An expert’s guide to location management

My name is Paul ‘Bach’ Davies. I live in Aberarth, Ceredigion but I was born in Felin-Fach. I'm in my 50s and this is my 30th year in TV and film. I still love the work that I do.  

After leaving school, I was lucky to get on a year-long Youth Training Scheme (YTS) at the amazing Theatr FelinFach, 10 minutes from where I lived. This was the beginning of my journey. Without this opportunity, I wouldn’t have met Dafydd Hywel who was touring with a play; he offered me a stage manager position on his next theatre project.

I toured Wales for six years and then, out of the blue, HTV asked if I wanted to be a runner on a production in Llanddewi Brefi. I went for it and never looked back. At the time, I didn't even know what a location manager did. but there was a gentleman called Gareth Vaughan who was in charge of locations, and I was interested in his work. Gareth taught me what it means to find and look after locations; location owners, the cast, the crew and the public are your responsibility.

You need to be confident as a location manager, but confidence comes with experience. Quick thinking and being able to communicate are key as you never know what will be thrown at you from one day to the next. An interest in architecture is useful, and you have to be happy to work in all sorts of environments, weather, and hours.

When working on a new production, you have about seven to eight weeks to prepare. It sounds like a lot, but when you have 60 or 70 locations to find, time soon goes. I start by reading the script and then talking to the producers, designer and director. Budgets are key to deciding which areas to film in. Using local knowledge, your imagination and not being afraid of offering interesting places are also important. 

I'm renowned for taking crew to places that no one else would ever dream of. Y Gwyll/Hinterland was one of my favourite productions. It was a very challenging series but gave me so much freedom to offer the most remote and unique landscapes.  

Over the years, I’ve built up a huge contact base and around 50,000 photographs of different locations I’ve scouted. Creative Wales is also an important source of information; I often ask Penny [Creative Wales] for advice and information on locations from their database.

When I first started, it was a location department of one. On my last production, we were a team of eight. That’s the nice thing about today's location manager world, there are plenty of roles and opportunities. The number of location trainees that are coming through is exciting, people who are much savvier than me. And they're also more organised as well.

The number of different projects happening is also exciting, from period to modern to music videos to commercials. Wales is thriving, and there are so many locations that are yet to be used.

My advice to anyone who wants to be part of a location department is to carry out some research regarding the different roles in the department and contact those who work in the field. There are various organisations that also give advice, such as Screen Alliance Wales and Ffilm Cymru Screen Careers. It’s not who you know any more, thank goodness.

Working as a location manager has allowed me to see the most amazing places which I wouldn’t otherwise have seen. I’ve also met the most fantastic location owners and crew. It’s a very satisfying job and I will always be grateful to anyone who opens their door to let me in and have a look at their property.

Overall, it’s a great job. The satisfaction of sitting back on a Sunday night and watching something you've been a part of is an amazing feeling.

Want to film in Wales? If you need support in scouting top locations or the best crew and accommodation, head to our website. Here you’ll find everything from our locations database to the information on the latest productions filmed across our nation