{"id":26920,"date":"2018-06-26T08:58:04","date_gmt":"2018-06-26T15:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/?p=26920"},"modified":"2018-10-09T16:45:15","modified_gmt":"2018-10-09T23:45:15","slug":"sicarios-sequel-returns-to-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/es\/sicarios-sequel-returns-to-new-mexico\/","title":{"rendered":"Sicario\u2019s Sequel Returns to New Mexico | Shani Orona, LMGI"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"cb-itemprop\" itemprop=\"reviewBody\"><h1>Back in the Land of Enchantment<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h1>\n<h3>Sicario\u2019s sequel, Day of the Soldado, returns to New Mexico for its locations and the team that calls them home.<\/h3>\n<h4>by Shannon Mullen<\/h4>\n<h5>All photos by Richard Foreman\/SMPSP, except as noted.\u00a0\u00a9 2018 Sony Pictures Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.<\/h5>\n<div id=\"attachment_26926\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26926\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26926\" src=\"http:\/\/home\/locatis4\/public_html\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D40_13120cc.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D40_13120cc.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D40_13120cc-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D40_13120cc-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-26926\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Establishing shot near Angel&#8217;s farm.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Their first meeting was at a Starbucks in Albuquerque. Kevin Kavanaugh had just flown in from Los Angeles to start prep with location manager Shani Orona, LMGI on Sicario: Day of the Soldado. \u201cI guess I look like a production designer because she came right up to me, this creepy guy in the corner,&#8221; Kavanaugh remembers. \u201cI&#8217;m a little shy, but we hit it off. They shared a lot of common ground already, including high expectations set by Sicario&#8217;s critical and commercial success. There was a lot of faith that a sequel would be equally well received,\u201d Orona says.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>That sequel, billed as \u201cthe next chapter in the <i>Sicario<\/i> saga,\u201d had a different director, cinematographer, composer and Kavanaugh as production designer, among other new hires in key creative positions. \u201cWe all started fresh, like a one-off movie,\u201d he says. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have to abide by any rules from the first one, except for the fact that they\u2019re both set in the southwestern US and Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The film\u2019s producers also wanted the same location team, led by LM S. Todd Christensen, LMGI, and Orona as key assistant, back for the sequel. \u201cWe knew what we were getting into,\u201d Orona says. \u201cWe had been so proud of our work on the first film and for <i>Soldado<\/i>, we felt it was really critical that everything matches that or tries to surpass it.\u201d <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26927\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26927\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26927\" src=\"http:\/\/home\/locatis4\/public_html\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D39_12585_rx.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D39_12585_rx.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D39_12585_rx-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D39_12585_rx-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D39_12585_rx-360x240.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-26927\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Benicio Del Toro and Isabela Moner<\/p><\/div>\n<p><i>Sicario<\/i> was shot mostly in and around Albuquerque to take advantage of New Mexico\u2019s film tax incentive. Orona and Christensen both live in the state full time, but he was already managing another feature for <i>Sicario<\/i>\u2019s producers, Black Label Media, so he agreed to supervise <i>Soldado<\/i>, write the department\u2019s budget and scout and manage its six-day Mexico shoot, and he promoted Orona to location manager in charge of the sequel\u2019s locations stateside. \u201cThere were days when we had three per day,\u201d she remembers. \u201cIt felt like TV, but it was a huge movie where we weren\u2019t just a push away from the next location.\u201d <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26929\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26929\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26929\" src=\"http:\/\/home\/locatis4\/public_html\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D04_00860_RiverCrossingx.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"668\" srcset=\"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D04_00860_RiverCrossingx.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D04_00860_RiverCrossingx-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D04_00860_RiverCrossingx-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D04_00860_RiverCrossingx-360x240.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-26929\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Migrants cross the Rio Grande River<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Orona counted a total of 48 locations on <i>Soldado<\/i>, including both sides of the border\u2014nearly double the number in the first film. \u201cIt is a little bigger, with a little more action,\u201d hints producer Trent Luckinbill, one of Black Label\u2019s co-founders. \u201cIt kept the DNA of that gritty prestige the first one had but we wanted something that could be completely standalone, so if you hadn\u2019t seen <i>Sicario<\/i>, you could still dive in and feel you hadn\u2019t missed anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The idea for a second film apparently came up in Black Label\u2019s earliest conversations with screenwriter Taylor Sheridan. \u201cWe had it in the back of our heads that we\u2019d look at this if [<i>Sicario<\/i>] worked out,\u201d Luckinbill says. \u201cWhen the characters sparked with audiences in a way where you could spend more time with them, Taylor came to us and said, \u2018I\u2019ve got an idea and I want to write it.\u2019 There was more to tell and he really got the story right.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26930\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26930\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26930\" src=\"http:\/\/home\/locatis4\/public_html\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D07_01656x.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D07_01656x.