Wendall Hinkle on What It Takes to Manage Film Locations
Location manager Wendall Hinkle pulls back the curtain on how major productions like Superman, Nashville, and 9-1-1 Nashville find and transform real places into the backdrops of our favorite shows. From knocking on doors in neighborhoods to shutting down bridges for rescue scenes, Wendall reveals the logistics, relationships, and grit required to bring scripts to life in Tennessee's booming film industry.
About Wendall Hinkle
Wendall Hinkle is a veteran location manager in film and television, known for transforming real-world places into compelling on-screen environments. With experience spanning major productions like My Name is Earl, Superman, and 9-1-1: Nashville, he brings together creativity, logistics, and leadership to help stories come to life.
From interpreting scripts to securing locations and managing complex on-set operations, Wendall plays a key role behind the scenes—balancing vision with execution and ensuring every detail works seamlessly.
Lights, Camera, Nashville
Wendall’s work has helped position Nashville as a growing hub for film and television, bringing major productions into the city and supporting local businesses, crews, and talent. His ability to build strong relationships with communities, city officials, and property owners makes large-scale filming possible in a collaborative and respectful way.
Through each project, he not only supports economic growth but also showcases Tennessee as a versatile and vibrant place to tell stories—on screen and beyond.
Resources
Tennessee Entertainment Commission
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Spencer Patton: Welcome to Signature Required. It is intended for Tennesseans by Tennessean,
Wendell Henkel, welcome to Signature Required.
Wendall Hinkle: Thank you for having me.
Spencer Patton: You're a location manager for film and television, which as soon as I say that, I get a mental picture in my mind of the trailers on the sides of streets that no one really knows what happens in them. And I'm totally a fish outta water on this window and that I don't have theater background.
I don't have any experience in the entertainment industry, but I do have curiosity, and I wonder how these things go. So. I wanna start just to give perspective of who Carly and I have here. Mm-hmm. Tell us some of the programs, some of the things that [00:01:00] you've been involved in because you have done it at the highest level.
Wendall Hinkle: Well, the, uh, besides working in Nashville, I've, uh, I've worked on, uh, oh recently, uh, the Superman movie that came out last summer. I was the, uh, location manager for the Cleveland Unit on that. I did that and, uh, uh, probably my first big break, you know, like everybody, you start out on the crew and some lower level.
But, uh, my first big break was, uh, the TV series. My name is Earl.
Spencer Patton: Uh
Carli Patton: huh.
Wendall Hinkle: Oh yeah. After the first season, they moved me up to being the location manager on that. So,
Carli Patton: so what does a location, I mean, I can guess, but what does a location manager do? What are all your duties?
Wendall Hinkle: I'll tell you what I've learned to really love about being a location manager is no one has an idea what, and, uh, you
Carli Patton: fly under the radar.
Wendall Hinkle: My mother doesn't understand what I do, but, uh, uh, it's, it's a pretty broad scope to be a location manager and to work and to have, I have a department, I have people that work for me, but, [00:02:00] uh, um, it starts out very creative. We get a script, we break it down. We have to have meetings with the producers, the, the writers, the directors, whoever that may be, and, and kind of find their vision when that script lands.
You know, it might be a scene in a bar or a scene at the house or a. Seen in the plaza somewhere and you know, do you want a big building? Do you want a little house? Do you, do you want a dark bar? You know, what do you, and then we go out and, uh, we meet the public and you know, we hand out our cards and believe it or not, a lot of it is done by knocking on doors.
Mm-hmm. And we, we sort of talk our way in, introduce ourselves and convince people to participate. Then we photograph, we photograph whatever the location may be, we take it back and we do show and tells, and everybody, you know, weighs in on that. All the creative team weighs in on that and they'll build, build in factors like the budget.
Um, logistics are, and we get into logistics a lot, but that'll be something, sometimes on a [00:03:00] TV show or something like that, you might have to shoot two or three locations in a day. So they look at, uh, okay, we really like this house, but, but this one is closer to where the office building is. So the move will be easier because time is money.
So we give them lots of options for different things and then they try and piece together what makes sense both creatively and visually, but also financially and logistically,
Carli Patton: I guess in my head. I've seen too many movies. I thought everything was on a sound stage. You know, like, you kind of assume that they're building exactly what they want.
Kind of like a set for theater.
Wendall Hinkle: Mm-hmm.
Carli Patton: And what I hear you saying is no, it takes a lot of work. You have to go and kind of excavate a city where they wanna film and mm-hmm. Find all of these different shops and buildings and places. I don't think I would've realized that.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. On a long running series, the season one is always the toughest.
Mm-hmm. Because you start with no sets or very few sets, they may determine that, uh, they know at the beginning of the series there's going to be the one office where the character always works. They may [00:04:00] build something like that, but then as time goes on, we'll build locations, uh, or we, we will use real locations and then once they start establishing and get the flow of it, they will start building more sets.
Carli Patton: Mm.
Wendall Hinkle: But usually season one starts out primarily on location. Huh. And then, uh, yeah, it depends. The, uh, when you film at a mansion, mansions can be very expensive to film at. So by season two, they start building those interiors
Carli Patton: for cost savings.
Wendall Hinkle: Yes, yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And convenience. The, uh, the more that the studio can do on the stage, the, uh, that's, that means you're not having to move those trucks all over the city.
