A little while ago I met David Broder
in his beautiful townhouse in north
London. From the moment we sat
down to discuss the questions I had
prepared, it was clear that this was a
man whose passion for the industry
is immense.
Like many others, the location
manager’s path into the profession
wasn’t straightforward. In fact, when
first starting out in the industry he
tried out almost every other
available role.
After finishing film school Broder
started out as a runner, then worked
in post production, as an assistant
editor, a producer and production
manager. Now he seems content
with his job as location manager.
Those who rely on him
would agree he is cut out for
it – even though he himself
needed to take some time
out, working as a wine
specialist no less, before he
became convinced that the
film and television industry
was indeed one in which he
wanted to continue building
his career.
With hindsight his
knowledge of all the different
facets of filmmaking have
made him better at what he
does now, and directors
know he understands their
needs and schedules.
When describing his own
style of working he says his
motto is “authenticity, quality and
craft”, which seems to be a winning
combination. His latest project is
working with his childhood hero
Steven Spielberg on The BFG. Other
projects he has worked on in recent
years include Woman in Gold (2015),
The Imitation Game (2014) and The
Iron Lady (2011).
When Broder is not scouting for
a big feature film, he works as a
consultant at Viewpoint Locations –
a company he set up together with
fellow location manager Camilla
Stephenson. Together they worked
on many projects, including Oscar-
winning The King’s Speech (2010).
Viewpoint Locations mainly provides
early stage consultancy work,
advising on locations for feature
films, TV series and commercials.
A recent feature they dealt with,
where Stephenson worked as the
supervising location manager, was
The Theory of Everything (2014).
Having travelled for all these
projects, taking photographs and
being on set, Broder knows a thing
or two about filming in the UK,
and he most definitely has his own
favourite locations here.
The Scottish Highlands is one of
his most beloved ones. Up there, in
the far north of the country, Broder
recently scouted for two projects:
Justin Kurzel’s upcoming Macbeth
(2015) starring Michael Fassbender
and Marion Cotillard, and Spielberg’s
previously mentioned and much-
awaited upcoming project about
Roald Dahl’s big friendly giant and
a little girl named Sophie. Broder
describes the landscape in the
Highlands as “astonishing, beautiful
and very frameable.”
Scoutingforauthenticity
withlocationmanager
DavidBroder
In an interview with The Knowledge’s editor, David Broder, one of Britain’s top location managers and
currently working on Spielberg’s high-profile feature film The BFG, reveals to us just why Scotland and
London are top of his locations list.
by Alexandra Zeevalkink
“The camera loves it,” he says,
“at some mountain ranges in the
world you’ll have to go too far back
with your camera, the mountains
are almost too big to be cinematic,
which is very strange but it’s true.
In Scotland the mountains are big,
but compared to the Alps or some
of the locations in the States they’re
small – this means the surrounding
landscape just looks right on film.
The light is also astonishing, as it’s
quite far up north you get this pure,
clean light.”
Of course, filmmakers will still have to
weather the occassional rain, but, as
Broder puts it, “from the Highlands
through to the outer Hebrides, up
to Shetland - it’s just an amazing
combination of locations”. Back to
his second favourite place, and the
one he calls home: London. Broder
has nothing but praise for the capital.
He praises the diversity of both its
locations and people, how the river
provides such an amazing backdrop
throughout the city, and its history,
which is visible in all architecture.
On top of this he applauds London’s
film friendliness. “When I go abroad I
sometimes
forget
how much
I miss it here. The
vitality, the
diversity, I love these
aspects of London. When I get to
shoot in the city these are the things
I like to show.”
When working at a location you
know through and through, as is
the case with Broder and London,
you also have the benefit of spotting
details that are ‘just not right’. The
location manager gives the example
of working on David Cronenberg’s
Eastern Promises (2007). In the film
a body was thrown in the river but
the location it supposedly surfaced
at was incorrect. By doing a little
research Broder found the accurate
point at which it should have washed
ashore and started scouting there.
The location eventually made it into
the script and onto
the screen.
For the feature film
Woman in Gold,
starring the British
actress Helen
Mirren, the city
showed another
side to its diversity,
that of its ability to
play many roles.
London went
international and
stood in for New
York, Washington, Vienna as well as
Los Angeles.
Back to the here and now and all is
as it was meant to be: after initially
playing with the idea of shooting in
the Faroe Islands, The BFG is now
using Broder’s favourites for all their
second unit camera work (principal
photography is happening in a green
screen studio in Canada). Scotland
and London are ready to welcome
Broder and the rest of the team -
and on a Spielberg film, that’s quite
the accolade.
Left hand page: Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds star in
Woman in Gold, for which Broder was the location manager
This photo: Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush in Oscar-winning
film The King’s Speech.
Below: Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game
“His motto of “authenticity, quality and craft”
seems to be a winning combination.
Recent projects are The imitation Game, woman in gold
and currently steven spielberg’s feature the Bfg”
“The camera loves the scottish mountains,
compared to the alps they are small
but it means the surrounding landscape
looks just right on film”
Filming on Location
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