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D07_01656x-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D07_01656x-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-26930\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Josh Brolin (right) and Shea Whigham<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_26935\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26935\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26935\" src=\"http:\/\/home\/locatis4\/public_html\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-Copy-of-SOL_D18_04157x.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"663\" srcset=\"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-Copy-of-SOL_D18_04157x.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-Copy-of-SOL_D18_04157x-400x265.jpg 400w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-Copy-of-SOL_D18_04157x-768x509.jpg 768w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-Copy-of-SOL_D18_04157x-100x65.jpg 100w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-Copy-of-SOL_D18_04157x-360x240.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-26935\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Josh Brolin<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The first film introduced quasi-vigilante federal agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and pragmatic hit man Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), two shadowy recruits hired to escalate America\u2019s drug war quagmire. <i>Sicario<\/i> didn\u2019t set up much in the way of backstory about the two men, other than a few details about the brutal murder of Alejandro\u2019s wife and daughter. We never even learned his last name. <i>Soldado<\/i> gives him one\u2014it\u2019s Gillick\u2014and the sequel puts his relationship with Graver at the center of its plot. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>When the sequel picks up the story, Mexican cartels have begun trafficking terrorists across the US border. That\u2019s enough for the powers that be to unleash Graver, who in turn, reenlists Gillick, assuring him \u201cthere are no rules this time.\u201d Fair warning to those who found the violence in <i>Sicario<\/i> shocking: Sheridan has hinted that his sequel \u201cmakes the first one look like a comedy.\u201d <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Emily Blunt\u2019s character, FBI agent Kate Macer, does not return in <i>Soldado<\/i>, presumably having followed Alejandro\u2019s parting advice that she move to some \u201csmall town where the rule of law still exists.\u201d Taking up her mantle as the movie\u2019s moral compass is newcomer Isabela Moner, playing the kidnapped daughter of a cartel kingpin. Catherine Keener also has a new role as Graver\u2019s boss, opposite Matthew Modine as defense director.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26931\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26931\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26931\" src=\"http:\/\/home\/locatis4\/public_html\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D46_15114.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"668\" srcset=\"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D46_15114.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D46_15114-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D46_15114-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-SOL_D46_15114-360x240.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-26931\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Border crossing set for vehicles crossing into Mexico.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Some of the biggest changes from the first film took effect behind the camera. <i>Sicario<\/i>\u2019s director Denis Villeneuve and cinematographer Roger Deakins, who had also worked together on <i>Prisoners<\/i>, were both tied up shooting <i>Blade Runner: 2040<\/i>. For <i>Soldado,<\/i> the producers hired Italian helmer Stefano Sollima, who was known for his work on the series <i>Gomorra<\/i> and the mob feature <i>Suburra<\/i>, and paired him with Dariusz Wolski, a seasoned director of photography who cut his teeth shooting music videos for the likes of Aerosmith and Van Halen, and now specializes in blockbuster studio features. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Sollima had never shot a film in the United States before, but Orona says the director had a clear vision for the sequel. \u201cHe wanted it to be vast and expansive so there was a sense of panic in one\u2019s isolation. So in that sense, it\u2019s a very different film from <i>Sicario<\/i>. That was important to him. He loved <i>Sicario<\/i> and he and Denis spoke quite a bit, but he wanted it to be, not only his film, but something quite different.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Translating Sollima\u2019s vision across cultural and language barriers proved to be a new challenge for the Location Department. They struggled to find locations that matched the idea of Mexico and America the director had pictured before coming over from Europe to scout both firsthand. \u201cIt was interesting because what we would think of for locations wasn\u2019t what he was thinking of,\u201d says Ariel Lopez, LMGI, a key assistant LM who also worked on <i>Sicario<\/i>. \u201cWhen we think of a big box store, we think of a warehouse. It was literally written as a Costco with a giant parking lot, but when we showed him a Costco, he didn\u2019t like what it looked like. He wanted something that felt more subtle, like a smaller store. So for us, it was seeing in a new light.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26932\" style=\"width: 277px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26932\" class=\"wp-image-26932 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/home\/locatis4\/public_html\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-2017-10-31-02.55.44x-267x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"267\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-2017-10-31-02.55.44x-267x400.jpg 267w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-2017-10-31-02.55.44x.jpg 667w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 267px) 100vw, 267px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-26932\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shani Orona. Photo: Courtesy of Shani Orona\/LMGI<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Sollima\u2019s idea of Mexico called for vast, desolate locations, but in New Mexico, Orona says those can only be found on the To\u2019hajiilee and Laguna Pueblo Reservations, presenting more limitations than her director was accustomed to. \u201cOne thing he could not wrap his brain around, even to the last day, is that we have a very specific permitting process, especially on tribal land where they have certain spiritual protocols. We kept saying we can\u2019t even point our camera there, and he\u2019d say, \u2018But I shot in the Vatican.