Career Profile: Film Locations Manager

Have you ever watched a movie that was set in New York City, but were later surprised to find out it was actually filmed in Vancouver? And did you ever wonder who is responsible for planning the locations for these scenes?

As an assistant locations manager, Paul Russell (who has worked on movies such as Another Cinderella Story and Underworld: Evolution) handles the logistics for filming locations. Russell recently took the time to tell Youthink all about his job in the exciting film industry.

YT: What drew you to a career in the film industry?
PR: I was drawn to a career in the film industry because I always liked the idea of having a job that allows me to do something completely different every single day.

YT: What exactly do you do as an assistant locations manager?
PR: I’m in charge of all of the logistical issues. As far as dealing with physical aspects of the crew, parking of trucks, finding locations, securing locations, dealing with contracts in order to shoot there, dealing with cities, as far as getting permits to film. I also deal with the police or fire departments if it’s necessary to have them on site. For example, if we have firearms on-set or we’re doing any kind of pyrotechnic work, then that’s why we would have police officers and the fire department on-set. And then it’s all about maintaining the location while we shoot. So it’s a pretty big job ... a lot of different aspects.

YT: You first worked as a production assistant and then as an assistant locations manager. Is this a natural progression?
PR: Yes, it is. I pursued the Director’s Guild of Canada route. There are sort of two different ways you can go in the Director’s Guild of Canada. From production assistant, you can either go into the assistant director’s department or you can go into the locations department. I chose to go into the locations department, so I worked as a production assistant for a number of years then upgraded to trainee locations manager then upgraded again to assistant locations manager. And eventually that will progress to a role or job as a locations manager.

YT: What type of education do you need?
PR: My education was pretty much on the fly. A lot of people do go the film school route, but I chose not to. A lot of people that go that route end up doing other things, end up getting involved in making their own projects.

(Editor’s note: Film courses/programs in BC include: The Art Institute, BCIT, Capilano College, Centre for Arts and Technology in Kelowna, Emily Carr, Gulf Islands Film and Television School, Langara College, Pacific Audio Visual Institute, Selkirk College in Nelson, SFU, UBC, Vancouver Film School, Victoria Motion Picture Film School.)

YT: How competitive is it to get into this field?
PR: It can be incredibly competitive. There are only so many people to fill X number of jobs and once those jobs are filled, there really aren’t any more so you basically have to wait for the next round of new shows.

YT: What advice do you have for teens who want to get into this industry?
PR: Learn how to survive on very little sleep. Learn all you can about making movies. Do research. Be prepared to have it not be as glamorous as you think it’s going to be, but know that it can be an incredibly rewarding job.

YT: What’s your favourite project you’ve worked on?
PR: I think my favourite project was probably Underworld [Evolution]. It was the most amazing show I’ve ever done and it was the most amazing end product I’ve ever been privileged to be on. And I’ve never really seen a film crew gel like that. Everybody knew how big of a deal it was and everybody knew how big of a show it was and it was a family for six months. And everybody knew what their job was, but they also knew that in order to make this thing work, we had to all get along well and make it happen.