Mm-hmm. So, but yeah, we, uh, we start out always, uh, primarily on location. Huh.
Spencer Patton: So, Wendell. This is just a window into how my brain doesn't work. Right. So creative is tough for me. Mm-hmm. And as an example, like when I am reading a book, you talk about getting the script for the first time. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I imagine something that [00:05:00] by the time the movie comes out Sure.
Is just wildly different than what I had in my head. My
mom
Wendall Hinkle: will agree with you.
Spencer Patton: Yeah. Yeah. And so you're the guy that is responsible for taking words off a script. Mm-hmm. And you know, you have an imagination like the rest of us. How do you really absorb what the author's intent is? To be able to come up with a location that is going to.
Satisfy the audience and the author and all these people.
Wendall Hinkle: Uh, it's very collaborative. Very collaborative. Yeah. So I read the script in some cases, you know the book that came before and I like you, I have ideas in my head. Mm-hmm. And then we meet, and then we uh, we look at, you know, we talk, what did the writer of the script intent, what is their director's vision?
And from all of that, we put together an idea of what we believe and then we'll go out and we'll take pictures, photograph things, and we get feedback. [00:06:00] Mm-hmm. Okay. So they'll look at stuff and then we go back to the drawing board again to try and dial things in. So, but it's very collaborative.
Spencer Patton: Okay.
Carli Patton: And so you've worked out West California, la mm-hmm.
All the works, and now you're coming to Nashville and Brentwood and doing a lot of things here in Tennessee. Can we talk a little bit about that evolution? How is, how is it different when you're working in Hollywood versus Tennessee and what's going on here?
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. Regionally. Regionally it is different.
The, uh, I learned how to do my job in, uh, LA Okay. And they, they kind of invented making movies, should be there. Sure. But when you go to regional places, they often haven't. So they have their own systems and ways of doing things. So you'll work with plenty of out of town people that will be on sets. Well, this isn't how we do it in la Well, we're not in la we're, we're in Nashville and this is how we do it here.
But, you know, I, I try
keep
Carli Patton: saying that. Keep telling '
Wendall Hinkle: em, yes,
Carli Patton: this is how we do it here.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. Yes, exactly. And uh, and you know, you try and stick to the general industry standards and guidelines of, of even things like the hierarchy. [00:07:00] Who on the crew is responsible for what things? So, and as a location manager, if you're in the costume department, you're worried about the costumes.
If you're in the electrics department, you're worried about the lights. But the location department, we have to worry about all the departments. Mm. You have to know what they do, what they're going to need. Because all those big trucks, you see, when we land on a location, it's the location. That's where we go from the creative part.
To the logistic part. Mm-hmm. Which is its own form of being creative, but we have to figure out where are we gonna park the trucks that the camera won't see, trucks in the background, and how far away from the set is the star going to be. And, uh, knowing that the, uh, the wardrobe people are gonna need places to do touchups and stuff like that.
So once we pick the location, the next big part of what we do is figuring out all the logistics. So when the company lands, basically they're in their own little backlog for the day. So we do that. We, it's our job to, uh, uh, with the liaison, with the public, with the city, with the state, with the counties, all of that.
So
Carli Patton: logistics your [00:08:00] brain can handle.
Spencer Patton: Yeah. Yeah,
Wendall Hinkle: I
Spencer Patton: can.
Carli Patton: Yeah. I can appreciate that wrap component. Can wrap that
Spencer Patton: part.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, we're responsible for getting the permits and knowing who to talk to and, uh, um, scheduling police and security officers. Mm-hmm. And even things like, where are we gonna put the dumpster and where's the porta-potty gonna go?
Mm-hmm. And all of that kind of stuff.
Spencer Patton: What's, when you're reading a script. What's like a nightmare scenario location when you're looking at it, you're like, oh my gosh, this is gonna be brutal.
Carli Patton: Why did they write this?
Spencer Patton: And then what's one that comes to mind that's maybe like, okay, that's about as easy as it gets.
And that's gonna be no problem.
Wendall Hinkle: Hospitals, they love to write scenes in hospitals. Filming in a real hospital is, is just, yeah.
Carli Patton: You can't do that.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. And, and hospital sets are very expensive to build, so it becomes a lot of pushing back and forward. Like, guys, really, you're gonna need to build this set.
Mm-hmm. For whatever reason, they'll wanna be the real one. So then try to find a hospital that's willing to invite a hundred crew members into film for a day. You know, it's, it's a challenge. So tho those [00:09:00] are difficult. Yeah. And I get a lot of requests for those. So
Carli Patton: those are dramatic moments. It's like,
Wendall Hinkle: thank you.
No, you figure it out somehow.
Carli Patton: Yeah.
Wendall Hinkle: You know,
Carli Patton: so, so what's easy peasy?
Wendall Hinkle: Uh, usually, uh, houses. Mm-hmm. Like, like just middle class houses. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. The, uh, because you go into a neighborhood and they, they will usually be pretty excited about it because you're not just filming at that house, you've gotta talk to the whole neighborhood.
You know, you're gonna take away their parking for a day 'cause you gotta put the trucks out there. And so we make the rounds and we talk to everybody and, you know, answer the questions. And most people are usually, there's always somebody on the street that's mad 'cause they've been parking on that same spot for 10 years and stuff like that.