\u2019 It was very frustrating to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A key set piece featured in <i>Soldado<\/i>\u2019s trailer\u2014when Graver and Gillick\u2019s convoy gets ambushed\u2014was filmed at To\u2019hajiilee. \u201cWe found a great location on a deserted road with this incredible landscape of nothingness,\u201d Kavanaugh recalls. \u201cThen you have these Humvees barreling down the road and they get taken out by an RPG and that starts this escalation of the movie. Everyone has their own agenda, no one trusts each other and it all goes haywire.\u201d <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The production spent a lot of time at To\u2019hajiilee, in part because extreme wintry weather kept forcing schedule changes. Key assistant LM Erik Keeling-Torrez, LMGI had a previous relationship with the tribe from his work there during the filming of <i>Hell or High Water<\/i>, and he says <i>Soldado<\/i> had a heavy impact on the reservation. \u201cEvery time we were there for the convoy scene, it rained or snowed and we had constant reshoots. The tribe was so tired of us closing down their roads to get this scene. But everything we damaged, we made sure to restore, and we brought in a lot of money to the community during a time when a lot of families were on the verge of losing power and heat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another pivotal sequence was filmed at a village on the Laguna Pueblo, where the Rio Grande was deep and wide enough for a dramatic night shot of migrants smuggling drugs across a river.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>\u201cWe needed rough terrain in a wooded area, with a pretty decent span of river flow and no communities in sight whatsoever,\u201d says Torrez. \u201cTo tell the story, it had to feel treacherous, like a place you needed to get away from or you were just not going to make it. Freezing cold water, gusting winds, shooting in the middle of the night. I felt so bad for some of those background actors but it looks spectacular.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26933\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26933\" class=\"wp-image-26933 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/home\/locatis4\/public_html\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-Home5x-400x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-Home5x-400x225.jpg 400w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-Home5x-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Compass-Magazine-Home5x.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-26933\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Todd Christensen. Photo: Andy Willinger<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The closer <i>Soldado<\/i>\u2019s script got to the border, the harder it was for the production to cheat greater Albuquerque for the real thing. \u201cThat was our biggest challenge,\u201d says Kavanaugh. \u201cThose border towns have their own look to them. They\u2019re right on the edge of society. The deeper into Mexico you go, it\u2019s a whole different feel, but when you\u2019re on the border, there\u2019s such a thin line for survival. So that\u2019s what we had to try and find in Albuquerque.\u201d For scenes set in Mexican cities and towns, Christensen says he considered Colombia but opted for Mexico City itself because it had the best local infrastructure, dollar for peso, to support filming. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i>Soldado<\/i> shot in the city\u2019s slums and financial district, and a major scene in the old town area where an explosion flips a car and there\u2019s a gun battle. But Christensen says they were filming in front of an old building that was leaning at a precarious angle and the schedule kept changing. \u201cFinally, we pull the trigger and everybody\u2019s happy and we\u2019ve got the road closed, there\u2019s security everywhere and nobody is even close to that building. They roll the cars and it\u2019s a one-time deal, and it went off perfectly. The wall did not budge. To make the deal, to get the space, that\u2019s the stuff you pull off.\u201d <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26936\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26936\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26936\" src=\"http:\/\/home\/locatis4\/public_html\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D53_18646x.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"668\" srcset=\"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D53_18646x.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D53_18646x-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D53_18646x-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D53_18646x-360x240.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-26936\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Filmed in a suburb of Mexico City.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It\u2019s a precarious balancing act to depict danger authentically in movies without causing actual harm, especially a violent film about terrorists and drug cartels. Security was a major concern for the production and Christensen spent several days in Mexico City before <i>Soldado<\/i> shot there, working with the company hired to protect the cast and crew. \u201cI\u2019ve set up security enough with other movies to know they were thorough,\u201d he says. \u201cYou take the steps to make it safe, then when I\u2019m on set, I\u2019ve got an eye out all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On scouts, Christensen has sometimes brought a police escort with him, on both sides of the border, and long before the murder of colleague, assistant location manager Carlos Mu\u00f1oz Portal, who worked on both <i>Sicario<\/i> films and was killed in Mexico last year while scouting. But on <i>Soldado<\/i>, Luckinbill says there were \u201czero problems\u201d with security. \u201cIt was as smooth a shoot in Mexico as we\u2019ve had in any US city,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26934\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26934\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26934\" src=\"http:\/\/home\/locatis4\/public_html\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D42_13588x.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"636\" srcset=\"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D42_13588x.