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Location! Location! Location! Locals Reveal the Ins and Outs of Location Scouting in New York City


New York City offers countless choices for location managers.
Photo courtesy of Krista Corrao.

July 2, 2008 - In the first of a two part series, the MOFTB has reached out to a variety of location managers to hear what they have to say in their own words about their profession and working in New York City.

Ray Mendez, Location Manager and Scout
“…I've been working in production for over a decade and have been in locations for about six years now. I found myself working in locations by default, so to speak. I am a native New Yorker, born and raised. I have also been a pro inline skater for almost half of my life. By way of those two factors I have an uncanny knowledge of our great City of New York.

“My first proper Location Managing job was for David La Chapelle Studio here in NYC. This was a great experience because it ran the gamut of what New York City has to offer on any given day. On one day we'd be on a Chinatown street, then we'd be on a three story yacht sailing around Manhattan and the next – which is still my favorite to this day – shooting on the East River off the shore of Long Island City, Queens, looking towards the NYC skyline with models in an inner tube with scuba divers underneath them holding them in place.

“Scouting is a great part of working locations because it is the part where you get to implement your savvy. It’s about getting your sleuth on and hitting the streets. Interacting with the people, gathering intelligence, and using the knowledge and contacts you possess to produce results. Lest we not forget a good deal of luck and the good graces of the people. These two variables are something I never take for granted for they come into play every time I'm on a job. Scouting in NYC is unlike scouting in any other city in the US. I've worked in several other cities and although I do enjoy a change of pace and setting nothing compares to our city for filmmaking. NYC is certainly the Mecca of movie making. Here the streets are our sets and the skyline our backdrop. Who needs a sound stage when we've got the real thing right here, every day?

“There are many challenges that face filmmakers in NYC, but at the end of the day we reside and work in a city that lives and breathes this craft. It doesn't matter where I am from day to day in our great city that I don't experience some form of gratification from my job. From walking down the streets of Harlem overhearing a group of teenagers talking excitedly about the flick they saw over the weekend to having a conversation with a building manager in the Financial District about the last time [Robert] DeNiro shot in their building, New York City is filmmaking. On any given day, on any given street corner there is something happening that is ‘right out of a movie.’ So keep 'em rolling...”


Rik Nagel, Location Manager
“…I knew instantly that this was the job for me. For almost ten years I’ve been getting to see places most New Yorkers don't even know exist. I've been on top of the Verrazano Bridge, in a corn maze in the middle of Queens, and underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. I get to interact with amazing New Yorkers about their homes, their business, and their passions. We all understand that feeling of ‘Oh great, another shoot. No Parking, lots of noise, and my favorite coffee place is closed.’ I get frustrated when my neighborhood is thrown off kilter, but just like you, when I see my street on film or TV, I fill up with a sense of pride. Sometimes it's an episodic, a feature film thriller, or just a commercial, but behind it all, is this ever changing city we all love so much.

“Our city is known throughout the world; not many places can say that. Capturing the best New York has to offer as the backdrop on film and video is one of the most important parts of my job; it's one of the greatest jobs in the world.…”


David Clark, Scout
“…I started in the business ten years ago working with my sister as a location assistant at ‘Law & Order’ while looking for a ‘normal job.’ I found I actually enjoyed working in the film industry and decided to stay with it. I meet everyone from the man who owns a 50-story building to the guy who runs the elevator to the man with the coffee cart on the corner. You see the humanity of the city and realize that as large and overwhelming as this city can be, it really is just made up of little neighborhoods and villages all just trying to live in a safe, clean, profitable environment.

“Scouting in NYC is rewarding because the city is a constantly changing canvas. There are new places being built, old ones being restored, and the moment you think you have seen it all you are surprised by a new discovery. Scouting requires a unique combination of helping the director and production designer find the creative they are trying to reach while fulfilling the producers need for the creative to be logistically sound. It is the combination of the artistic medium of film coupled with the logistical requirements of the overall production that I enjoy working with…”


The city's parks are the perfect backdrops for films and television shows.
Photo courtesy of Krista Corrao.

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