The Life of a Location Scout in the Film Industry

From sleeping in a car to avoid LA traffic to traveling the world, Lori R., opens up about her 15 years of experience in the film industry and the hustle that it took to get her there.  Lori has worked on several projects including West World, Interstellar, We’re the Millers, and Rush Hour 3.

Transcript

We always say it's like organizing Four Weddings a week and everyone's a Bridezilla.

Life isn't a destination, it's a journey. And as women in the 21st century, we each have a unique story to tell. That's why we've gathered our friends to have interesting discussions about their journeys. Join us as we discuss everything from health, career struggles, mom life, dating, travel, multiculturalism, feminism, and more. I'm Morgan Cullari. And I'm Kristi Burke. And this is the love that journey for you podcast. Hello, everybody. Welcome to another podcast. Today we are interviewing Lori Russell, which happens to be one of my favorite people in the world. Laurie has worked in the film industry for 15 years. Laurie is a location manager of the Virginia Film Office. She's worked on projects like Westworld that you might have seen on HBO, Interstellar movie and Rush Hour 3. She's worked on so many more, but these are a few key ones in LA Laurie was a key assistant location manager and scout.

Welcome Lori!

Nice to be here. Hi.

So glad to have you. So Lori and Morgan. I know you guys have known each other for a long time. So just want to start out if you would quickly give me the background on how you guys got to know each other and got to be such good friends. 

She helped me with school and helped me to meet people. I was the new girl and it was just such a great friendship. Laurie helped me in so many ways. She got me into playing basketball in middle school and then she helped me with tryouts for the cheerleading squad in high school, which I made JV and varsity. So very fun memories. 

Laurie, I have to ask you, what was your first impression of Morgan,

bubbly and curly hair. Also, it's so nice. From a small town. You know, it's not like suburbia, where you have 15 kids on your coldest sack when you're, you know, a small town sort of in the middle of nowhere and you have a half mile driveway. It's amazing to have someone your age right across the street, especially someone as awesome as Morgan and so yeah, we became friends. Right away. It was it was great having her there. I didn't have cable. So I used to run up and watch the real world at her house. I remember that

3pm !

Before we get off the subject, then I have to ask you since you both ended up in LA Did you know like who was there first.

So I was there first, right after college. And I know during college, we had kind of lost touch a little bit as you do when you go to different schools and you move away. And then when Morgan came we just it seemed like no time had passed at all. We just connected again right away.

Exactly. All right. Well, let's get into this. I you know, Laurie it has, like I said before, Lori's been in the film industry for 15 years. And there's so many people that we know that enjoy the film industry, like Who doesn't love a great movie, right? Who doesn't love, you know, Netflix and Hulu and all of the things. And so Laurie's a great person to talk about because of her experience. So let's get right into it. Lori, please tell us. You know, where did this love affair start for you with film in the industry? Can you tell us a little bit about that?

Absolutely. I think it started when I was pretty young. I honestly feel like because I'm from such a small town. You know, movies and television is how you learn about things and how you experience the world when you can't travel a lot. And there's not a lot around you at that time. So I think I started when I was younger, I actually wanted to act. And I was very into acting and being in school plays and then I hit puberty and stage fright came in and I was not doing this anymore. But I still had that love of the arts and television and movies. So then I kind of transitioned that into behind the scenes and working at the high school news station and doing camera work anytime I could and reading books on Steven Spielberg and I pretty much knew I wanted to do something in the film industry behind the scenes from like the age of about 13 or 14. Oh,

wow. 

That's awesome. So when you went to college, then did you know that this was what you wanted to study?

Yes, yeah, I thought about going to film school. But you know, and I researched USC and all these big film schools, but because I didn't quite know what I wanted to do, some people are like, Oh, I have to direct or I have to write. And I honestly didn't quite know what I wanted to do. I liked cinematography. And I just kind of wanted to start from the bottom. And my dad told me that if I went to an in state school, he would pay for the whole thing. So I said, I'm going to an instance. I looked around Virginia for, you know, some good programs, and I got into George Mason. And at that time, they didn't have a film major, but you could major in communication, and then minor in Film and Media Studies. So I thought maybe that was my best route at that time.

Awesome. 