But, uh, um, the yes. Middle class neighborhoods I like. And, uh, and visually they can do a lot with them. Uh, you know, we've taken neighborhoods in Nashville and we've, we've actually played them from many other places. Mm-hmm. Uh, you know, there's a little neighborhood old Hickory [00:10:00] Village. Mm-hmm. I think, uh, for Scarpetta, we played that as New Jersey in the seventies, you know, so, yeah.
So there, there's a lot of ways you look at things, you know, and again, when you get a script, it says, okay, you know, we're, we're going to be in Miami at a condo overlooking the ocean. What have you got? And it's like, well, we don't have palm trees and we don't have an ocean. But let me see what I can do. I got the
Spencer Patton: Cumberland
Carli Patton: River.
Yeah.
Wendall Hinkle: So
Carli Patton: well, yeah, because for Scarpetta, you guys knew you needed to film in Nashville, right? Mm-hmm. Because Nicole Kimon wanted to be home. Right. And, but you had to make it look like Miami.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. When And everything else we had, uh, if you, if you watched season one Yeah. There was, uh, the, the little Miami Deli that she worked at with her dad when she was a kid, we had to figure that out.
Wow. So, and sometimes, you know, you do the usual Google searches and stuff, but a lot of times when we picked that particular one, it was literally, I was driving by with the production designer, looking at something else, and I just looked over and said, and stopped and said, how about this? And we went in and talked to [00:11:00] the owners and There you go.
Carli Patton: So how long have you been in Nashville?
Wendall Hinkle: I came in 2012.
Carli Patton: Okay. And then, so you have a, you've been here over a decade now. Mm-hmm. So, you know the neighborhoods and where to drive. Mm-hmm. But how did you even begin? Did you just start taking to the streets, like sign up to be an Uber driver and then drive every neighborhood and
Wendall Hinkle: Well, well, you, you do.
You really do. And, and you know, there were. Like, when I came to town, we were working on the TV series Nashville. Mm-hmm. It's on A, B, C, and so there were a certain number of local location managers, um, that were working on the show. So you work with them and you just, you know, you just have to invest the time to really learn the city.
And then as Nashville has grown and multiplied and all of that, you know, certain things that we used to go to, they don't even exist anymore. Mm-hmm. So, but if you stay at it and stay on top of things, and what I learned was to cultivate relationships with the city and the county and, and the state. And now that we're so busy, if I see a script that know we're gonna film something [00:12:00] that's gonna be difficult, I give them as much heads up as I can and, and try and look for things like, what are the CMAs happening?
Mm-hmm. Are we gonna be, have a conflict with that? Stuff like that. So, oh yeah. I didn't even know about that. But yeah, you just, as time goes on, I cultivate a lot of relationships and, uh, and it's a challenge because. Tv, film, not film, you usually have a lot more prep time. Mm-hmm. TV moves at a much faster pace.
Spencer Patton: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Wendall Hinkle: So you don't have the, you know, in Superman we were, you know, I had six months to set up filming on the roof of a casino. Well, that was here. I might have two weeks to do that. Yeah. So, uh, you know, on a series. So it's, uh, um, yeah, having the relationships and staying on top of what's happening and, uh, trying to be a good neighbor mm-hmm.
As much as possible so that I could, you know, a lot of permit office used to have a policy of, you know, minimum of 15 or 20 days advance notices. I forget what it [00:13:00] was, but anyways. They work with us. They've been great, and they learned that we're not gonna give 'em that same time, but, but they do understand.
I give them as much heads up as I can. Sure. Even if I know something big is coming and I don't have a date, I, I put it on their radar so it's not a shock. And so they're, they've been very good about helping to expedite those things. So, but it took a long time at building relationships.
Carli Patton: Well, and it's good for the city.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah.
Carli Patton: I mean, to hear that these things, we've got these major shows. We've got these major stars. I think Nashville is really a name on a map right now. Yeah. And it helps every business in town 'cause of tourism and all the rest.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. And uh, I'll tell you what's, uh, been really helpful is the, uh, like. I don't know the exact term about it, but like real Nashville natives who have businesses here.
Mm-hmm. They love their city. They're proud of it. And when they see something like this, for the most part, they see this as, you know, it's good for the city.
Carli Patton: Mm-hmm.
Wendall Hinkle: You know, out of town businesses from New York or [00:14:00] somewhere that come in, they, they don't quite put it all together the same way. They just see something as maybe it's gonna be a nuisance.
Mm-hmm. And, uh, but, uh, Nashvillians have always been really, that's one of the reasons I decided to stay. You know, I had, like I said, I filmed all over the country, but, uh, this was a community where they loved their town. And when I could prove to them I loved their town too, and, and worked together.
They've been great
Spencer Patton: For the host sites, is it really much of a financial arrangement for them or is it more the novelty to be able to say, Hey, like episode. Nine of season three was filmed at my restaurant or my house.
Wendall Hinkle: So that, that is often
Spencer Patton: Yeah.
Wendall Hinkle: A thing. And, and that helps because, uh, when producers come to town, they're coming from la they're coming from New York, even Atlanta, places like that, they're producers are always looking at their bottom line.
Mm-hmm. And when you have people that are enthusiastic and not just, you know, handing out, okay, I know you guys are a studio and you're rich and I need a million [00:15:00] dollars. You know, people want to help. And so you can negotiate fair prices here.
