Location Manager steers opportunity to Macon

Location Manager Matt Chamberlin knows firsthand the economic impact a film production can have on a local economy.

"Most people are happy to have us in town," he says. "We can have a serious financial impact on a local community."

Take, for instance, his bill for off-duty police officers during a recent production. It came to $104,000. "That's money that goes back into the pockets of people who live in those communities."

Another example is six days of filming in Macon that generated 2,500 nights in local hotel rooms.

Lodging and security are just a few of the things that a location manager takes care of on a film production.

"A location manager is a general fixer," he says. "I work with the public and the police. I help find locations and handle the contracting to secure them. I take care of all kinds of logistics such as parking, meals, dumpsters."

Matt got his start in film as a teenager in Detroit where his father produced car commercials for an ad agency. After graduating from Michigan State University in 1991, he went to Los Angeles and was soon working for another of his father's proteges: legendary producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

Matt enjoyed the years he worked with Bruckheimer as his personal assistant, but knew he needed to make a change to move ahead in the industry. He started in Locations as a Location PA in 1996 and worked on many productions during that time including Location Managing the first 4 seasons of the hit show “Modern Family”. But in 2014, he knew he needed to make a change to further his career and that meant a move to New York City. After two years in New York City, he realized that even as a member of the Directors Guild, it still wasn’t the jumpstart to his career that he was looking for.

"I was in the Director's Guild, but I was not working," he says. "Then I was offered a job down here. We were just amazed by the area and the quality of life." He and his wife made the move south and have been part of Georgia's booming film industry since 2016.

"You can create almost any climate here with backgrounds," Chamberlain says. "And there are so many beautiful locations to choose from."

He's worked on numerous projects, including "Goosebumps," "Zombieland 2," "Samaritan" and "Hillbilly Elegy."

"We were all over this state for 'Hillbilly Elegy.' You name it, we were there."

His current project is "The First Lady," a Showtime series about the lives of three first ladies and their stints in the White House. When it's done, he's already lined up his next job.