John Rakich has been elected president of the Location Managers Guild International (LMGI), succeeding Mike Fantasia, founding member and president since 2018. Also elected by the 2021 LMGI board of directors as officers of the executive committee are 1st VP JJ Levine, 2nd VP Alison A. Taylor, treasurer Ken Haber and secretary Jen Farris. The LMGI is a global organization of career location professionals in the motion picture, television, commercial and print production industries.
“I am honored and humbled that the board has trusted me to lead the LMGI and am proud to carry on the incredible work done by our past presidents and board members, all equally responsible for bringing the Guild to where we are today. I look forward to working with this dedicated group of international location professionals to have us grow larger and stronger than before. It is exciting to show the world who and what we are, not only as indispensable creative collaborators but also as proven leaders and trailblazers, especially these days as we recover from the global pandemic,” said Rakich.
Newly elected board members Angus Ledgerwood (UK), Robin Macdonald (Vancouver, Canada), and Scott Trimble (CA) will serve alongside returning members Alison A. Taylor (CA), Ken Haber (CA), Jimmy Ayoub (NY), Edward Mazurek (CA), and Mac Gordon (GA).
Board members continuing with ongoing terms include Ken Brooker (Canada), Dan Connolly (UK), Jen Farris (GA), Eric Klein (NY), JJ Levine (CA), Rakich (Canada), and Ryan Schaetzle (GA).
Outgoing LMGI president Fantasia said, “It’s somewhat bittersweet to step down from a board that I had the privilege to serve on for well over a decade. I do so with the knowledge that the Guild is poised for even bigger accomplishments under the able guidance of John Rakich and the newly formed board. I will still be involved in various Guild initiatives involving education, recruitment and retention, and I look forward to continue serving in any way I can.”
Rakich has been working for over 20 years as a location scout and location manager with numerous credits spanning feature film and television projects (such as See, American Gods, Pixels, Hemlock Grove, Shadowhunters). He is also a long-time member of the Directors Guild of Canada in the Ontario District Council, now as board member and its current locations caucus representative. He was also the first member from Toronto to join the LMGI in 2015.
DOC NYC Unveils Main Slate Lineup: 31 World Premieres; 24 Films Making Their U.S. Debut
DOC NYC--the documentary festival celebrating its 15th anniversary in-person November 13-21 at IFC Center, SVA Theatre and Village East by Angelika, and continuing online through December 1--has unveiled its main slate lineup. The 2024 festival presents more than 110 feature-length documentaries (including yet-to-be-announced Short List and Winner’s Circle titles) among over 200 films and dozens of events, with filmmakers expected in person at most screenings.
Opening the festival on Nov. 13 at SVA Theater will be the U.S. premiere of Sinead O’Shea’s inspiring portrait Blue Road--The Edna O’Brien Story, a breakout hit from the recent Toronto International Film Festival that honors the legendary Irish writer, who passed away just a few months ago at the age of 93.
Closing the festival on Nov. 21, also at SVA Theatre, will be the world premiere of Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn’s Drop Dead City--New York on the Brink in 1975, a look back at the circumstances and players involved in NYC’s mid-70s financial crisis. The festival’s Centerpiece screening on Nov. 14 at Village East is the World premiere of Ondi Timoner’s All God’s Children (also part of the festival’s U.S. Competition), a chronicle of a Brooklyn rabbi and Baptist pastor who join forces to create greater unity between their two communities, against all odds.
Included are 31 world premieres and 24 U.S. premieres, with eight of those presented in the U.S. Competition, for new American-produced nonfiction films, and another eight featured in International Competition, for work from around the globe. The Kaleidoscope Competition for new essayistic and formally adventurous documentaries continues, while the festival’s long-standing Metropolis... Read More