Did you know right after you got out of school, if you would be like, Did you always plan to go straight to LA? Or did you have some job offers?

So no, I would say getting into the film industry. It's a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck, because when I got out, I didn't quite know where to go. So I just started researching what movies were close to me. And I noticed that there was a movie, it was called invasion with Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman, and it was filming in Baltimore, which isn't too far away from Virginia. And, and my cousins live there. So I was like, well, this could be cool. So at the time, I'm aging myself, but she faxed your resume in and I just kept faxing it and faxing it, and calling the office and I'm trying to talk to the different departments there. You know, this is a big movie from LA. And I think eventually, they threw my resume to production and was like, please call this girl and I went in for an interview, I got a production assistant job. And actually, once I was in, I was like, Well, how did you choose me out of all these other resumes. And this will take it back to the small town that Margaret and I are from, but they said we saw you are from a place called Deutschland, Virginia. And we thought it was so funny that we had to meet you. So being from the small town helped me get in, and that got me my first big movie, and everyone on that movie was from LA. And so after it was over, they're like, hey, we'd like you, you're great. If you move to LA, we'll help you get a job. And so that was kind of what propelled me to say, Okay, I've got my end, I'm gonna pack up all my stuff, I'm going to move out to LA,

that is massive. I mean, that is just a determination on your part to keep hounding these people, and then be that you were able to connect with people from Los Angeles that said that they would, you know, help you which I know and LA, a lot of people can say whatever they want, you know, but you know, it looks like they came through for you. So tell us, you, you move out to LA and then what were your next steps.

So I did really rely on those connections, I'm not pulling doesn't matter, especially if you want to be you know, a Cinematographer Director and stuff. But honestly, I feel like the networking and the people that you meet, that is what propels you into the industry. Once someone finds out that you're reliable, and you show up on time, and you have a great attitude, and you're a great person to hang out with, with for those amount of hours, you know, they're gonna want to hire you on the next job, a lot of films, you see the same crew members, because they all want to stay working with each other. So when I got out to LA, I really did reach out to all those crew members that were on the movie in Baltimore. They did, they helped me get an interview, I got an interview, like within the first two weeks of moving to LA and I feel like this is a little bit of luck to and just who I met but I got a job on rush hour three, within the first two weeks of moving to LA now I know that doesn't always happen. You know, you get on this giant movie The moment you get in, but those those connections I made in Baltimore then like, pushed me and I got the job on rush hour three for a whole year. 

Wow.

That's fantastic. That is mind blowing. You were so lucky to meet who you did. And it does really speak to that community. I feel like that you have when you go out to LA and there's all these people striving to do the same thing and really line up to support you when they know that you're reliable. Can you tell us then more about what films and TV shows you worked on? Did you have any favorites?

Yeah, absolutely. Well, on Rush number three, I started out as a production assistant and because the movie was so long, I got to see all the different departments because I didn't quite know what I wanted to do. I didn't have a direct course but through that year, I got to see what every departments did. I loved the location department because I was very into photography. I'd taken photography in school, and I knew in that department you got to go out scouting you got to do for top You didn't have to be stuck on set all the time or stuck in the office all the time. So I was like, I think this is for me. So the location manager on that show was great enough to say, Well, hey, if you have an interest, we'll get to some union days. And so I started from there. And then from those connections they did they got me from movie to movie. I think, after rush hour three, I did my first location job on a cheerleading movie called fired up, which I saw Netflix the other day, I thought it was so funny. So I just kind of slowly crawled up through the location ranks, you know, you start as just an assistant location manager. I'd say some of the, then then you do bigger stuff. You know, as you get more experience, and you meet more people, of course, then you get offered bigger things. I got to travel to North Carolina and work on with Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis. On We're The Millers, on the movie, Tammy, I always say comedies are so fun. I mean, the big action stuff like I did Terminator Genesis, and I did take in three, they're exciting, but they're really difficult, and you have to like, really be on it. And it's more stressful. Whereas sometimes when you're doing comedies, it really is a little bit more fun, because you're laughing the whole time. And it's a little bit more relaxed.

So as we know, and, you know, or it's been talked about that places like LA and New York City are known for being cities that you have to hustle. Can you say that that resonates within the film industry as well?