Spencer Patton: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Carli Patton: Leave it to Nashville to have people that are just excited and like, let's be part of it.
Like that very much is our city. Yeah. And our state is, you know, the volunteer. Everyone wants to be part of what's happening here. I moved here in 2004. Okay. So I've been here for, to go to Vandy. I've been here through a lot of it. When I moved here, the Green Hills Mall was a sbarro and a bunch of empty
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah.
Carli Patton: Stalls, right? Yeah. And now look at it. Yeah. Um, I think Nashville filmed there. We did the show Nashville. Yeah, we did. I remember, I think I was there with our infant daughter and I got a glimpse in the background of the stars and I was like, Ooh, we're famous. So it's really been fun to watch.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. We were in there a couple times.
Carli Patton: Yeah.
Spencer Patton: Is there a place that comes to mind that's kind of, if the walls could talk, they would have a lot of stories, like are there, there, are there a couple go-to places or locations in Nashville that are your [00:16:00] go-to spots?
Wendall Hinkle: I have, I have a, a pocket full of places that I like, depending on what they're looking for in the script.
But, uh, I have always loved working with the people at the Ryman.
Carli Patton: Oh yeah.
Wendall Hinkle: And Skerber Horn. Yes.
Spencer Patton: Okay.
Wendall Hinkle: I have filmed with the Germer horn so many times for so many different things and they have always been great. Hmm. So that's, uh, and you know, all the history that's going through both of these places and you know, the music and everything that's happening and all of that.
So there, there's all kinds of stuff, but these are two places that I love to go to.
Carli Patton: Hmm. And well, and there's so many nooks and crannies at both of those places. Yes. That you could make it look like a restaurant. You could make it look like an office building. Yeah. You could make it look like an event venue.
Wendall Hinkle: I filled at the skerber horn countless times for countless different projects. And as far as actually being in the auditorium and on the stage, maybe only once or twice, really, it's about filming in the halls, in the lobbies, different things. Uh, we did, uh. We've used the staircases at the lob, uh, [00:17:00] coming off the lobby towards street level to stage things like, uh, oh, in storylines, uh, political people giving speeches to the public or press, press conferences, things like that.
The, uh, yeah, it's, it's really handy for that. The ryman's a little more specific. If you're at the Ryman, you know, you're at the Ryman, but, uh mm-hmm. Um. But, uh, that's always been a fun place to work too.
Carli Patton: Well, and there's so much construction going on. I feel like not only is there new places for you to scout all the time, but there's gotta be some really interesting people coming in that you can work with and
Wendall Hinkle: all of that.
Well, and, and at the rate of things happening. When I was doing Superman, I was in Cleveland for 10 months and I got back to Nashville and it's like, okay, it's all changed again. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So,
Spencer Patton: Wendell, when you're looking at locations, this is just another way that my brain works very poorly. Like when I get into a space, I have a hard time seeing something other than how that space is currently decorated or how it currently feels.
And I imagine that has to be something that is [00:18:00] the complete opposite for you because you go into a space and you know that you're gonna be largely transforming it. What, what are you looking for in a space? Do you want something that. Is very transformable to say this is kind of like a blank canvas that I could do most of anything with.
Or are you looking for something that is largely where you need it to be from a, a look and feel and you just need to kind of change a couple things on the edges? It
Wendall Hinkle: it. Sometimes it's pretty specific what they want. Mm-hmm. So it's really dialing that in. But a lot of times I look at something not only as like, are the bones of what we want here, because you have to think about the camera movement.
Mm-hmm.
Wendall Hinkle: Uh, if we're gonna film a scene in someone's living room, you have to remember it's not just two people at a table and a camera. There's a hundred people in there.
Spencer Patton: Mm-hmm.
Wendall Hinkle: So I look at, uh, ways that, uh, places that have hallways that go through doorways into foyer and things like that so that the [00:19:00] camera can move and not just get.
Trapped into like, you know, one static shot and that's all you've got. You've gotta be able to give the directors options for things. You know, do they want to use a steady cam and follow someone walking through the hallways so that, you know, there are certain places and there are even places that just logistically, you know, it might look great, but there's not a parking lot for five miles.
So, you know, how are we gonna do this? Yeah. You know, so there are things like that. But a lot, I would say most of the time, yeah. I'm looking at something that's got, not only can we get the shots we want to do, but it's gotta have enough room to work for the crew.
Carli Patton: Okay, so I have two questions and they're super different.
So you tell me which direction you wanna go. One, when you talk about all these people, I think it'd be interesting you've listed some, but to talk about what all these jobs are because I think when, whatever business, whatever, we've had politicians, we've had nonprofit leaders, we've had business leaders.
What's always fascinating to me is that it's, everyone wants to talk to the person who's in [00:20:00] it. Everyone wants to talk to Nicole Kidman about Scarpetta, right? Yeah. Right. But the people that are actually the leaders on a set doing the job. Yeah. Are all of those a hundred people? Yeah. So I'd love to talk about what all those micro workings are.
'cause I think that's really interesting. Totally different shift. I'd love to also talk about how technology has changed your job. You've been doing this a long time, and kinda like Spence said, coming in, you can change things in traditional means. You can move a plant, you can change a light. But how is AI and the way that people are digital imaging and doing things right now, editing, changing your job?
So we can go either way.
