RETURN OF CREWSDAY TUESDAY

Meet Supervising Location Manager Kevin Jackson! We met Kev and two of his Liverpool based team, John Vaughan, Location Manager and Harvey Shaw Assistant Location Manager for a chat about their work on Quay Street Productions ‘Lazarus’ for Amazon MGM Studios, screened on Prime Video and asked them all about filming in their home city!   

“Liverpool is an extraordinary city. It is as impressive as it is film friendly” says Kev as he highlights the distinctiveness of our ‘adaptable’ city and the variety of potential locations he can offer to Producers, Directors and Production Designers. Often doubling for New York, London, Moscow and Chicago, Liverpool’s wide streets are well known but behind the scenes, the logistical side of filming in the city is a big sell to the productions they work on. “It’s so easy to move around the city quickly and because we know the city, we are familiar with the choices available to respond to production needs. Zoe (Production Liaison, LFO) is always there on the end of the phone to support us and liaise with the joint agencies such as Highways departments and Merseyside police who are always helpful and accommodating with requests.  

“It’s the residents and businesses too” continue the team. “We love working here and being able to look after each neighbourhood we shoot in” A big part of the Location team’s role is to be the liaison between the production and the public and to be able to give back opportunities and support communities through additional measures. “Local crew have the inside knowledge and that makes it so much easier to connect with our communities and make sure that the filming benefits everyone involved”   

During prep for filming in the Georgian quarter for Lazarus, Kev was emailed by a group of local LIPA students looking for work experience. Working closely with LFO, he created paid work opportunities for 6 local young people to work on the production with two of them returning to support the production in paid Location Marshalling roles later in the production. “It’s really important to create these opportunities for people wanting to break into the industry and to ensure that they are paid from day one, whilst gaining onset experience” 

Find out more about Kev on his IMDb page and contact Kev and the team here!