When not working on a specific project, Edmunds makes calls to line
producers and other filmmakers to discover what they are working on,
hoping to convince them to film in Virginia.
Special Skills
Location managers must possess social skills that enable them to work
well with a variety of personalities, the ability to convey trust to the prop-
erty owners and production crew, a talent for problem solving, and tenac-
ity. "You don't really have to be that great of a photographer," says
Edmunds. "The job is about 35% photography, 50% detective work, and
the rest is sales skills to convince someone to let you go on their property
and shoot pictures of it."
Advice for Someone Seeking This Job
Visit the film office in your area and let them know you would like to
work for them. Offer to serve as an intern. Look through their photo files
and study the presentation, then offer to go out and shoot some location
for free, to show them what
you can do. "Work for free,"
says Edmunds. "just to get in
there and meet people. All the
information about productions
coming to the state funnels
through the film office."
Professional Profile:
Andrew Edmunds,
Location Manager,
Virginia Film Office
At the age of 13, Andy
Edmunds was a professional
musician, writing songs and
dreaming of becoming a rock
and roll star. He developed his
musical talent growing up in a
small Virginia town of 1,200
people. While studying music
at Virginia Commonwealth
University, he became interested
in filmmaking. Taking classes in
the mass communications
What do you like
least about your job?
"What I like the least is
the politics. Because we
are a government entity,
there are political issues
that you have to be sensi-
tive to that may not seem logical in the big
picture. Fortunately, Virginia is very sup-
portive of the industry. Sometimes things
take longer than they should in terms of
making decisions."--Andy Edmunds
What do you love most
about your job?
"What I love most is being involved in the
creative process, getting involved in telling
the story with the locations and images we
can provide. I also like the sales part of it:
`What are we going to do to position our-
selves to get this project?' I like the detective
portion of finding solutions to unique loca-
tion challenges."--Andy Edmunds
VOICES OF
EXPERIENCE
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