at Montreal 'Locations: A Window on the World Event'
LMGI Members Anne Goobie, Arnaud Kaiser, John Rakich, Michele St. Arnaud and Alison Taylor
On June 15at the beautiful BanQ Vieux in Old Montreal, locations and creative film industry professionals from Quebec and beyond gathered for 'Locations: A Window on the World', an event put on by the Directors Guild of Canada Quebec District Council. The LMGI was well represented with the keynote speaker being Location Manager Arnaud Kaiser discussing challenges of working on-location in France. Closing out the day was the panel 'Finding the Perfect Spot: The Challenges of Location Managers' featuring LMGI members Ann Goobie, Arnaud Kaiser, John Rakich, Michele St-Arnaud and Alison Taylor. Thanks to LMGI member Adrian Knight, Chantal Barrette and Bethan Mowat from DGC Quebec, Hans Engel, Ryan Tonelli and Ariane Benmergui from DGC National for the gracious hospitality and hard work in putting together such a great time, the first of many to come.

LMGI at NYC 'Grand Central Terminal Tour'

On June 18, NYC LMGI members participated in a grand tour of Grand Central Terminal hosted by the NY State, Governor's Office of Motion Picture & Television Development and 
MTA / Metro-North Railroad. An engaging group of Location Professionals were briefed on specificities of filming at the terminal, on trains and other stations in the system. The amazing historic space has no location fee, only staffing and security fees for television and film projects. The scouts walked through the glass corridors at ceiling level to view the dynamic terminal below. Thank you to Laura Berning of the film office and Meredith Conti and Marissa Cunningham of the MTA for the access to such a historic cinematic venue. 

LMGI Business Partner Spotlight - Ready to Shoot
Margarida Adonis is ready to shoot!  As the LMGI's first Business Partner, Ready to Shoot (RTS) is headquartered in Lisbon and led by Margarida Adonis, Executive Producer / Managing Director with the majority of its projects in Portugal Continental & Islands. Known for its world-class location and production services to top -tier advertising and entertainment companies, Adonis' pins their success to "an obsessive attention to detail and creativity in order to bring even the most challenging script to life". An example illustrating this is National Geographic's 2018 commercial Nujeen. Click here to view.


LMGI Media Mentions
Click here to read Variety's 'Film and TV Productions Are Using Drones for Scouting Locations, Lighting and More' featuring LMGI Member Mike Fantasia.

Click here to read Vultures 'After a Strong Year, How Many Cannes Contenders Could Score With Oscar?'


Out There: Call for Submissions
Send us your funny, your quirky, your, "you wouldn't believe what I saw today" images for our new newsletter photo feature, OUT THERE. The less explanation the better, let your photo tell the story! Amuse us, amaze us or freak us out - let's have a chuckle together, the way that only you and your fellow Location Professionals can! Click here to submit photos, and include the subject line "Out There" in your email.

 
Example #1:  "NoHo Ghost Riders" - Mounted police are a rare sight in North Hollywood, CA but are there one or two? / Photo: JJ Levine

Example #2:  "Cowabunga" - on location with the California State Fair / Photo: Chester Wong



We  would like to take a moment to welcome new LMGI Members Ana Ibanez Arrarte, Mary Jo Beirnes, Judy Chui, Dan Connolly, Lauren Cooper, Lugdy Cueva, Mimi Davis, Rashod Edwards, Jay Elgin, Dino Denton, Rashod Edwards, David Flannery, Matt Graver, Simon Hassard, Kelsey Dawe, Justin Duncan, Matt Graver, Justin Harrold, Kevin Jenkins, Karen M Jones, Brian Kalata, Kate King, Ronnie Kupferwasser, Phillip Lobban, Johnny Ludlow, David Martin, Omar Masmoudi (Upgrade to Pro), Paul McCluskey, Hilton Clay Peres, Mike Reft, Adam Richards, Craig Rose, Ian Rutherford (Upgrade to Pro), Sabine Schulmeyer, Ryan Smith, Tim Stacker, Donald Stewart, Warner Strauss, Elisabetta Tomaso, Ryan Watterson, David Weber, Kate Wiltshire and Industry Members The Motion Picture Production Industry Association of BC, The Directors Guild Canada - Alberta Chapter.

We look forward to serving you, and if you haven't already, we invite you to create your own page at the LMGI Website by clicking here and following the steps.

Not a member yet? Click here to see all the benefits membership brings.
BUSINESS PARTNERS

 


 
 
 


 

 

 


 

 

 



 

  

 


 
 
  

  

    
 
  
 
  

    
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

   L MGI Newsletter Team
Lori Balton, Erika Howard, Linda Johannesen, JJ Levine, John Rakich, Heather Ross.  Do you have photos or stories of interest to LMGI members and other industry professionals? Click here to reach our LMGI Newsletter Team.