Listed below are the election statements from 2017 nominees. Please review these statements before voting. If you would like to learn more about our election process feel free to call us at 310-967-2007 or email elections@locationmanagers.org

LMGI Board Member Nominees 

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NOMINEE: ERIC KLOSTERMAN

I am running for re-election to the LMGI Board of Directors. I have enjoyed serving for the past year as President and would be glad to continue to do so. I also spent 3 years as Treasurer and so I am well versed in the Guild’s finances. We on the Board have worked to grow the LMGI through enhancing the website, putting on our extremely successful LMGI Awards show at Warner Bros, helping our dedicated editors publish the Compass Magazine, and working with our new part-time administrator to further our mission of promoting excellence on location worldwide. Let’s keep it growing together.

NOMINEE: DORION THOMAS

Two years ago I was honored to become a board member of the LMGA. In the beginning of my term I joined the Philanthropic committee as co-chair. While on the committee I organized a caroling event at the MPTF Home. Unfortunately, a health scare cancelled it. However, with the help of my family, I personally delivered 50 LMGI gift bags to 50 different patients at the MPTF home. It was an extremely gratifying experience to give away gifts to the residents.

In my two-year term, I have attended all but one board meeting. I have voted on almost every new member, and I have played a role by voting for numerous measures. I also publically supported the LMGI’s continued involvement with having a panel at Comic Con, at a time when numerous board members did not see the value in this relationship.

I’ve discovered during my term, that the LMGI is getting bigger and better every year. Between the awards show, and the constant addition of talented people to the Guild, there has been no lack of forward momentum. Of course, the LMGI wouldn’t be heading where it is without the hard work of the board.

In the next few months we are going to be examining the future of the organization, and I want to be a part of that. Please allow me the honor to serve another two years as an LMGI Board member.

Thank you,

Dorion Thomas

NOMINEE: REBECCA PUCK STAIR

I believe that LMGI is a unique organization in the world, doing things no one else is.
I believe we location professionals are only as strong as we cooperate, not compete, with each other.
I believe LMGI has enormous potential in the next decade, making visible our “invisible” work.

With the right leadership, the LMGI is about to expand into a firmly global organization. It’s about to double or treble its membership, and about to exert that combined strength of location professionals around the world.

With the right leadership, the LMGI will soon not only keep abreast of changes but invent them, not only follow incentives but establish them, and not only connect location professionals but create them.

If re-elected to the board, I will:

  • Work to increase the “I” of our name with continued COMPASS articles, far-flung events and more.
  • Sustain our current growth. Bigger equals more money and influence.,
  • Increase member benefits, especially for those outside Los Angeles. For example: more panels, roundtables and classes in more countries, ID badges, and a locolist-style online forum.
  • Nourish communication and networking among location professionals globally. Knowledge is power.
  • Compose and evaluate our upcoming member survey.

As for me, I am a location scout & manager, sometimes producer, based in New Mexico. With fifteen years’ experience across twelve states and five countries, I am hired primarily for film and television, with the occasional commercial. Over my last two terms on the LMGI board, I have:

  • Coordinated our booth at FOCUS for three years
  • Coordinated our booth at the Production Show in London
  • Created our first annual Utah/LMGI panel at Sundance
  • Written frequently for the COMPASS
  • Staffed AFCI booths over the last five years

… and I’m currently working on the following:

  • A joint Canada/US roundtable with the Directors’ Guild of Canada
  • An LMGI event in New York City
  • Booths at FOCUS again this fall
  • Several articles for the COMPASS

Thank you for considering my candidacy!

NOMINEE:  MIKE FANTASIA

I have been a member of the Guild since its inception and have had the honor of serving on the Board for ten years. I would like to continue to serve on the Board to continue our work in various areas.

Since its inception over a decade ago, the Guild has grown into a diverse group of location professionals worldwide. I want to continue to work on increasing the awareness of the important role that location managers play among producers, studio executives and the public. The main ways the Guild does this are through participation in panels, discussions and presentations at film festivals, conferences, fam tours and other events as well as through our quarterly magazine, the Compass and our website.