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D42_13588x-400x254.jpg 400w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D42_13588x-768x488.jpg 768w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D42_13588x-100x65.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-26934\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) enter the hangar at the Utah airfield.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>For the most part, New Mexico\u2019s geography only adds to the quality of life that led both Christensen and Orona to base themselves there full time. Before they moved to \u201cThe Land of Enchantment\u201d (the state\u2019s official motto), they both lived in other places doing myriad other jobs. \u201cI worked cattle, drove trucks, did scenic painting for a couple years and I built crates for shipping art,\u201d Christensen says. \u201cAll of it ended up being college for locations.\u201d He got his start in Los Angeles on a TV show and almost immediately started working on big-budget features.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Orona studied architecture in college and is classically trained in feng shui. She ran a landscape design business in London for more than a decade before she moved back to the States and got into locations by way of an extra\u2019s casting gig in her home state. That led to a job as an assistant on the 2008 miniseries <i>Comanche Moon<\/i>. \u201cIt was brutal so I got broken in quickly,\u201d she remembers. \u201cAll Westerns are brutal. We filmed 16-hour days for three months in 100-degree temperatures. I remember days when there were two of us with pop-up tents and we\u2019d have 400 extras and people passing out from heatstroke.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_26937\" style=\"width: 1010px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-26937\" class=\"size-full wp-image-26937\" src=\"http:\/\/home\/locatis4\/public_html\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D48_15727x.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1000\" height=\"668\" srcset=\"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D48_15727x.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D48_15727x-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D48_15727x-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/SOL_D48_15727x-360x240.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-26937\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mexico City<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Not long after that, Christensen hired Orona as an assistant on <i>In the Valley of Elah<\/i> and they\u2019ve been working together ever since. \u201cShani and I are on the same page in terms of how we deal with a location,\u201d Christensen says. \u201cI could go back to every location I\u2019ve ever been to and they\u2019d be happy to see me and Shani has done that too. She has the same sensibility.\u201d <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Orona says it\u2019s always a difficult dance to advocate for a location on the same level as a director\u2019s vision but it becomes a matter of survival in an incentive state. \u201cIt\u2019s our bread and butter. There will be many times when we have to go up against production and say we can\u2019t do this or that for whatever reason, and we\u2019re really the only department that faces that dynamic.\u201d <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s also gotten politically active, working to increase state and local lawmakers\u2019 understanding of how incentive financing works. \u201cI lived near the border for a year doing these deals to shoot there and I discovered how astonishing the locations are, but there\u2019s no infrastructure to support filmmaking,\u201d Orona says. \u201cSo I met as many politicians as I could to explain why film companies have to be near infrastructure. It\u2019s been this mission of mine to continue to bring film down there so they start to see the dollars coming into their communities.\u201d <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Christensen and Orona are particularly proud of the relationships they\u2019ve cultivated with tribal representatives on the state\u2019s reservations. \u201cWe have both cleaned up messes that other people made,\u201d Christensen says. \u201cIt\u2019s on my mind every time I do a show\u2014to try to prove there\u2019s a way to do this job successfully that makes both sides happy, to give everything the director and the production needs, and at the same time, to be good guests. It\u2019s easier to do it the way Shani and I do than any other way.\u201d <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Orona adds that living outside of Los Angeles helps keep her objective focused on the art of making movies. \u201cThere\u2019s a buffer here and we just don\u2019t get caught up in the story of what it is to be in film. There is a huge story built around that and here we don\u2019t react to a story built around much of anything. People would look at you sideways if you did. We\u2019re much more interested in quality of life and that seeps into the way we do our work.\u201d<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back in the Land of Enchantment\u00a0 Sicario\u2019s sequel, Day of the Soldado, returns to New Mexico for its locations and the team that calls them home. by Shannon Mullen All photos by Richard Foreman\/SMPSP, except as noted.\u00a0\u00a9 2018 Sony Pictures Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Their first meeting was at a Starbucks in Albuquerque. Kevin Kavanaugh [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":26921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[241],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-26920","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-craft-focus"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sicario\u2019s Sequel Returns to New Mexico | Shani Orona, LMGI - Location Managers Guild International<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/locationmanagers.org\/es\/sicarios-sequel-returns-to-new-mexico\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"es_ES\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sicario\u2019s Sequel Returns to New Mexico | Shani Orona, LMGI - Location Managers Guild International\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Back in the Land of Enchantment\u00a0 Sicario\u2019s sequel, Day of the Soldado, returns to New Mexico for its locations and the team that calls them home. by Shannon Mullen All photos by Richard Foreman\/SMPSP, except as noted.\u00a0\u00a9 2018 Sony Pictures Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Their first meeting was at a Starbucks in Albuquerque. 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