Film Festival Circuit ‘Location by Design’: LMGI Rocks Sundance
L to R: Ehrin Davis, Stevie Nelson, Jonathon Slator, Peter Trimarco, Nancy Haecker & Linda Johannesen. Photo: Val Douroux/LMGI
Our third successful year at the Sundance Film Festival featured the 2019 LMGI panel “Location by Design.” It was attended by a packed audience of veteran location and production professionals, film commissioners and next-gen filmmakers. This year’s sponsor, Beyond Cinema, led by Peter Trimarco, publisher and producer, provided the ideal, casual venue where participants and panelists enjoyed post-panel networking, meeting new friends and reconnecting with colleagues.
Veteran location manager and former LMGI President Nancy Haecker explains: “Our intent was to get away from the conversation regarding logistics and permitting, obstacles and difficulties of location managing. We wanted visual examples to demonstrate our contributions to the design and tone of the project.” She and founding LMGI member Stevie Nelson co-chaired the event, designing it to showcase the art of location management, underscoring the aesthetic dimension of our craft.
Panelists included Jonathan Slator, LMGI (Hell or High Water, Lone Survivor, This Must Be the Place), Ehrin Davis, LMGI (13 Reasons Why, Blindspotting, 55 Steps), Nancy Haecker (Wild, The Revenant, Into the Wild) and Stevie Nelson (After Earth, 13 Reasons Why, Fresh Off the Boat).
Haecker and Nelson are attempting to compound the LMGI’s presence at Sundance with participation on other panels and/or presenting our panel multiple times to new audiences. Haecker has been invited to speak next year on the Sundance Syracuse Alumni panel and a panel on women below the line. LMGI strategist Linda Johannesen attended the event, exploring opportunities for partnerships, industry relationships and making the most of our presence. We look forward to Sundance 2020 and our continuing partnership with Beyond Cinema.
Interested in producing or participating in an adaptation of this professional panel discussion in your region? Contact your regional
LMGI chairs or email the committee co-chairs, Mike Fantasia and Wes Hagan, at
regional-international@LocationManagers.org