The Location Department is an often forgotten or even completely overlooked key area in the collaborative dance of making a motion picture. Nationwide, the group is repped by the Location Managers Guild of America.
A good LM and film commissioner is constantly in motion and must think fast on their feet, usually preceding production to the location and overseeing it until final strike and wrap.
The Location manager works directly with the film commissions and their personnel from regions all around the world to insure the production of the film is successful.
Location scouts and managers need to work with Film Commissions to obtain local permitting fees and budgetary restrictions of the production, regulations, conveniences, production services, crew and unit parking, and possibly incidental issues such as direction of the sun, vehicle traffic patterns around the location, airplane flight paths, weather patterns, road work, potential demonstrations and even interest by local organized crime groups.
If you work in film or have interest in learning more, take note of an important date:
The 22nd annual AFCI Locations Trade Show 2007 will be held Thursday, April 12th through Saturday, April 14th at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, featuring 260 exhibitors representing more than 30 countries spanning six continents.
Jenny Williams, AFCI board Vice President of Education
The international trade show and seminar series, which is produced by the Association of Film Commissioners International, is North America’s longest running entertainment industry trade show.
More than 300 film commissions and industry company exhibitors from around the world and an estimated 4,000 film industry professionals will converge in Santa Monica, California to market global production services and opportunities, including the latest incentives available to film, television and commercial production companies.
Four seminars, co-produced with the AFCI and the Association of Independent Commercial Producers, the Producers Guild of America, the Location Managers Guild of America and Loyola Law School, are a part of the 2007 event. Details about the event, seminars and registration are available at the AFCI website, http://www.afci.org .
New this year, the AFCI will be unveiling its slate of AFCI Global Initiatives that includes a worldwide educational program that covers the breadth of the film commission profession, easy access to the most current information available on worldwide incentives, and an effective and efficient way to make confidential location inquiries to one or multiple AFCI member commissions.
“These are exciting times for the film industry globally with a whole range of new opportunities for production emerging rapidly,” says AFCI Board President, Robin James. “The AFCI initiatives will contribute greatly to that process through boosting the standards and capability of film commissions while delivering improved services to the film industry. ”
AFCI Certified Film Commissioner Program
AFCI Board President, Robin James
To enable the widest possible participation, the starter course, Film Commission Fundamentals, is designed for all office staff to be able to take 24/7. “It is a completely online course that can be taken by anyone at any time around the world,” says Williams.
The Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI) is the global professional organization whose members are film commissioners that assist film, television and video production throughout the world. It is a non-profit educational association whose members serve as city, county, state, regional, provincial or national film commissioners for their respective governmental jurisdictions.
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