Second, I’m excited to continue to work on the Guild’s expansion within and outside the United States.

Third, I want to work with film commissions and production service companies worldwide to organize presentations by location managers for their local crew base.

NOMINEE: MAC GORDON

To:  Hello LMGI,

After reading over your email inviting me to consider running for a position on the LMGI Board of Directors, I have decided to put forward my name for consideration. I have been in Locations for 25 plus years and feel like maybe I have reached a point where I can be of some use to the greater good for my Locations’ brothers and sisters. I have supported the LMGI since its founding, and was so happy to see it expand from a national to international organization. Although I left LA and work on the East coast now, I still wish to see our craft gain the recognition and respect it so richly deserves regardless of where movies and TV are made.

Please accept my name for consideration as a future member of the Board of Directors.

Best,

MAC GORDON

NOMINEE: MATT CHAMBERLIN

To Whom It May Concern,

Please find my statement of candidacy to be considered as a member of the Board of Directors at the Location Managers Guild of America.

As a member since 2007 and a member of the locations community since 1996, I feel that I could bring my experience to the guild and help in continuing to expand the brand of the LMGI but also the importance of Location Managers in all areas of the world. Having worked in Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta, my experience of those three different locales can help in educating Location Managers and Assistants alike in deal making but also Producers and Production Managers in the importance of the current needs of our department when it comes to staffing, health insurance and pension plans, vendor needs and advancement opportunities.

As a prior member of local 399 and a current member of both local 728 and the Directors Guild of America I understand the differences between the benefits earned in either guild which can be important to negotiating better terms for new contracts with the AMPTP but mostly I’d just like to work with the board of directors to advance our position in the film community as a whole both in the United States and abroad.

Please consider me for the voting process to join the Board of Directors.

Sincerely,

Matt Chamberlin | Location Manager
“Survivor’s Remorse” Season 4 | Starz

NOMINEE:  JONATHAN SLATOR

To whom it may concern:

I would like to stand as a candidate for the board of LMGI.

I would bring a unique range and length of experience to the board having started a life time in the entertainment business some 45 years ago and have worked in many aspects of film, television, commercials and events since. My early years in the business were as an AD with the BBC. Before switching to Location Managing I had spells as a TV Producer. I also have a few credits as actor and stunt driver! As Executive Director of both Taos Picture Show and Taos Mountain Film Festival I have broad experience in event organization. I founded the Taos County Film Commission and headed it for 10 years. I have worked on several continents and have been based variously in London England, Sydney Australia, Wellington NZ, Los Angeles CA and latterly Taos NM.

During my career I have contributed articles for an array of print publications thus could help in production of content for Compass. I am enjoying partial retirement therefore would have time to dedicate to the duties of a LMGI board member.

I hope you will support my candidacy.

Best wishes,

Jonathan Slator

NOMINEE:  JOHN RAKICH

My name is John Rakich and I am a Location Manager based in Toronto, Ontario Canada. I’ve been working in feature films and television for over 18 years and I would like to submit my name to the LMGI membership for consideration as a new board member in the upcoming elections.

I have been a member since 2015 when after a reading an article online about the then LMGA I was ecstatic to discover that such an organization existed. In my time as a proud member I have been a panelist on the LMGI’s 2016 Comic Con Panel and am now on this year’s Comic Con Committee. I’ve also been doing my best to introduce the LMGI to the Locations community here in Ontario and getting more people and organizations to apply for membership.

We have a very close knit group of Location’s people here in Ontario very much like a dysfunctional family but in the time that I’ve been in the LMGI and getting to meet more members in person I have been humbled in the amazing understanding that I’m part of something larger that brings us together. I witnessed even more when I came down to attend this year’s LMGI Awards ceremony and saw that camaraderie on full display which is I was hoping for when I decided to reach out and join the LMGI.

I am very proud of the of the credibility and respect that LMGI, has brought to a profession that we all love, and I see the opportunity of joining the LMGI board as a way to contribute to our growing community, and continue the great work that is being done by our organization. I am anxious to learn more about the scope of the LMGI and working to expand our existing membership within Canada and the rest of the world.