Absolutely Yes, I would tell anybody that's getting into the film industry, it's not whether you can make it but it's just whether you can survive the grind. I mean, it really is going in, not very flexible. I mean, you have to really be on it really be reliable, really show up on time. I'm not saying there's no flexibility if something comes up or you have something going on, but when you're on a movie it is full on it is minimum 12 hour days, most of the time, it was 14 or 16 hours. I mean, when I was first in LA, you have to account for crazy traffic. So if you're supposed to be at set at 7am, I mean, there were times when I would get up at 5am drive to set with no traffic get into the back of my SUV and just sleep until call time because I was so nervous, I didn't want to be late. And it really takes that it really takes that like you know, you're late too much and you're gone or you're not reliable and you're gone. And you have to really love it and love the people you work with to survive those hours and kind of what some of the jobs you have to do to pay your dues. And as a key PA on the office, I mean, just just the sheer amount of you know, lunches, lunch every day was a huge deal. You know, it took about an hour to order everybody's lunches, you know, put in the order, go get them check every single one to make sure that they're like perfect, because people you know how people are with their food. And you know, and come back and people do notice that they notice the little things they noticed if you check the details, then it was just, you know, working a 14 hour day and still being like positive to be around, you know, being a positive person showing up on time. There is there are coffee runs. I mean, when I first started in the industry in locations, I mean, there's a lot of cleanup. I remember, you know, dragging light towers, and I you know you you're the last ones out so sometimes you get stuck with different jobs. I think Morgan I had told you on one of my shows at my cleaning crew didn't show up, and I had to spend two hours picking up an entire trash bag full of cigarette butts off the ground. So you know, one minute you're scouting with a huge director the next minute you're trying to figure out how to unclog a porta Johns or picking up trash. So you know, you just you never know what's gonna what is gonna come up.

How do you feel like in the industry, what would you say? Was your feeling being a female in the industry? Did you see a good mix of male and female co workers behind the scenes? Did you feel supported in those roles?

I feel like when I first started, it was definitely more male dominated. It was just definitely noticeable. I worked with male dominated crews definitely when I first started. Specifically, you're gonna have certain departments like the grip team or the electric team, a lot of the Teamsters in the drivers, it's more male dominated. As these years have gone by though I really have noticed an uptick in female directors and female location managers. I started with made mainly male location crews and now I'm Towards the end, I was working where you, I had the last three shows all female location managers with quite a few female scouts and on the group. And I would say I, even with the male dominated industry in the beginning, I felt supported, I didn't have I know, there are some issues out there, I felt like, I was lucky to have a very great crew and a lot of big brothers, I would say, looking out for me, so I think it is who you meet. But I had a good experience. And I have definitely seen more females now start to branch out into different areas of the industry.

So let's talk about some of the realities of being part in the film industry. So you talked about earlier about, you know, these hours of minimum at times 12 hours, I remember, you worked on a film, and you were there for 16 hours. And just to let you guys know, when Laura and I lived in LA at the same time, Laura, when if Laurie was on a show or a film, I didn't see Laurie, very often. And if I did, it would be maybe for a lunch on the weekends. But I also knew that the weekends were for Laurie to go to the grocery store, or to do laundry, or to just catch up on sleep. So can you tell us a little bit more about how does it work with you know, these? You know, if you're on a show for three months here, and then you're on another thing for like three months there? How does, you know? Can you talk to us about health care time off? Can you even tell us a little bit if the difference between union and non union?

Definitely, I mean, it's an absolute lifestyle that you have to choose. I'm not saying you could work for an agency, maybe and they have more like nine to five business hours, or maybe you work on a studio lot. But for the most part, if you're an active production, its minimum 12 hour days, like you said, you know, some most of the time 16 And that's not even including your crazy la commute. So I mean, I'm talking like, there were days when I'd worked 16 hours, and I would just sleep in the parking lot in my car, because it wasn't worth commuting. Whoa. So, you know, at the very beginning, especially at the very beginning. I always like in us to carnival workers, because you come in and this big group, you set up this huge thing, you do this big production, and then you tear it down and you leave. So um, I would say, you know, you're not home for dinner on Monday mornings, you might be you might have a call time of 5am and you're not getting home till 8pm. And then by Friday, you're doing night work. So your call time is 4pm. And you're not getting home till like six or 7am on Saturday morning, you know, and then you spend your whole Saturday sleeping like you said, Morgan. So when you're on, you're on, there's not a lot of events, there's no I was like what is happy hour when I when I got out of the industry they call happy hour. But what is great about it is it then it does give you the freedom to you work, maybe four to six months, you make a lot of money in that small amount of time, you don't have time to spend it or see anyone. But then once you're done, the show is over and you don't have work till your next show, which you know you can choose. And so then so then you can take off three months to vacation.

