President
Location Managers Guild International (LMGI) | www.locationmanagers.org
Founded: 2003
Members: 900
Please provide a brief description of your membership and what industry/industries your Organization serves.
The Location Managers Guild International / LMGI is an organization of indispensable creative collaborators serving production around the world in all forms of screen-based industries. Through local commitment and international strength, we support strong relationships between production and government agencies, businesses and communities.
Please provide a brief description of the mission of your Organization.
The Location Managers Guild International was founded to promote excellence on location worldwide.
What guidance are you providing your members about the restarting of production and/or postproduction? What precautions/best practices do you recommend? (You are welcome to provide a direct link to a page on your site that addresses this question with regard to set guidelines/policies, etc.)
As one of few international production guilds, the Location Managers Guild International/LMGI is uniquely positioned to receive and disseminate COVID-19 guidelines from around the world. Our LMGI members across the globe are directly involved in the formation of the back to work protocols in their respective regions, as many start returning to work. We are actively engaged in establishing the new normal.
Our website (LocationManagers.org) is our mainstay for the growing compendium of international guidelines. We are posting a number of links on the site, including links to Proposed and Recommended Industry Guidelines and Protocols from all over the world, as well as links that provide information on emergency funds and assistance available in various regions. Our actively expanding member discussion/webinar “Coffee Tuesdays” provides vital information in a rapidly evolving industry. From introducing companies with new sanitizing and pre-production technologies to film commission forums, we provide a platform for our members and business partners to seek information and offer guidance.
The best practice we can offer is to not rush into starting a project without a full and complete assessment of the protocols applicable to the production. We need to ensure that the safety of the crew is addressed as well as the creative and logistic aspects. The process will undoubtedly have hills and valleys, but by learning from each others successes and failures we can promote the most current, effective technology for safe, smooth productions.
Prior to the pandemic, industry execs and artisans were in the business of balancing art and commerce–as well as safety. But now safety, health and welfare concerns take on a whole new dimension due to the virus crisis. What advice/counsel and/or vision do you have to offer to the overall entertainment and/or advertising industries on the future of production and/or postproduction?
Safety first has long been the guiding practice of the Location Department, the principal department on a production that interacts with all other departments. Now more than ever, the Location Department will be the focal point of assessing and assisting in the implementation of the applicable safety and health protocols from scouting through the tech scout and into shooting.
Production comes with a long history of problem-solving and this is not insurmountable. Yes, it is a many faceted issue, but bit by bit, we will solve all of the challenges ahead of us and return to work in a safe, healthy and productive manner.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More