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smile and a good spiel. Today,the work is done not only withan eye to the needs of thecreative team but also in closeassociation with the legal andrisk management executivesof the large multinationalcompanies that I work for.And therein lies the finesse ofthis job.Finding the location thatfits the story is the glamour.Managing the location thatfits the crew’s needs is thegrit. The challenges of the jobare as varied as the locationsneeded to tell the story thescript lays out. To transforma real location into a fictionalset requires attention to alaundry list of details. Everyaspect of every location—nomatter how mundane—isimportant to someoneassociated with the processof preparing the shoot. Theseare just a few of the things—not in order of importance,they are all important—thathave to be done before thedirector says action: streetsign removal; turning on/offstreetlights; cable placement;roof access; tree trimming;repaving; toilet rentals; tenterection; lane closures; heator A/C as required; condor,car and truck parking; snake/insect wrangling; hiringof police/fire personnel;obtaining permits; notifyingneighbors; layout boarding;location cleaning; bus stopmoving; extras holding;environmental testing;furniture moving and storage;safety reports; insurancecertifications; contractnegotiations; trash collection;memo writing; productionmeetings; dog kenneling andit goes on and on.It takes a team of dedicatedprofessionals to get the jobdone. I have been extremelyfortunate to have a talented,long-standing crew: AndreaMorrissy-Keener, 12 years;Jason Kaplon, seven years;J. Hanna and Jasmin Paris,four years. Some are withme still, others have movedon to greater glory. Withouttheir support over the years,I would not be where I amtoday.Nothing prepared me for thisjob except for everything Ihave ever done or learnedin my life. Growing up inHollywood, I was alwaysencouraged to be a teachereven though secretly Iwanted to be a police officer.My father, a television writerand documentary filmmaker,taught me an importantlesson: whatever you wantto do, do it with everythingyou have. He was famous fortelling me long ago that “if Iwanted to peck poop with thechickens, then I should go abuild myself a wooden bill tobe able to do it well.”My mother who immigratedto the US from Switzerland,taught me to actively observethe world around me,from the beauty of nature,architecture and art, to thediversity of humankind.My years in Switzerland atthe University of Lausannestudying French and Frenchliterature gave me theconfidence to get along withpeople of all stations in life.All these experiencesprepared me to be ableto advocate for locationprofessionals and the greaterfilm community as a Boardmember of FilmLA, a memberof the LA City Mayor’s TaskForce, a founding member ofthe LMGA and a lecturer at avariety of film schools—AFI,Boston University, EmersonCollege and ChapmanUniversity.In the question-and-answerperiods after my lectures,I always get the same twoqueries: How do you findlocations? And how do youconvince people to allow youto disrupt their lives withfilming in or in front of theirhomes and businesses? Myanswers are always the same.I tell them to keep their eyesopen because you neverknow what you are going tofind. I advise them to not justthrow money and promisesat people, but to explain tothem how important theindustry and the jobs are tothe community at large, how itgreases the wheels that helpsfuel the local economy.This is exactly what we toldour elected officials acrossthe state to gain passage ofAB1839.20 • LMGA COMPASS | Spring 2015