Abigail Stanbridge: Location Manager

My employer

Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ) a statutory body of the Queensland Government responsible for marketing destinations, experiences and major events in the State (www.teq.queensland.com)

Clients

Hainan Communication and Travel TV Channel, a Chinese production company.

11 local tourism operators.

Tourism Tropical North Queensland (TTNQ), the Regional Tourism Organisation (RTO) responsible for promoting and marketing Tropical North Queensland and Cairns & the Great Barrier Reef (www.ttnq.org.au)

My role

I was hired during the final stages of pre-production and was responsible for:

Liaising between tourism operators and the Producer, Director and Chief Camera Operator with the Chinese film crew
Organising transport and meals for 40 cast and crew
Accompanying the Producer, Chief director, Chief Camera Operator and Senior Marketing Specialist on a three day recce of all locations
Liaising with local tourism operators and four statutory bodies, including local councils, to secure filming locations, timing and any special requirements (eg. Gopro vision of bungee jumping, underwater camera operators for dive experience and fencing for exclusive access to public areas)
Accompanying cast and crew to all 11 locations over six days ensuring everyone’s needs were met. Worked with translator as cast and crew spoke Chinese. Dealt with changes in transport due to unscheduled delays and changes to the filming itinerary

Challenges

The day before the scheduled shoot in the National Park on Green Island, Tourism and Events Queensland advised they had forgotten to get a permit to film in the National Park. They contacted the Park Ranger but he initially refused to allow the Chinese film shoot to proceed and asked to speak to the Location Manager. After listening to the Ranger's extensive grievances, I was able to assure him that I understood his concerns and would be present to ensure all regulations were adhered to, thus mitigating his concerns. Consequently he gave his permission for the filming to proceed. In this instance I successfully negotiated an eleventh hour middle ground.

Evaluation

The Chinese company were very impressed with the quality of the experiences and footage obtained. The smooth running of the operation at each location enabled the company to maximise their time in shooting sufficient footage for two episodes rather than the scheduled single episode. This gave Tourism and Events Queensland and the local operators far greater coverage on Chinese television than initially anticipated.

I effectively managed everything that was required of me and exceeded expectations. Initiative was required when catering for unscheduled requests from the local news media for access to the film cast and crew. In this respect I organised and managed local publicity and access for two TV stations, radio and print. I took behind the scenes photos (with my own Nikon D600) which were subsequently requested by the clients for publicity purposes.