Location Managers Guild International
 | |
| Full name | Location Managers Guild International |
|---|---|
| Founded | December 2, 2003 |
| Office location | Hollywood, Los Angeles, California |
| Country | United States |
| Website | www.locationmanagers.org |
The Locations Managers Guild International (LMGI) is a professional organization of Location Managers, Location Scouts, Assistant Location Managers, and affiliated business members, such as film commissions, location services, vendors, and filming venues.
Founded in 2003 as the Location Managers Guild of America, the membership voted to rename the organization as the Location Managers Guild International[1] in 2016 to recognize the global aspect of film-making and reflect the growing international presence of its membership.
The LMGI is not a labor union in that it does not represent Location Managers in wages or working conditions, leaving this responsibility to the respective locals such as Teamsters Local 399 in Los Angeles,[2] Teamsters Local 390 in Miami, and the Directors Guild of America in New York City and Chicago.[3] The organization has both union and non-union member professionals. Following the Set Decorators Society of America which formed in 1993, the LMGA is also Hollywood's newest guild (by contrast, the Screen Actors Guild was formed in 1933).
Membership
While most of the membership of the LMGI are based in Los Angeles where the guild was first established, many members began traveling to secondary production centers such as Atlanta, New Orleans, and Vancouver with the increasing dependence of production incentives,[4] introduced their crews to the guild, and developed local location professional communities who in turn were invited for membership. Foreign membership followed the increasing recognition of international locations such as Iceland, Jordan, and New Zealand[5] through films such as Interstellar, The Lord of the Rings, The Martian, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Zero Dark Thirty.
Active Membership is limited to professional location scouts and managers. Business Membership consists of affiliated businesses with professional references.
Projects
The LMGI regularly mounts large-scale, educational art projects in partnership with community groups.
Last Looks: The Ambassador Hotel
Over the weekend of 20 March 2005, just before demolition began on the Ambassador Hotel, the LMGA organized an outreach event wherein Location Scouts could photograph the historic location one last time, while mentoring students from Jefferson High School (located in the Central-Alameda neighborhood of Los Angeles) in the skills of script breakdown and location scouting. The student photographs were judged by a jury that included respected Hollywood luminaries Shane Black (writer, Lethal Weapon), Alice West (co-executive producer, Ugly Betty), and Missy Stewart (production designer, Good Will Hunting). The awards ceremony was held in June 2005 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.[6]
In 2006, the LMGA produced a photographic exhibit of images from the Ambassador Project at the Los Angeles City Hall, in the office of the City Attorney. Student photographs were hung side by side with those of the pros to remarkable result. The exhibit was featured on the front page of the Los Angeles Times calendar as an article accompanied by four full-color images.[7]
Concentric Circles: Metro L.A. Revealed
In 2008, the LMGA, in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, produced a photo essay entitled "Concentric Circles: Metro L.A. Revealed," exhibited at Beady Minces Art Gallery in Venice, California.[8] Accompanied by Metro personnel, dozens of scouts rode bus and train lines across the city during the course of several weeks capturing unique images of Metro properties.
The resulting images provide a "scout's eye" view of various aspects of the Los Angeles Metro in the early 21st century. A book-bound catalog of film-friendly locations was created from this project as a marketing piece for the industry.
Events
The LMGI holds mixers and periodic educational events for its members. The events function in two ways: to show off prospective film locations to professional scouts and to provide professional networking for members. The locations are often subsequently used for filming. Past functions have been held at the Riviera Country Club, Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey, Millennium Biltmore Hotel, Mondrian Hotel, W Westwood, Sofitel West Hollywood, Wilshire Grand Hotel, Façade, Knitting Factory, Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier, and The Music Box at The Fonda Theatre.
The LMGA held their inaugural Awards show in March 2014[9] with honors going to Location Managers Robert Boake for Game of Thrones and Ilt Jones for Iron Man 3, the Albuquerque Film Commission for Breaking Bad and Lone Survivor, and honorary awards to Haskell Wexler for his efforts in creating a safer working environment for below the line filmmakers and the Eva Monley[10] award to Alexander Payne for his masterful use of location as another character is films such as Sideways, The Descendants, and Nebraska.[11]
References
- ↑ "Presenting LMGI" Location Managers Guild International Retrieved 2016-01-21
- ↑ "Our Members" Teamsters Local 399 Retrieved 2016-01-21
- ↑ Pope, Naomi Elizabeth "Unionization" Beyond Hollywood Retrieved 2016-01-21
- ↑ Blair, Ian "Location Managers Sound Off" Variety Retrieved 2016-01-21
- ↑ "New Zealand tops worlds film tourism destination" Film New Zealand Retrieved 2016-01-21
- ↑ MacIntyre, April "LMGA Student project" Below The Line Retrieved 2016-01-21
- ↑ Reynolds, Christopher "Remains of the Day", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 16 December 2005. Retrieved on 13 October 2013.
- ↑ Kit, Borys "Double Shots: Guild Metro" Hollywood Reporter Retrieved 2016-01-21
- ↑ Johns, Nikara "LMGA sets inaugural awards" Variety Retrieved 2014-12-11
- ↑ "About the Eva Monley Award" Location Managers Guild of America Retrieved 2014-12-11
- ↑ Caracas, Peter "Walter Mitty finally gets love" Variety Retrieved 2014-12-11