Most of us travel... a lot. We don't think twice about it... fire up the old laptop and look for the destination of our choosing.  Let's see...where are we going this time, sunny... snowy... family?  After deciding, it’s click, click and BAM... you’ve got yourself an airline ticket.  

Well, it's a little more complicated when you're traveling a shooting crew to a distant location. We've chosen a snowy, cold one.  (You could tell that by the previous pictures of our scouts, we want snow...and lots of it.)

Actually, I should back up - we had sent our location scouts to a couple of nearby states on the East Coast... called a few other state film commissions in the northeast to send us location photos and we considered two possible places out west… all with snow when we need to shoot.

Then - just before we left to scout those locations - it was decided that we were only going to lookat one location.  So - re-arranged  airline tickets, booked cars and hotels and flew to that location. The Production Designer, UPM, myself and the Creator/Director.

After we got there, we musta looked at dozens of possible locations… interiors… exteriors… all gorgeous!

Once we’d driven the scout all over the state (it seemed) looked at location after location, the director and production designer finally pick the locations that work best with the script.  (Mind you that every script is compromised a little to fit the location.)   We saw some really cool stuff… we did some really cool things and left the state feeling good about what it had to offer.

On the second scout a much larger group had to go (department keys and best boys) to tech scout the locations that we found that would work with our script.  Of course, we’re getting help from the local film community; who make sure that the scouts go seamlessly and attention to all the details are duly recorded so that there won't be any whoopsies when the full company arrives.  That, folks, is a tough job.  Location Managers are stuck between a hard place (location owner) and a rock (production). 

After the second scout we all jumped back on the plane and headed home... each of us deep in thought about how the heck are we going to pull this off?  The real planning, logistical work had yet to begin.  

So... we gotta fly 60 or so cast and crew to this faraway dreamy location.  Of course, even a well heeled production is hesitant to bring the entire crew on location.  You got flight expenses...housing expenses, per diem and a little union fee of idle pay to budget.  Yep...crew members get paid 4 hours a day on weekends not worked.  Expensive?  You bet.

How do we choose who to bring and who not to?  Well, you know that the cast is going... department heads go and usually their best boys... BUT because we're wrapping the show on location, we've left the part of the crew home to turn in the equipment and wrap the stages.  You guessed it... we have to rent all new shooting equipment from this new location.  Just got a little more complicated... As I mentioned in the first blog... we're like a circus even when we move from location to location back in Wilmington...(2) 40 foot tractor trailers of grip and electric equipment, a camera truck, prop truck, cast trailers, makeup and hair trailer, spfx trailer and the Honeywagon... plus vans, stake beds and catering vehicles...I think you get the picture... since we can't bring those to the mountains, we gotta find them there.  Somethings we're just not going to find so we're sending 2 5-ton trucks across the country to meet the crew when they arrive. Each department head handed in a list of crew that they felt had to go with them on location…that list was gone over with a fine-toothed comb…names added and subtracted until flights had to be bought.  Did I mention that after deciding on the location that it’s one of the busiest periods of the year for the resort and the area?  Yep…planes are booked full and so are the hotel rooms…just got a little more expensive to shoot there.

We’ve hired a local line producer... he'll be our liason to the local crew and guide us thru the local and state governments... we hired a good one!  He's been worth his weight in gold... just like in any operation you need somebody who really knows the local crew and talent... someone who knows the in and outs and will keep you from being scammed like we were in Texas... but we’ll leave that story for another time.

kt