Initial honorees for the 6th Annual Location Managers Guild International Awards (LMGI) were revealed by LMGI president Mike Fantasia. Oscar®-nominated director Peter Weir will receive the Eva Monley Award, which recognizes and honors industry members who support the work of location professionals. Location manager Michael J. Meehan has been named recipient of the 2019 LMGI Lifetime Achievement Award. The LMGI Awards spotlight international features, television and commercials in which the creative use of filming locations sets the tone, enrich the character and enhance the narrative. Winners of additional awards will be revealed during the formal ceremony on Saturday evening, September 21, at the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica. Nominations will be announced on July 18.
Director, producer, screenwriter Weir is best known for his work on Witness (1985), The Truman Show (1998), Dead Poets Society (1989) and Master and Commander (2003); the movies all earned Weir Academy Award nominations for best director. He has been involved in 86 films and videos. He directed Linda Hunt, Harrison Ford, Robin Williams and Jim Carrey in Oscar-nominated performances. Weir has received a total of 36 awards and 59 nominations including five Oscar nominations, four Golden Globes, has won three BAFTA Awards and been nominated for four more.
Weir led the Australian New Wave cinema movement with his hypnotic Picnic at Hanging Rock, the lyrically surreal Last Wave, brutally realistic Gallipoli and the sultry Year of Living Dangerously. From a precarious geological outcropping to the aboriginal outback to steamy Indonesia, his earliest films exemplify the value of evocative locations in the crafting of intelligent, moody dramas exploring the balance between characters and their environment. He directed a diverse group of international films, many with location manager Meehan.
Meehan has traveled the world for 30 years scouting for major studios everywhere from Canada to Venezuela, with countries such as Mongolia, China, Russia, Bulgaria, Morocco, India and the Galapagos in between. Meehan has worked on over 38 movies and scouted more than 40 countries. His credits include Witness, Dead Poets Society, Arachnophobia, Toys, Pirates of the Caribbean 2/3, Master and Commander, among others. His illustrious career also included working with directors Sam Fuller, Mel Brooks and Barry Levinson, among others. Meehan’s additional credits include Ben-Hur, Poseidon, Spaceballs, Syriana, Patch Adams, Grease 2 and Star Trek IV. His resumé trends with water movies (The Perfect Storm, Pirates, Sphere, Deep Blue Sea, Battleship, Poseidon…), on which he has become a specialist, helping to design tanks in the United States and Spain.
Committee co-chairs of this year’s LMGI Awards are Fantasia, Lori Balton and John Rakich.