Wendall Hinkle: Well, you know, I'll touch on ai. The, uh, that's still kind of, we're all wanting to know where
Carli Patton: it's
Wendall Hinkle: going. Yeah. I'm not thrilled with it. Sure. Um, because. Uh, but maybe it's 'cause I, you know, I'm old school when they shot things on film.
Carli Patton: Mm.
Wendall Hinkle: And you know, film doesn't lie, so, you know, you've gotta be where you are.
But I also can go back and look at a movie shot in the fifties in Technicolor. And to me that looks better than, you know, modern [00:21:00] digital. You know, someone, I think in the hallways they was saying that you kind of thought everything was on a stage. Mm-hmm. Or something like that. But part of that is because the new formats they work in, you can never completely cross that uncanny valley.
Mm-hmm. You know? So even when we're really there on a real location, people think we're doing it on a stage or on a green screen, or it's all digital. That's true. Yeah. And part of that is just visually, and, and I think, again, I, I think as people coming up, maybe their perception change for me, I can spot it in a heartbeat and it becomes very distracting for me.
Mm-hmm. Um, so, but that doesn't mean it's not, you know, everybody look, a producer says, look, I don't need to hire anybody anymore. I can create the actors, I can create the, uh, the sets, I can, they can do all of that. Mm-hmm. But I think that people will still want more traditional formats. Mm-hmm. I, I think so.
And, uh. What's really disappointing about that is to do what we do. All of these different [00:22:00] crafts that come together mm-hmm. Everybody on the set is an artist in their own Right. Yeah. If you're the lighting guy, if you're the costumer, if you're the makeup person, okay. That is, you know, it's a form of art.
Mm-hmm. And just like, you know, a painter, like, I can't paint, I can't sculpt. Okay. But that's, it's a very human thing. And, you know, it's very unique. Not everybody can do that. So to see somebody just sit down on the laptop and just basically duplicate what you know, it, it's just not the sa it's not art.
Carli Patton: Mm.
Wendall Hinkle: It's really not art, but commercial Sure. It's probably very viable. Mm-hmm. But, uh, I, I don't see that as art. And
Carli Patton: I actually agree with you. I find myself watching old. Movies more than I used to, especially holiday movies or wanting to read old books. I, I wouldn't have been able to put my finger on it until you just said that.
Yeah. But I do think for whatever reason, my visuals get overwhelmed. Yeah. When I watch not all new [00:23:00] things, but a lot of things. Um, I prefer TV shows now with like one or two cameras where you're really seeing the actors do their work. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, that makes sense why I feel that way.
Spencer Patton: Yeah. So is something like when you think about a movie like Avatar mm-hmm.
Or some. Clearly out of this world, you know, space movie, does a location manager just not have a role or relevance in those places because it's so, uh, so digital and so green screened,
Wendall Hinkle: or I, yeah, I, I give you a comparison is if we go back to, you know, I was a fan of, you know, I grew up with the first Star Wars movie.
Spencer Patton: Yeah,
Wendall Hinkle: yeah. Well, they were on real locations, you know. Mm-hmm. They were Tunisia and these desert, they were in all of these real places, shooting on film. And then you mix in the special effects when they're in outer space. And the thing, avatar is completely created digitally online. Yeah. So, you [00:24:00] know, not really much of a job for me.
Uh, I know some guys that worked on, uh. The Last Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Mm-hmm. And which was a big deal movie. And they were pretty excited about it. And the reality is they only worked on one little piece of it there. I haven't seen it, but I guess there's a, there's a big scene in the neighborhood towards the end of the movie, so their job was to dial in the neighborhood and the rest of the movie was all done on the stage somewhere.
So yeah. That's, that's becoming more and more of a thing. Yeah. So one thing that's still on our side is all of that digital creation is not cheap.
Carli Patton: Yeah.
Wendall Hinkle: So many times it is still cheaper, it's a lot easier to go. To, you know, Joe's Bar and Grill and just change the sign and film it right there as opposed to having to digitally enhance and you know, move the walls out and do all that.
It's a lot easier. Just still do and cheaper to do that way. So that's still, but you know, finances are somewhere, there'll be a shift I'm sure.
Carli Patton: Yeah. Come knock on our neighbor's [00:25:00] door is still easier in Nashville than ai.
Spencer Patton: That makes sense. Mm-hmm. I think that's a great example of talking about Star Wars and Avatar and some of the different feel.
Yeah. The very different feel that, that you get. What are a couple iconic movies or TV shows that have locations that just are five star? Like you say that that's really something special like, 'cause what I think of, and this is not fancy, but I think of the Office. Okay. Mm-hmm. They, the, the show, the TV show, the office, like that setting inside the office in the warehouse doesn't feel fancy.
Doesn't feel super expensive, but it is iconic and. Immediately recognizable by a lot of people. Yeah. What are some examples like that, that are just where the location manager nailed it and you appreciate their work?
Wendall Hinkle: Um, did you ever watch, was it Marvelous Biz Maisel?
Carli Patton: [00:26:00] Yes.
Wendall Hinkle: Okay. So they shot that in like 19, you know, it was played as period mm-hmm.
1960 New York. And I didn't work on it. And, and I know there were some things that I could tell were sets they built. Sure. But overall, they had to transfer. Anytime you see a long shot looking down 42nd Street or something like that, and there was all these old cars and things like that. Okay. That was a location manager putting that together.