Thank you for your consideration.

John Rakich

NOMINEE:  ALISON A. TAYLOR

To Whom It May Concern,

My name is Alison Taylor and I am a Location Manager.

After working for five years traveling the world as an International Tour Director, I moved back to my birthplace (Los Angeles, CA) with the hope of getting into the event planning business. While visiting a friend at her production office one day, I stumbled across the Location Department and realized that it required the same skill set as event planning and could also allow me to continue in my beloved world of travel. Twenty-three years later, I have worked in Location Management for 22 years and have been a member of the Hollywood Teamsters (Local 399) for 21 of those years. My credits include both feature films and episodic television. Some of them worth noting are Amistad, Training Day, The Soloist, Alias, Southland, Straight Outta Compton, The Leisure Class (Project Greenlight), The Purge – Election Year and most recently A Wrinkle in Time.

I have watched the LMGI grow over the years from its humble beginnings to an organization that has united location professionals around the world and shown the industry that we are a vital member of the film-making team. I joined the guild in 2014, however, I have just recently found the time to start participating in its events and activities (my last child just went off to college). I would love to offer my services on the board. I believe that I can bring fresh ideas from a different perspective, enthusiasm, experience and commitment to the already exceptional group. I am proud to be a member and anxious to get busy!

Thank you.

Alison A. Taylor

NOMINEE:  JIMMY AYOUB

Thank you, LMGI Board of Directors, for this opportunity to present myself again for reelection to the board.

Once again, it was a pleasure and an honor to attend this year’s LMGI awards ceremony. It is a great event and culminates the continued hard work and dedication of this organization and board. As a past recipient of the award, I understand and appreciate the importance of highlighting our field of expertise in the film community and beyond.

I am proud to have served on the board this past year and present myself again this year as a candidate.

I want to continue to make a difference in the growth and expansion of our membership and increase participation in our forum particularly on the east coast where I have worked as a Location Manager for over 30 years.

We have made positive inroads with furthering our exposure through new membership and more involvement with local film commissions, and I believe with my input, we can continue to build on this momentum.

I again include an outline of my continued goals

My goals would include:

  1. Establish LMGI in NYC, NYS, NJ and CT: raising awareness and visibility
  2. Grow membership in these regions
  3. Regional liaison to MOFTB (Mayor’s Office of Film Theater & Broadcasting), NY State,
    NJ, CT, MA Film commissions
  4. Build a solid base of East Coast sponsorships
  5. Liaison to Theatrical Teamster IBT Local 817 (Member & Past Council Member/Founder)
  6. NYC, NYS, CT Trade Shows

Committees of Interest:

  • Regional/International
  • Communications & Marketing
  • Membership

Thank you for your consideration.

JIMMY AYOUB

LOCATION MANAGER

NOMINEE:  WESLEY HAGAN

My name is Wes Hagan and I have been in the Entertainment industry for nearly 22 years, 20 of those years have been working in Location Management. I started as a production assistant in 1995 in my home town of New Philadelphia, Ohio working for a Hallmark Hall of Fame M.O.W. called Harvest of Fire. After that experience I moved my life to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the film industry.

While working as a P.A. on a number of projects ranging from Polly: A Parrots Tale, David and Lisa to Lethal Weapon 4, I met a Location Manager on the set of a M.O.W. that set me on the path of Location Management . I knew after the first show as an Assistant Location Manager that I had found the perfect fit for me within the business. Since starting my career as a Location Manager I have worked in both episodic television and feature films ranging from 7 years on Without A Trace, The Event, Hung, a new Netflix series called Ozark as well as feature films like Selma, The Accountant, and the recent hit Hidden Figures.

I would like to run for another term on the Board of Directors for the LMGI. If elected for another term I would like to help the LMGI continue to evolve with the quickly growing and ever changing entertainment industry. Working with membership and the continued growth is essential in making us a stronger, and more recognizable guild amongst our peers in the industry. In the next two years I would like to focus on international relations to advance our guild.

I sincerely thank you for your consideration.

Wesley Hagan