AWARDS

The 1978 Cheech and Chong cult classic Up In Smoke was filmed all over Los Angeles in just over 30 days in May and June of 1977. Parts of the film were shot guerrilla-style, which is a testament to the liberating spirit of the story and the form-meets-function disposition of the film’s director, Lou Adler. “Get in and get out before they discover you’re there,” says Adler, who I spoke to by phone from his Malibu office. That being said, the production, a Paramount Picture, was fully permitted for just about all of its locations, as was proven by a cache of old files Adler generously provided.

Adler adds, “I don’t know how we did it, and we moved around. It’s not like we just stayed in one place.” They most certainly did not. Up in Smoke took the filmmakers to L.A. locations ranging from Malibu and Venice to Lincoln Heights and Tujunga.

“It shows you an L.A. you never saw before in the movies,” says Cheech Marin, who recently appeared during a ceremony at the film’s most iconic location, the Roxy Theatre, where he and Tommy Chong were presented with the key to the city of West Hollywood. Some of the neighborhoods, Marin surmises, weren’t places that had been featured in many films before Up in Smoke.

Though Adler admits he wasn’t necessarily concentrating on making L.A. a fully fledged character in the film, it’s clear from wide, high-angle images of tangling freeway interchanges, fluid silhouette shots during a Zuma sunset, and the incorporation of iconic Hollywood landmarks that the director had the city in mind. The city’s car culture was certainly an important story element, as more than a third of the film’s 85-minute running time takes place in cars. “It was an L.A. story,” Adler says. “Even though I didn’t start up and say, ‘Let’s make this about L.A.,’ it’s pretty hard not to pick up those kinds of shots, which are so unique to L.A. Yeah, I think it definitely comes across as another character.” ... See MoreSee Less

1 hour ago

Revisiting the L.A. Locations from Cheech and Chong's Up in Smoke 40 Years Later - Los Angeles Magazine

lamag.com

The stoner classic takes us from Venice to Lincoln Heights, just in time for 4/20

We recognized Canadian Location Manager Rino Pace with our Lifetime Achievement award at the #LMGIawards earlier this month.

His career spans three decades of location management in film and television. At the vanguard of taming Canada’s Wild West, Rino Pace was instrumental in establishing the Western North as an opportune production environment.

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.

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of working with Rino, please take a moment and read more about his illustrious career. ... See MoreSee Less

1 day ago

2018 Lifetime Achievement Award: Rino Pace - Location Managers Guild International

locationmanagers.org

His career spans three decades of location management in film and television. At the vanguard of taming Canada’s Wild West, Rino Pace was instrument...

'Aquaman,' the 'Jurassic World' sequel and the next installment of 'Mission: Impossible' are among the movies capitalizing on film-friendly locations in every corner of the globe.

Blockbusters are increasingly becoming globetrotters: Of the top 100 box office films in 2013, about one-third shot internationally — in 2016 that rose to almost half.

"Feature films have been trending offshore, especially to the U.K., Canada and Australia," says FilmL.A.'s Adrian McDonald, who cites incentives and favorable exchange rates as key forces luring Hollywood abroad. THR surveys distant locales that hosted six of 2018's big studio bets. ... See MoreSee Less

2 days ago

Why 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' and Other Big Studio Films Are Shooting Overseas

hollywoodreporter.com

'Aquaman,' the 'Jurassic World' sequel and the next installment of 'Mission: Impossible' also are among the movies capitalizing on film-friendly locat...

Westworld returned to HBO on Sunday, and Utah is among the returning stars.

The Season 2 premiere travels quickly to the shores of Lake Powell — a new location for the series, and one where series creator/writer/executive producer Jonathan Nolan “had been wanting to film since the pilot,” said location manager Mandi Dillin. And, over the course of the 10 second-season episodes, viewers will see a variety of southern Utah vistas.

“When audiences think of ‘Westworld,’ I’d like to think that its spectacular Utah backdrops come to mind,” said The Utah Film Commission Director Virginia Pearce.

How many viewers know they’re looking at Utah is open to question. As it turns out, the state is not seen as much as viewers in the know might think. Dillin estimated that 5 percent of Season 2 was filmed in Utah.

“A lot of people think that we film the show 100 percent on location in Utah, which is not true,” Dillin said. “But because we maximize our time and show what I call the big, it feels like more.”

By “the big,” she means the spectacular scenery.
“We go to Utah for the big, and we fill in the scenes with locations in Southern California,” Dillin said.

You can build a futuristic lab or an Old West town in the Los Angeles area. Dusty locations are dusty locations.

But you’ve got to go to Utah’s Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park to find scenery that’s so distinctive it seems like something created via CGI.

“That is a place that should not exist in nature,” Dillin said. “You have these miles of literally pink sand in front of you, and then on one side is a pine forest. When you look at it, you’re like — what the heck? It’s incredible. It’s so stunning.”
The vistas don’t overwhelm the story, but they become part of it.

“We joke that our landscape essentially became another character in the show,” Pearce said — and that’s not a joke to the production team.

“The landscapes really are characters in the story,” Dillin said. “They are integral in telling the story.”

The locations allow the directors “to create a feeling and emotion.”

Pearce said Season 1 pumped about $1 million into the Utah economy; figures aren’t yet available for Season 2. And “Westworld” brought tourism dollars here, too.

“Articles about the show’s spectacular locations racked up millions of media impressions since the first season aired, with international outlets such as Condé Nast Traveler detailing how to visit these locations,” Pearce said. ... See MoreSee Less

3 days ago

‘The landscapes really are characters’: HBO’s ‘Westworld’ returns to Utah in a ‘big’ way for Season 2

sltrib.com

“Westworld” returns to HBO on Sunday, and Utah is among the returning stars.

The world is starting to recognize the work of Location Managers, and some of the challenges we face.

Samsung approached Location Manager Ben Carter and asked him to tell his story of how the Samsung Galaxy Note8 has made his job easier as he scouts the vast Icelandic artic tundra.Location Manager, Ben Carter, uses the Samsung Galaxy Note8 and other Samsung devices to scout locations for TV, music video, and still shoots. ... See MoreSee Less

4 days ago

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