Mm-hmm. And, and helping transform,
Carli Patton: you know, that was a beautiful show. Yeah. The imagery on that show from the costuming to how they just did all of that was
Wendall Hinkle: really, I thought that was a gorgeous show.
Carli Patton: Mm.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. So I really did like that. That was one that, that an immediate show that comes to mind was that Yeah.
I always appreciated that. Um, the, uh. The one I'm liking right now is Landman. Oh
Spencer Patton: yeah. Oh yeah.
Wendall Hinkle: I don't know how they're getting out on all these oil fields. And, and, and again, that goes back to a location manager having to sort that whole thing out. I don't know how they're doing that. They landed a, they landed a plane, I think on the first episode on the, uh, you know, on a road somewhere and crashed into [00:27:00] a truck and Yeah.
Like that's all location managers putting that together. So
Carli Patton: that is a popular show.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah.
Carli Patton: Yeah. We just finished it. I think we're a season behind, but we, we've watched a lot of that and they do a great job. Yeah. Making everything look like it's West Texas.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. I'll tell you, my wife who watches way more TV than I do, kept telling me, you have to watch Landman, you have to watch Landman, you have to watch.
This is. Time and Okay. Whatever. She said, no, you are that guy. And I said, she said, Billy Bob Thornton. I said, you know, I've been compared to a lot of people who never Billy Bob Thornton. And she said, no, like what he does. And so I watched the show and I was like, oh my God, I think I'm that guy. Because you know, you're in between like working these high profile deals with mm-hmm.
Big money people. But then he spends a lot of time in the car going around solving problems. Mm-hmm. And trying to meet these deadlines. And so it's like, okay, that's kind of like what a location manager does. Hmm.
Carli Patton: Oh, that's a great analogy. Wow, that helps so much. [00:28:00] I really appreciate the imagery of that because when you hear location manager, it sounds honestly intimidating to me.
Like fancy, like I don't have the skillset. I can barely, you wouldn't know it to talk to me, but it's like I get intimidated, try to decorate a bookshelf. I really do. Like trying to think about decorating an entire movie. Right, right. And it just really hones in everyone's experience, but. I can get on board with and maybe understand better as a mom, I feel like I'm driving around all day solving everybody's problems too, and managing up and down and left and right.
And so that makes it much more relatable.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. See, you're a location manager too.
Carli Patton: I'm a location manager just for teenagers, but,
Wendall Hinkle: uh, and yeah, another thing on Landman is, uh, again, I mean, they're covering half of Texas. Yeah. They're in skyscrapers looking out over city skylights and stuff like that. That's a big undertaking.
Yeah. So, yeah. I, I'm liking that one a lot.
Spencer Patton: Mm-hmm. Uh, so being such a veteran of the trade. Give us a couple things that we could see in a [00:29:00] show or a movie or something that a location manager like you will say, ah, see, I, I can tell something about it. Based upon seeing something there, something that gives away that, uh, you know, it's a set or it's something like what are, what are some of the, the, the insider secrets that you have?
Wendall Hinkle: So, I, I have a very close friend, uh, she's, when I first came to Nashville, was on short notice and we were introduced and she had a spare room in her house, and I stayed with her until I could situate myself. Mm-hmm. We've been friends ever since. And for a while when we were living together, the, uh, we were watching Mrs.
Maisel.
Carli Patton: Mm-hmm.
Wendall Hinkle: And I don't, there's one season, Ms. Maisel takes a job at a department store, some famous New York Department store. Mm-hmm. And she just loved that department store. It's like, I wanna go there. And I said, you know, that's a set right. And she was crushed.
Carli Patton: Oh.
Wendall Hinkle: But it's be, I'll tell you the simple thing is look at the windows.
Do you see what's going on outside or are they just blowing it out with the light?
Carli Patton: Oh, interesting.
Yeah. [00:30:00]
Carli Patton: Well, and have you ever been on one of these tours? You're probably like, absolutely not. But there are bus tours for famous TV shows where you can go and see all the spots. These
Wendall Hinkle: things were tours for Nashville.
Carli Patton: Yes.
Wendall Hinkle: While we were filming. Oh fuck. We would pull up at one of the regular characters' house and people would be on the front step doing selfies and it was like, Hey guys, you kinda gotta go. We're working here. Yeah. You know, so. Yeah. Yeah. But, uh, um, I am planning a trip to Ireland. Mm-hmm. Someplace I've always wanted to go.
And even though I didn't watch it, the uh, part of that is going to be, uh, there's a Game of Thrones tour.
Carli Patton: Oh, interesting.
Wendall Hinkle: And people, I'm going with everyone. We're fans. So we're gonna go do the Game of Thrones tour and uh, so that'll be fun to see.
Carli Patton: One that's the. Most pertinent to me is I feel like everyone's trying to recreate Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls.
Wendall Hinkle: Yes.
Carli Patton: And they're trying to make Luke's coffee shop and there's something so nostalgic about this show. Yeah. Which really is the location manager. And I know they probably built [00:31:00] part of that and all the rest, but everyone wants that feeling that they get from the show they want to visit.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah.
Carli Patton: Stars Hollow.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. It's real. And, and Stars Hollow. A lot of that was actually on a back lot somewhere
Carli Patton: I'm sure. Yeah.
