Few people outside the insular film and TV production community know or care what location managers do, but it’s a lot — from scouting sites, obtaining permits and negotiating with property owners to dealing with numerous challenges on a shoot day (parking, noise, etc.) and making sure everything is restored to its original state when a show departs.
That’s why the Location Managers Guild Intl. (LMGI) is holding the 12th annual LMGI Awards gala on Aug. 23 at the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica.
“If you want recognition, you wait a long time for someone else to give it to you, so you might as well try to give it yourself,” says LMGI president John Rakich, who, in true location manager fashion, is speaking by phone from the side of a road in rural Morocco in 115 degree heat, on his way to an abandoned salt mine an hour and a half south of Marrakesh, where he’s shooting a series for Amazon.
One of the ways the LMGI draws attention to its craft is by honoring high-profile figures who rely on their talents. This year, it’s Kevin Costner, who will be receiving its Eva Monley Award, previously given to Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson and Danny Boyle. It recognizes his dedication to storytelling though the lens of locations, chiefly those in the American West, which he’s obsessively explored as both an actor (“Wyatt Earp,” “Yellowstone”) and filmmaker (“Dances With Wolves,” “Open Range” and his epic “Horizon: An American Saga”).
The LMGI’s Lifetime Achievement Award honoree, Ilt Jones, isn’t a household name like Costner, but he has a towering reputation in the industry. Over the course of his 30-year career as a location manager, the Welsh-born Jones has traveled the globe, from Canada to Cambodia, working on big tentpole features including “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Inception,” “Kong: Skull Island,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Captain Marvel” and the “Transformers” franchise.
One of the ways the LMGI draws attention to its craft is by honoring high-profile figures who rely on their talents. This year, it’s Kevin Costner, who will be receiving its Eva Monley Award, previously given to Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson and Danny Boyle. It recognizes his dedication to storytelling though the lens of locations, chiefly those in the American West, which he’s obsessively explored as both an actor (“Wyatt Earp,” “Yellowstone”) and filmmaker (“Dances With Wolves,” “Open Range” and his epic “Horizon: An American Saga”).
The LMGI’s Lifetime Achievement Award honoree, Ilt Jones, isn’t a household name like Costner, but he has a towering reputation in the industry. Over the course of his 30-year career as a location manager, the Welsh-born Jones has traveled the globe, from Canada to Cambodia, working on big tentpole features including “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Inception,” “Kong: Skull Island,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Captain Marvel” and the “Transformers” franchise.
