Ep. 26: Dennis Muren at the Original Home of Industrial Light & Magic from "Star Wars"
One day prior to leading multiple tours of the original location of Industrial Light & Magic, in Van Nuys, CA, for over a hundred people, renowned visual effects innovator and nine-time Academy Award winner Dennis Muren met up with us at the location. It was the first time Dennis had stepped foot inside the building in nearly fifty years, making it once-in-a-lifetime 'On Location" episode. We talked about the maddening pressure of creating the groundbreaking visual effects for "Star Wars" (1977) at this nondescript industrial property outside the Van Nuys airport, why he wanted to work for George Lucas and the filmmaker's clear cinematic vision, meeting Steven Spielberg for the first time at ILM, Van Nuys, his genuine love of movies and filming locations, and his feelings on the reemergence of VistaVision.
Today, the location is home to Neiman & Company, an established architectural signage firm that's been in business since 1965 and purchased the building in the early 2000's. www.neimanandco.com
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Ep. 25: Jeannine Oppewall at Union Station from "Catch Me If You Can"
Just in time for the holidays, four-time Academy Award-nominated production designer Jeannine Oppewall joins us at Union Station Los Angeles to talk about working on Steven Spielberg's Christmas-adjacent film, "Catch Me If You Can". Jeannine discusses using Union Station in a non-traditional fashion; getting lucky with two vacant, mid-century modern airport terminals; what makes the best sets; how life experience came full-circle to inspire one of the major location choices in "Catch Me If You Can"; why you can't trust IMDb locations lists, and much more. Our 25th episode is a mini-masterclass with one of Hollywood's most esteemed contemporary production designers.
Visit the Ticket Concourse at Union Station Los Angeles through Wednesday, December 25, 2024.
https://www.unionstationla.com/happenings/experience-the-holidays-at-union-station-2024/
Also, check out our new book, 'World Film Locations: Los Angeles Volume 2', edited by Jared Cowan, Gabriel Solomons and Fabrice Ziolkowski. Available wherever you buy books.
https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/W/bo238313161.html
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Ep. 24: Andrew Ullman at Ontario St. Comics from "Unbreakable"
In our first episode outside of Los Angeles, we head to Philly to meet up with location manager Andrew Ullman at Ontario St. Comics. Andrew reflects on discovering his love cinema while growing up in the City of Brotherly Love, becoming the first agent to one of today's foremost comedic actors, finding artistic gratification as a location professional, and returning to his hometown where he became a frequent collaborator of M. Night Shyamalan's. Jared shares with Andrew his personal connections to the production of "Unbreakable" as we dig into the film's locations. We're also joined by Bill Fink, the owner of Ontario St. Comics, the long-established North Philadelphia comic book shop used in Shyamalan's contemporary superhero tale.
Ontario St. Comics:
www.facebook.com/OntarioComics
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Ep. 23: Kelly Stuart at Majers Coin Laundry from "Everything Everywhere All at Once"
Location Manager Kelly Stuart joins us at Majers Coin Laundry, the San Fernando, CA laundromat featured as the home and business of the Wang family in the Best Picture-winning film "Everything Everyhwere All at Once." In what is arguably our most candid conversation to-date, Kelly talks about meeting with the film's creators, the challenges of finding the perfect laundromat, the spiritual "cleansing" of one of the film's locations, why location professionals deserve credit for their roles as creative collaborators, and much more. We're also joined by the owner of the location, Kenny Majers.
Majers Coin Laundry:
Instagram - majers_coin_laundry - www.instagram.com/majers_coin_laundry/
Facebook - San Fernando Majers Coin Laundry
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Ep. 22: Michael Burmeister at Biff's Grandma's House from "Back to the Future Part II"
Over a 35 year career, location manager Michael Burmeister worked on some of the most explosive action films in contemporary cinema including "True Lies," "Twister," "Pearl Harbor" and "Transformers." But he broke into the feature film world working locations for two of the most highly celebrated sequels ever made, "Back to the Future Part II" and the trilogy's Western conclusion. On this episode, we meet up with Michael at the South Pasadena home used for Biff's grandmother's house in "Back to the Future Part II." We talk about securing some of the locations from the original film, an unlucky neighborhood location, a cameo appearance in "E.T," and working on "Edward Scissorhands," "Casino," and "National Treasure," on which a fake Liberty Bell made for an awkward 11 o'clock news story.
Join us on-site at some of the greatest locations seen in movies as we talk to the filmmakers and cast members who were there when it all happened.
You can also find us on Apple Podcasts.
Jared is a photographer and film journalist who has written extensively on the subject of filming locations for various Los Angeles publications. His first article was about the San Fernando Valley filming locations of "The Karate Kid." Jared also leads filming location tours of the San Fernando Valley, Pasadena, and the Langham Huntington Hotel.
Jared is the co-editor of the new book 'World Film Locations: Los Angeles Volume 2'.
On Location with Jared Cowan is an independently produced program. If you enjoy the show, please consider contributing to help us keep it going. Venmo @ JaredCowanPhotography.
Ireland