Wendall Hinkle: But uh, but you didn't know that, right? Mm-hmm. Like they nailed it. It was great. And I think back then they probably shot that show in film. I don't think it was, uh, I don't think it was digital.
Carli Patton: Oh. I think for sure they did.
Spencer Patton: Yeah.
Carli Patton: And if you go back, there's so much dialogue in that show. Mm-hmm. You watch it and I have no idea how they would get through those takes.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. Yeah. It's
Carli Patton: amazing.
Spencer Patton: Is it worrisome for you that, let's say in season one you are at somebody's house or at some location, that's not a built set, it's an actual thing, and then 3, 4, 5 seasons later there's a need to come back?
Wendall Hinkle: Yes.
Spencer Patton: And. It's not a built set, and that was somebody's house or that was somebody's location. And now there's all kinds of changes where you can't recreate it in the same
Wendall Hinkle: way. It, it happens. Yeah, [00:32:00] it happens. The, uh, in, I don't know if you know in my name is Earl, uh, and season one we is, uh. Not Jeff Bridges.
Beau Bridges, uh, was actually Earl's dad in the storyline. And there was one episode where he went home to talk to his dad and we had this house and we filmed a little cul-de-sac and all of that. And we went on. It was just a storyline, right? And so then season four came along and they decided to write another scene at Dad's house.
We went back, the house had been sold to someone else had been painted and a bunch of stuff, so, oh
Spencer Patton: yeah.
Wendall Hinkle: And uh, and oh, that was a funny one. In that story, Earl lived at a motel and we had a regular motel we would go to. Now we built the interior on the stage, but anytime we were doing stuff in the parking lot or on the outside, everything, it was this real place.
It's still there. Uh, it's actually appeared in a lot of movies and stuff, but one of the, one of the interesting things about it that fit the show was there was this old kidney shaped pool. They didn't use it. Nobody, they don't let you use [00:33:00] pools anymore 'cause people get hurt. Liability. Right. But, but this had this old pool left over from the fifties and, and in the show we would always have like, junk floating in it and stuff like that.
And somewhere, I think we were coming back, uh, to start season three and I went over to talk to the motel owner and we hadn't been there for a few months 'cause we were on a hiatus. I went back and he was filling it in with concrete and it was like, like, like, whatcha doing? So we had to, uh, at another time he painted it.
And actually I think if you look at the exterior in season one versus season four, the, uh, there were, there were like these faux columns and stuff on it, and he painted some of it and he was like that. He would just, well, I hadn't heard from you in a while. And so Yeah. We chased, we chased that a lot. Yeah.
But, uh, um, I'm sure there's been, there's been a few since we, uh. The reverse of that was on the show, Nashville. That was a real house. Well, it's still there. Um, it doesn't look like anything like it does now, but the house that Connie Britton's [00:34:00] character lived in, we filmed some in the real house in Season One, but they knew early on they, they built most of the interior.
But by the time we got to season four or five or six, they wanted to start seeing transitions coming from the kitchen through the hall to walk outside. Ah. So we had to, we started going back to the real house and that was fine. And, and that the homeowner was great, but, uh, the problem was they had modified the set on the stage over the years to accommodate being able to move cameras around and stuff.
So when we got in the real house, it was modeled on, it didn't exactly look the same anymore. Mm-hmm. But, uh, but. We did it.
Carli Patton: When you're filming, do you ever feel like it's gonna be lightning in a bottle and then say, okay, I need to take pictures, I need to film all around this property, this house, all the hallways in advance, in case that way it's in the can and you can use it in the future?
Or do you really just not know? Well,
Wendall Hinkle: you, you don't know. And you know, it's a strange business. Sure. And sometimes something comes in, you think this is gonna be a [00:35:00] blast and it tanks and then something comes in. You don't, oh, it's just some little, it gets big, right? Sure. But, uh, there is a scene, I think it's the beginning of the movie.
It's been a long time, but he is alone in his car driving through Times Square and is completely empty. He's the only guy there. And they really did that. That wasn't digital. It's like a dream. It's like a dream sequence in the movie or something like that. Right. They really did that. And how you shut down Times Square in all directions so that Tom Cruise can drive his Mustang through slowly looking around and there's nothing anywhere that's like, I don't know who the location manager is.
Probably if I looked it up I would know their name. But uh, like that was an epic undertaking. And you don't do that in the week.
Carli Patton: Yeah.
Wendall Hinkle: You spend months setting that up.
Carli Patton: Well, and it's probably like Monday night at 1:30 AM or something like that.
Wendall Hinkle: I think they did in the daytime.
Carli Patton: No kidding.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. If I remember right.
It's daytime.
Carli Patton: So is it,
Wendall Hinkle: and actually, [00:36:00] daytime would probably be easier because at night all those buildings have the Marques lights and all of that kind of stuff. So
Carli Patton: you couldn't like edit.
Wendall Hinkle: You can't really control that.
Carli Patton: That's so interesting. And so is it just. Not to be sound al is it, some studios just have the clout that they can call up whoever in a large city and be like, I need Times Square tomorrow.
Wendall Hinkle: Oh, absolutely. And, and you know, location managers rely on, you know, you gotta have that guy also. Mm-hmm. You know, even in Nashville I've got, you
Carli Patton: gotta have the landman.
