Film Liaisons In California Statewide (FLICS) announced the finalists for the 18th annual California On Location Awards (COLA). The 2012 COLA ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 28 at the historic Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena.
Over the past 18 years, COLA has grown to be recognized throughout the film and television production industry as the premier live awards ceremony saluting location professionals and production companies for excellence while working on location in California. Public employees are also recognized in various awards categories for delivering outstanding service and on-location support to the industry.
COLA is a signature event of the FLICS. Along with numerous other efforts centered on promoting California’s entertainment industry, the non-profit organization uses its 43 regional film offices and film commissions to provide valuable location support and resources to the state’s production industry professionals.
A panel of judges composed of film and TV production professionals select COLA finalists from an extensive list of nominees, primarily submitted by FLICS member offices and film industry groups.
This year’s COLA judges are Todd Christensen, location manager; Steve Dayan, Teamsters Local 399 business agent; Louis de Fontanes, location manager; Caleb Duffy, location manager; Ed Duffy, business agent for Teamsters Local 399, and Nancy Haecker, location manager. Also serving as judges are producer/writer Bill MacDonald, producer/writer Marcus Morton and David Phelps, director of external relations for the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP). Rounding out the panel are Richard Prince, producer and Nina Ruscio, production designer.
The 2012 COLA finalists are:
Location Manager of the Year, Studio Features
Savages, Rick Schuler
The Dark Knight Rises, JJ Hook
Argo, Chris Baugh
Location Team of the Year, Studio Features
Star Trek II, Steve Woroniecki.
Gangster Squad, Robin Citrin
Savages, Rick Schuler
Argo, Chris Baugh
Assistant Location Manager of the Year, Features
Mockingbird, Karen Gilbert
The Amazing Spiderman, Lee David Lee
Argo, Ryan “Trey” Neary
The Dark Knight Rises, Keomanee Vilaythong for Magnus Rex
Location Manager of the Year, Independent Feature
Smashed, David Flannery
Hitchcock, Caleb Duffy
The Bronx Bull, Rocky Brooks
Location Team of the Year, Independent Features
Look of Love, Mike Fantasia
Knight of Cups, David Lyons
Mockingbird, Bob Craft
Location Manager of the Year, TV Commercials
“DirecTV,” Brian Bird
“Gymkhana 5,” Scott Logan
“Mazda: Prison Break,” Mark Abbott
Location Manager of the Year, Episodic Television
NCIS: Los Angeles, Tony Salome
Switched at Birth, Rob Dohan
Luck, Gregory Alpert
Location Team of the Year, Episodic Television
Southland, Michael Haro
CSI: NY, Tim Hillman
NCIS: LA, Jason Savage
Assistant Location Manager of the Year, Television
The Office, Anna Coats
Enlightened, Lee David Lee
The Client List, Eva Schroeder
Reality TV Production Company of the Year
The Amazing Race for CBS Television
Finding Bigfoot, Ping Pong Productions
Top Gear for Sun Never Sets Production
Federal, state, county and city public employees can also play major roles in providing valuable services to location filming in California.
The finalists selected in the COLA Public Employees category:
Federal Employees
Guy Langman, U.S. Coast Guard
Elaine Hanson, Bureau of Land Management
Deborah Metzger U.S. Coast Guard
State Employees
John O’Rourke, Humboldt Redwood State Park
Robert Colligan, California State Parks—San Luis Obispo Coast District
Joel Quintero, Department of Water Resources
County Employees
Manny Moreno, Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation
Tony Martinez, Kern County Fire Department
Sylvia Gomez, County of San Bernardino
City Employees
Gabriel Martinez, Los Angeles Police Department
Caroline Weigandt, City of Half Moon Bay
Greg Garrett, City of Tehachapi.
