Finding the right locations and managing them successfully is a fine art in the Mekong region. Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam were for long periods effectively closed off to the outside world and have only thrown open their doors to visitors in the past decade. Many locations remain unknown and undiscovered by international film-makers, but are easily the equal of their celebrated counterparts in the Philippines and Thailand. Here at Hanuman Films, our Locations Director Nick Ray has put more miles in than most around the region and has a keen eye for marrying the right locations with the right productions. As well as a detailed working knowledge of leading locations such as the temples of Angkor in Cambodia or the temples of Bagan in Myanmar, the natural wonders of Halong Bay in Vietnam or Vang Vieng in Laos, and great Asian cities from Phnom Penh to Saigon, Nick has also ventured far into the interior, delving much deeper into a country to hit the spot.

He has clocked up hundreds of days on the road in the region, working on three editions of Lonely Planet’s South-East Asia on a Shoestring, two editions of Cambodia and a first edition of Cycling Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. In the world of film, he has notched up more than a dozen major scouts for film and television and knows the Mekong region like the back of his hand.

A successful scout is the key to a successful production and finding the right locations for the script can make or break a story. Hanuman Films has worked on scouts for productions large and small and is now highly experienced in absorbing the story before seeking out a living reality to mirror the director’s vision. Locations Director Nick Ray has scouted for several major international films, including Beyond Borders, Tomb Raider, Two Brothers and Paanch Kaurav, plus a host of smaller documentaries and travel shows. While the latter may have less international impact, they are no less important when it comes to finding the right locations, as where the most adventurous television productions are shooting today, movies will follow tomorrow.

Armed with a script summary, we can suggest suitable locations for a preliminary scout. We set out a clear schedule for the duration of the scout, broken down into locations to be visited and approximate journey times and road conditions for each day. We also advise on the most suitable vehicle for road conditions and book accommodation as appropriate to the budget.

If budget or time are constrained, either by the size of the production or the need to scout several countries in a short space of time, we can undertake a virtual scout. This involves us working through our photographic database with script summary in hand and advising on a series of suggested locations. We can take this one step further following favourable feedback by visiting promising locations with our digital stills and DV Cams to put together more footage for the production.

After a first scout or virtual scout, we move on to develop locations further, building on the feedback from the Director, AD or Location Manager. Here we take into account vision and logistics to source the most workable locations for a particular production. Once the production is committed to the country, we can work our way through a location with a fine toothcomb, looking to shoot additional scenes in the vicinity in order to keep costs within budget. Once the locations are selected, it is time to move on to management.

Our Locations Team, led by Locations Director Nick Ray, enjoys an excellent reputation for extreme sensitivity at important locations in the region. Following a successful wrap on Tomb Raider, Apsara Authority, the body responsible for the management of the temples of Angkor, held a press conference at the Sofitel Royal Angkor in which they professed to be extremely happy with the way the shoot had gone. This was in large part down to the role of our locations team, building a bridge between the film crew and the authorities, ensuring that each side understood one another and worked in partnership every step of the way.

Our Locations Team can take responsibility for all the locations needs of the unit once shooting starts, selecting unit bases as close to the locations as possible, preparing movement orders and maps to make sure access to the locations is straightforward, and controlling crowds and traffic during the shoot. Our language skills ensure that we can co-ordinate across departments to facilitate a smooth shoot and avoid any communication problems or misunderstandings that might derail the schedule.

Over the years we have fine-tuned the system to ensure a shoot that runs as smoothly as one in Europe or the US. This includes large teams of humpers for each department, every team in colour co-ordinated t-shirts with the name of the department emblazoned across the chest and back and under the leadership of an English-speaker. This ensures no department is left short when it comes to bodies and that there are no delays in shooting due to confusion as to which humpers are working with which departments. We also have a large team of water distributors on set to keep the unit hydrated, a critical point in countries where the temperature regularly reaches 35 degrees.

Our Locations Team is highly professional, first to arrive at the set and last to leave every day. Locations is one box your production can tick as already covered. Hanuman Films has it covered.