Honorees for the 5th Annual Location Managers Guild International Awards (LMGI) were announced by LMGI president Eric Klosterman. New York-based location manager Josh Karan will take home the Trailblazer Award while Canadian location manager Rino Pace has been named recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award. The LMGI Awards spotlight international features, television and commercials in which the creative use of filming locations set the tone, enrich the character and enhance the narrative. Winners of additional awards will be revealed during the formal ceremony, hosted by comedian Jonah Ray (Mystery Science Theater 300: The Return, The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail) on Saturday evening, April 7, at the historic Alex Theatre in Glendale. (Click here for ticket info.)
Karan will receive his award from veteran New York location pro and LMGI board member Jimmy Ayoub. The LMGI Trailblazer Award recognizes an individual whose efforts and innovations elevate the status of location professionals. Karan works to promote change and make a difference. He originally got into the industry to make political films. Scouting provided the revenue for Public Issue Films, documentaries that “assist in the creation of a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world.” Karan was involved with the formation of the Association of Location Scouts and Managers (ALSAM) in 1982 and his continued stewardship managed to herd production locations in New York long before the internet and email. Years later, ALSAM bicoastal commercial scouts initiated the landmark relationship of L.A. commercial scouts/managers with Teamsters Local 399. That in turn led to the possibility of NY commercial scouts seeking a similar relationship with Teamsters Local 817.
Pace will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by writer/producer Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island, Avatar, Terminator Genisys). Pace’s career spans three decades of location management in film and television. His list of feature credits includes: Betrayal, Unforgiven, The Edge, Along Came a Spider, XMen2, I Robot, Assassination of Jesse James, Shooter, Inception, Man of Steel, Godzilla, and Deadpool. His TV credits include Altered Carbon, Sliders, Airwolf and The Outer Limits. Ever at the vanguard of taming Canada’s Wild West, Pace was instrumental in establishing the Western North as an opportune production environment. His work drew legendary directors like Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven), Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James) to the Albertan prairies and the producers of Altered Carbon to the dystopia that is possible in Vancouver. From finding the Fortress Mountain in the Rockies for Christopher Nolan’s Inception to the production of studio blockbusters like Deadpool and Godzilla, Pace is a linchpin in Vancouver production.
As previously announced, the nominees for the 5th Annual Location Managers Guild International Awards are:
OUTSTANDING LOCATIONS IN A PERIOD TELEVISION SERIES
• The Crown –Pat Karam/LMGI, Robert Bentley/LMGI
• The Deuce – Chris George, Pat Weber Sones
• Game of Thrones – Robert Boake/LMGI, Matt Jones/LMGI, Pedro Tate Araez/LMGI
• The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Amanda Foley-Burbank, Jose Guerrero
• Stranger Things –Tony Holley/LMGI, Kyle Carey/LMGI
• Taboo – Tom Howard/LMGI
OUTSTANDING LOCATIONS IN A CONTEMPORARY TELEVISION SERIES
• Big Little Lies – Gregory Alpert
• Black Mirror: Arkangel – Malcolm McCulloch
• Fargo Season 3 – Robert Hilton/LMGI
• The Handmaid’s Tale – John Musikka, Geoffrey Smither
• Ozark – Wes Hagan/LMGI, Kevin Dowling/LMGI, Patrick Rofoli
OUTSTANDING FILM COMMISSION
• Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Film and Entertainment
• FilmLA
• New Mexico Film Office
• Visit Sacramento
• Vietnam Cinema Department
OUTSTANDING LOCATIONS IN A COMMERCIAL
• Coca Cola – Doug Dresser/LMGI, Stephenson Crossley/LMGI, Charles Furer
• Nike: Equality – Jenny Caloca/LMGI, Wilson Wu, Kathy Ruggeri
• North Face Ventrix – Beth Melnick/LMGI, Don Baldwin, Cristobal Fleischmann
• Richmond Tourism BC – Christian Laub, David Angelski
• Volkswagon: Atlas – Charlie Love/LMGI, Jof Hanwright/LMGI, John Hutchinson/LMGI
OUTSTANDING LOCATIONS IN A PERIOD FILM
• All the Money in the World – Steve Mortimore, Enrico Latella
• American Made – Michael Burmeister/LMGI, Michael Haro/LMGI
• Atomic Blonde – Bea Beliczai, Klaus Darrelmann/LMGI
• Dunkirk – Ben Piltz, Arnaud Kaiser
• Mudbound – Wise Wolfe, Imre Legman
• Phantom Thread – Jason Wheeler
OUTSTANDING LOCATIONS IN A CONTEMPORARY FILM
• Baby Driver – Doug Dresser/LMGI, Kyle Hinshaw/LMGI
• The Florida Project – Stacey McGillis
• Lady Bird – Michael Smith/LMGI
• Logan – Maria Bierniak/LMGI
• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Robert Foulkes/LMGI
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More