Posted on Thursday, May 15 2025
Location managers don’t tend to be household names, but their role in film and television production is crucial: It’s their job to work with the director and production team to find just the right houses, street scenes, wilderness areas and just about every other filming location that’s required outside of a sound stage or virtual reality set.
Their work starts with scouting out locations prior to preproduction, and then continues right through the production, managing what some have called a “Jenga tower” of logistics. It’s a stressful job, especially when managing multiple locations.
1. Understand the financial constraints of the production
Location managers can’t just have a ‘good eye’ for a great site. They also have to understand what the budget implications might be: For a winter scene, is it more cost effective to shoot in Norway in April or in northern Alberta in November? Are there tax incentives in Canada that may not be available in the US? Expert location managers are good at balancing costs and efficacy.
2. Be able to think creatively
Experts say that location managers are often brought into a production early in the process so they can help the production designer, the producer, and even the director to achieve their vision in what might be a roundabout way. This could be as simple as reimagining a local park as a fairy forest, or as complex as understanding that the right lighting could make the Toronto City Hall look like an alien building complex.
3. Learn how to negotiate
Choosing a location is one thing; getting permission to shoot there can be a little more difficult. Experienced location managers say that one of the skills they’ve come to rely on most is their ability to negotiate, whether it’s with homeowners who might need to vacate for a few days, or a local government that isn’t keen on allowing filming at a usually-restricted landmark – especially when you don’t have a huge budget to sweeten the deal.
4. Effective follow-up is crucial
Ensuring that the people who live in, own or manage the sites you’re using are happy with the process makes a huge difference. If you’re shooting a movie, you may need a location again for reshoots; if you’re working on a television series, you may need a home or a street for a future episode, months or even years down the line. Following up to make sure that any damage incurred by production teams is fixed to the satisfaction of the residents, owners or managers will save money, time and possibly the need for a whole new site later.
5. Hire nimble thinkers who can anticipate problems
Of course you need assistants who can be trusted to scout and secure locations prior to a production, but experienced location managers know that there’s a lot that can go wrong on the day: An unanticipated crowd watching the production, a generator that doesn’t work, a shooting day that goes late into the night, a permit that gets denied at the last minute – all of these can derail even the best laid plans. Top location managers say that they had to learn to hire great people who could be trusted to navigate tricky or frustrating situations without losing their cool.
6. Keep your own database
You can’t rely on your memory alone – especially when you see a great location ‘for something’ that you don’t have a need for in the foreseeable future. Keeping a visual record of locations you’ve seen, along with photos of that location in different lighting, can save you hours (or even days) of scouting in the future.
7. Get good with a drone
This is particularly important when you’re scouting locations for outdoor scenes: A drone can alert you to filming impediments (like modern buildings in what’s supposed to be an establishing shot in a period piece) or opportunities (a slightly better angle that isn’t visible from the road), and can also provide valuable reference footage when you’re meeting with the director of photography to finalize locations and shots.
8. Know where everyone is going to stay
It doesn’t matter how great the location is if the entire team has to drive 3 hours to get there every day and the shooting schedule is several weeks long. Part of smart location scouting and management is knowing where your entire crew are going to stay during the production. You may have the budget to put the stars in fancy hotels for the duration of the production, but movies and television shoots often involve hundreds of people, from lighting experts and costume designers to key grips and craft services.
With a wide variety of furnished options, from studio apartments to large single-family homes, Premiere Suites helps location managers keep costs contained while ensuring everyone can get to and from set in a reasonable amount of time – and get a good night's sleep after a long shooting day.
For productions juggling large crews, tight schedules and shifting locations, corporate housing for film crews rounds out the toolkit every location manager relies on to keep a production running smoothly.