Today we’d like to introduce you to Lisa Strout.
Can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. You can include as little or as much detail as you’d like.
I fell into the film industry entirely by accident. Upon graduating from Berklee College of Music, I realized that I didn’t have what it takes to be a successful musician, and needed to rethink my life’s plan. Once I’d licked my wounds, I landed a job as an international tour guide for a time, where I learned to be at home in the world and comfortable with the unknown. Following this stint in the travel industry, a friend in advertising gave me a job on a television commercial. One day on that “set” is all it took; I knew that I had found my life-long career.
For 20 years, I worked primarily in the locations department – as a scout, an assistant manager and as a location manager – in commercials, television and feature films. Included in this time were two years managing the New York offices of Merchant Ivory Productions. As the Producer’s Assistant, I worked in Florence, Italy on the film, “A Room with a View.”
In the mid 1980’s, film was leaving New York in droves, and I was swept along with the tide, moving to Los Angeles in 1987. Somehow I found a niche for myself there: finding film locations in LA that doubled for other parts of the country and the world, such as: Dallas, Santa Fe, Shanghai, District of Columbia, Akron, Tokyo and many others.
In 2000, I landed on a movie about Mars, which was created inside an abandoned gypsum mine on the tribal lands of the Pueblo of Zia, in the State of New Mexico. I was so taken with the Land of Enchantment and the Zia people that I stayed for 11 years. But unlike LA, the movie jobs were few and far between in New Mexico at that time. So, I took my first job on the government-side of filmmaking, working for the New Mexico Film Office. I worked my way up and became the Director of the NM State Film Office for eight years.
As fate would have it, as the Administration in New Mexico was coming to an end, a position as the Director of the Massachusetts Film Office opened up and I applied, bringing me full circle to my beloved home state.
Has it been a smooth road? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I have always been drawn to work where problem solving features heavily in the job description. Being a young tour guide in a foreign country with hundreds of complaining tourists was one gigantic obstacle. And filmmaking? Nothing short of organized chaos. But being a risk taker and an eternal optimist, I see every obstacle as a puzzle needing to be deconstructed and reconstructed in a workable fashion.
The path I’ve taken has had many a turn, and at times a circuitous route. But this is in no small part due to being a freelancer for 20 years. Moving from one movie to the next, never knowing what the future holds or when there’ll be work again is very challenging. But masses of people work this way – artists, musicians, filmmakers, writers – and it takes a certain mindset to be comfortable with that kind of uncertainty. On the plus side, working freelance often means working in a field that one loves, and also means having some down-time to do the other things one loves: painting, writing, travelling, gardening, etc.
Lastly, we are fortunate to live in Massachusetts where artists and artisans are respected and supported, but at the end of the day each person must find their path and wind their way through the obstacles that are a natural part of work and life.
Tell us about your business/company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
Since 2011, I have been the Director of the Massachusetts Film Office (MFO.) The MFO is a division of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development and is the official and lead agency facilitating film, television and new media throughout the Commonwealth. We are an office of three, and I am very fortunate to work with two highly talented, knowledgeable and hard-working people. In broad terms, the MFO is charged with promoting Massachusetts to productions of every size and shape, touting our fabulous locations, experienced crew, talented actors, high-tech infrastructure, and every conceivable business and service.
From the smallest student film to the largest tent pole studio movie, the Massachusetts Film Office helps productions creatively and logistically. From finding a New York City style coffee shop in Chelsea, to a 1600’s mill in Rowley; a haunted mansion in Gardner, to a forest at the base of Mt. Fuji, Japan (yes, we found that, in state parks in the Worcester area.) And to top things off, we compete for these productions with 39 other states, the Canadian provinces, Great Britain, Eastern Europe, Australia, New Zealand and many other jurisdictions.
We specialize in finding real locations in the real world to fit the vision that only exists in a Director’s head. No small feat. And we pride ourselves on finding solutions to the issues taking place on every production, every single day. But what sets us apart is our knowledge of the film industry as well as our knowledge of government. We operate much like a production company but within the proper rules and regulations of government. In this way, we accommodate the needs of both the private and public sectors.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The one thing we can count on is that the film industry will continue to change. Ten years ago, we could not have dreamed that streaming media would take our homes by storm; that our televisions would be our computers and tablets, our watches and phones. What this means to a film commission or film office is that there is exponentially more product and therefore exponentially more opportunities – for our constituents and for our business communities. Where Massachusetts once had one film a year, we now have 30 – 35 major productions each year, plus countless commercials, industrials, infomercials, and the creation of web-based content.
Contact Info:
- Address: 136 Blackstone Street, 5th floor
Boston, MA 02109 - Website: www.mafilm.org
- Phone: 617-973-8400
- Email: mafilminfo@state.ma.us
Diner with Bicycle
French King Bridge in Fall
Contrasting City Buildings
Image Credit:
Tim Grafft
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