Can you tell us more what you would do? Like what kind of trips you took in that time off?
Yeah, absolutely. So I mean, I really took advantage of it. Some people like to go from show to show but after working that amount, I mean, that was the best part is knowing you have this end day where then you can take a big chunk of time and kind of and travel the world and do things that not everybody would do. I mean, I guess sort of like a teacher who has to summer off but I would take three months off I think the most I ever took off at one time was four months. And I did an 80 day road trip around the United States and Canada. And then when I get when I'm when I got back, you know you just get on another movie and some are some are shorter, some are longer, you know, and you just kind of work your life around that of course you get you know, a Christmas breaks, but as a whole you do not get paid holidays, you know, you're not gonna have like the standard things with your job. It's either full on or full off usually.

How does it work with like health care? How does you know? If you You were lucky enough to find people like a crew. And you know, hopefully get on another show. What about people that you know, don't necessarily Have that I mean, is there a point where, you know, you're like your show is coming to an end? And somebody might be going, Oh, my goodness, I need to look for that next show. I mean, how, how does that look like? How does that work?
Yeah, so I was lucky enough when I got to LA, California is mainly it's pretty tough to work in the industry unless you're in the union. So all the big shows are going to be union. And you have to just meet enough people to for them to give you those like Union permit days to get in. And so the Union on paying your dues every four months, that gives you your health insurance. And even if you maybe don't have a show, through the whole year, you only have to work so many hours a year to then be fully insured. So it's really beneficial to be in the unions in California. That's pretty much what saved me, you know, during, I had all my benefits and my pension and my, my health insurance, if you're non union, it's a little bit harder time, then you have to, you know, find your own. And it's definitely a harder thing to find. So yeah, the unions are what really helps in California. Well,

so can you tell us now about your job in the film industry? Can you give us a little background on that?

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I, I, I feel like the industry in production was extreme highs and extreme lows. And I just felt like I loved it. I don't regret my 20s. I don't regret all the work I've put in. But I felt like I got to a point in my 30s, where I really did want to kind of experience what I call normal life. I met, I met a great guy, and he wanted to kind of move back east when I saw it, you know, it was kind of time for a change and be closer to family. So when I got back east, I was I was going to get out of the industry. But through my experience, the Virginia Film Office had had a position open. And they had heard I was sort of back in town, once again, there's some luck, there's some luck involved where it just I was at the right place at the right time. And so they hired me on as their location manager for it's a state position, kind of in the film commission world. And so it's it's my dream job. I mean, I still get to work in film, but I work, you know, nine to five, I get benefits, I can be home for dinner, I can enjoy some happy hours every now and then. Um, but it's been it's been awesome. And we're in charge of marketing the state for film and television to get them to come in. So I get still get to scout I still get to be part of the world. And it's been awesome. And I think sometimes it just takes that it took all that experience and all the paying of the dues and all of that to then lead to this position. And I think you eventually find your way you'll find your exact place where you should be in the industry.

Well, Laurie, it sounds like you've done some really amazing things. And I really appreciate you sharing them with us on this podcast today. Because I know that we have some listeners who are interested in the film industry. And those are tons of things I didn't know like, I did not know that you get your health care through the union. So what a cool benefit. And it definitely knew about the union and I knew that you needed to be part of it. And I feel like you've told us so many really great inspiring things. And I'm so excited to hear that more women are now involved than when you just first started 15 years ago. So I would just want to give a quick cheers to Lori. Thank you for being on the podcast. 

Yes.

Thank you for having me.

All right, everybody. Take a look at our show notes. If you have any questions, feel free to message us and hit subscribe. And we look forward to choosing to all of you guys next week.