Veteran Location Manager Veronique Vowell will receive this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award from the Location Managers Guild International (LMGI) at the 7th Annual LMGI Awards celebrating “2020 Vision: We See It First.” A founding member of the Location Managers Guild, Vowell is best known for her work on Cold Case, Scandal, Little Fires Everywhere, Ray Donovan, The Replacements, Angels in the Outfield, and The Distinguished Gentleman. Hosted by Isaiah Mustafa, the Awards will be held on Saturday, October 24, at 2:00 p.m. PDT presented via a digital ceremony on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/LMGI. The announcement was made today by LMGI Awards Co-chairs Lori Balton and John Rakich.
“I am in awe of Veronique’s passion, perseverance and expertise. As an actor, a producer and as a director on Scandal, I was always inspired by Veronique’s artistry, her talent, her commitment, her work ethic, her kindness and her unwavering “can do” attitude. I am thrilled that she is being honored in this way,” said Kerry Washington.
“Veteran Location Manager Veronique Vowell has made a career of giving back. In addition to her creative and logistic solutions to decades of production dilemmas, her legacy
importantly includes generations of current and future location professionals. Diligent, clever, determined, they have been schooled by the master and we are grateful!” said Awards Co-chair and former LMGI President Lori Balton.
Veronique Vowell began her acclaimed career as a field researcher on National Geographic television network. Predating cellphones and internet, she traversed the country, armed with a small typewriter, a 35mm camera and a roll of payphone quarters, working as a Location Manager, Supervising Location Manager and Production Supervisor. Vowell worked for Shondaland/ABC for almost 10 years as Location Manager on Scandal, and as Supervising Location Manager on The Catch, Station 19, Grey's Anatomy and How to Get Away with Murder.
Vowell sees her most important role as mentor to the many assistants whose careers she has fostered. For over a decade, she has volunteered as an instructor at the American Film Institute’s Boot Camp for future filmmakers. Vowell also lectures about Location Management at Chapman, Emerson and Boston Universities. Her devoted volunteer efforts include Film 2 Future https://www.film2future.org/ and Manifest Works https://www.manifestworks.org/ helping underserved members of society establish a foothold in the entertainment industry.
A dedicated Local 399 Hollywood Teamsters Steering Committee member, Vowell continues her work with the LMGI Education Committee. No stranger to Sacramento, she is a respected advocate for Location Professionals in key campaigns like California’s Expanded Film and Television Job Creation Act and Tax Incentives program. “Location managing, like political lobbying, is the art of compromise in the effort to achieve the impossible,” comments Vowell.
A founding member of the Location Managers Guild International, she served on the board for several years and currently co-chairs the LMGI Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee. Additionally, Vowell sits on the Board of FilmLA and is a member of its Operations SubCommittee, as well as the Los Angeles City Mayor’s Task Force.
As previously announced, Christopher McQuarrie, acclaimed producer, director and Academy Award®-winning writer, will receive this year’s Eva Monley Award, which recognizes and honors industry members who support the vision of location professionals. Oscar®-winning director Spike Lee, whose films have reflected significant cultural and historical content with the highest quality, will receive the acclaimed LMGI Trailblazer Award honoring the groundbreaking spectrum of Lee’s extraordinary award-winning work over the past three decades. Emmy®-winning and Oscar-nominated actor Gary Sinise will receive the esteemed Humanitarian Award for establishing the Gary Sinise Foundation with the mission to serve and honor America’s defenders, veterans, first responders, Gold Star families and those in need.
The LMGI Awards honor the outstanding and creative visual contributions by location professionals in film, television and commercials from around the globe. The LMGI Awards also recognize outstanding service by film commissions for their support “above and beyond” during the production process.
This year, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 7th Annual LMGI Awards breaks with tradition and will be presented on a digital platform, streaming to a worldwide and more inclusive audience on www.youtube.com/LMGI. LMGI Award winners will be announced at the virtual awards ceremony on Saturday, October 24, at 2:00 p.m. PST. For a list of 2020 LMGI Awards nominees, visit: www.LocationManagers.org.
Committee co-chairs of this year’s LMGI Awards (#LMGIawards) are Lori Balton and John Rakich. For further inquiries about the LMGI Awards, visit www.LocationManagers.org or contact awards@LocationManagers.org.
The LMGI Awards are proudly sponsored by: PLATINUM LEVEL: Studio Air Conditioning; GOLD LEVEL: CleanSTART, Honolulu Film Office, Reel Health & Reel Security; SILVER LEVEL: AEG Presents, Film France, Film Shasta/Redding Convention & Visitors Bureau, Film US Virgin Islands, Hollywood Locations, Los Angeles Center Studios, ON-SET Disposals, Teamsters Local 399, Third Rail Studios, Trilith Studios; BRONZE LEVEL:
Berlin Brandenburg Film Commission, Film Liaisons in California Statewide (FLICS), Film Santa Clarita, Fresco Film – Spain & Portugal, Inland Empire Film Services, Lunchbox Transportation, NBC Universal Operations, Placer-Lake Tahoe Film Office, Zagreb Film Office; MEDIA SPONSORS: Location Guide, SHOOT Magazine/SHOOTonline and Variety.
About THE LOCATION MANAGERS GUILD INTERNATIONAL (LMGI)
The Location Managers Guild International / LMGI is a global organization of career location professionals in the motion picture, television, commercial and print production industries dedicated to upholding the highest ethical standards. The LMGI is proud to be the only worldwide location resource for Location Professionals, combining regional commitment with international strength and community. We support strong relationships between production and government agencies, businesses and communities. We promote awareness of our place in the entertainment industry as indispensable creative collaborators through a variety of innovative programs. The LMGI was founded in 2003 as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit corporation. For more information about the LMGI, visit LocationManagers.org.