Wendall Hinkle: I, yeah. I, I have a guy in Nashville that, uh, when I need to do something.
Carli Patton: Crazy.
Wendall Hinkle: You know, I need to go three steps higher than I'm used to working and, you know, get to the, you know, the, for the mayor's office or a senator mm-hmm.
Or something like that. I have a guy to call to, to get help with things like that. You
Carli Patton: have a fixer?
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah.
Carli Patton: If you watch billions, there's always a fixer in the show. Billions. Yeah. Okay. All right. But,
Wendall Hinkle: uh, yeah, if you watch 9 1 1 Nashville, yet
Carli Patton: I haven't. Now I need to. Yeah. So my kids' ages are such that we are in sports purgatory.
Oh. And [00:37:00] I tell you, every night there is a game, a match. Yes. And they're, I get it. Yeah. There's four of 'em. And they're travel
Wendall Hinkle: leagues too.
Carli Patton: We travel for them, so they, a lot of them play tennis. So we will pick the tournaments. Oh, okay. But we're, we do a lot. And so I find myself at night so tired that Spence will turn on a show and I maybe get 10 minutes in.
I'm that person. Yeah. I'm that meme. I'm horrible. But the summer, but summer is coming, right? Yeah. And so we usually catch up on all of our shows in the summer, like at the beach when I'm. Rested. So I'm looking forward to that. Yeah.
Wendall Hinkle: My wife watches more because she has a, a more conventional life. So she gets up early and she works and she comes home at a decent hour and dinner and she has time to watch things in the evening.
And, you know, I, yesterday was a 16 hour day, I, last thing I was gosh gonna do is come home and, uh, turn on the tv. So,
Carli Patton: so help me understand too, so you're doing all of the legwork
mm-hmm.
Carli Patton: In advance mm-hmm. Picking all of the things right? Mm-hmm. But then once [00:38:00] production starts, your job's not done. So you're not just picking, you're.
Wendall Hinkle: No, we leapfrog. We have to leapfrog. So right now, uh, we just finished, uh, shooting block one. Uh, Scarpetta is shot in like four blocks. Okay. And we just finished block one and we've started block two. But I have people that are already scouting for block three.
Spencer Patton: Mm-hmm.
Wendall Hinkle: And it'll take us about a month to shoot block two.
So I have people, including myself right now, that, uh, we are still dialing in contracts and permits and stuff. So when the company lands, we're ready to go. We're, we're doing that for block two, but looking ahead to block three and everybody's gonna say already worrying about what's the finale gonna be.
Sure. Because, you know, finale's gonna be big and we don't have those scripts yet. Okay. So, so there's a lot of leapfrogging around. There's, I have. If you, if you go into like the micro of all of this in my department, I have people that are, right now they're cleaning up the mess from yesterday's filming.
Mm-hmm. Some are with the company where they're [00:39:00] filming now and some are at a location, uh, getting it ready for tomorrow and we leapfrog. And then, like I said, then I have the scouts doing the advance work.
Carli Patton: So you gotta have like a red team that's out in front of you probably already working on block four, even though you don't know what it is yet.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah.
Carli Patton: For your side of things. Mm-hmm. Do you have your own company that is contracted by a production team or it's all part of it and that's your department that you run for each individual show? No,
Wendall Hinkle: there's no company. It's just, I have, I have people that I've worked with and I've trained over the years and, uh, um.
You know, just like everything else, we we're all in a union. Okay. And so the union makes a deal with the production and that determines rates and
Carli Patton: Sure.
Wendall Hinkle: All kinds of minutia. But, uh, when they hire me, I'm the department head, and then I have to hire the staff. Mm-hmm. And then you have to have the budget discussions.
I say, look, I need 18 people. And they say, you got six. And I say, well, that's not gonna happen, so give me 10. And, and you, you, you negotiate that and then you pick all your people and, uh. All the people that work for [00:40:00] me, it's like having a family. Mm-hmm. It is a surrogate family. 'cause uh, everyone, you know, someone's got a doctor's appointment and someone's gotta do this and someone's gotta do that, but they all know what I want and they deliver.
Carli Patton: Mm.
Wendall Hinkle: So the, so when, when you have those kind of people that know what's happening and makes your job so much easier Oh yeah. And everybody manages in a different way. I am big on dumping all the information on everybody. This is how much money we've got. This is, this is the ins and outs. This director isn't gonna like this.
And so they can cater to personalities and they, they know where they've gotta set, you know, certain facilities up, things like that. And so. Um, right down to, you know, I, I give everybody a schedule. Years ago, I would give everybody their daily schedule for the next day. I would schedule all the police, I would schedule the security, I would schedule all the things that we need to go with it.
But over the years, I've trained them so much that now they call me and say, Hey look, I'm gonna need this year. And that there, and, and [00:41:00] I have one woman who I count on immensely. Uh, 'cause now she does the daily schedules for me. Mm. So she'll call me every afternoon, okay, we need to do the schedule for tomorrow.
Here's what I'm thinking. Put him here, her there, the, and it's just to take that burden off me. Mm-hmm. So when you have these jobs, you don't wanna lose somebody. Mm. You want to get them hired because if you don't have a job for 'em, they'll go find something else. Sure. And sometimes you get 'em back and sometimes you don't.
So, but I really rely on, and a lot of the people that are, are working for me right now on Scarpetta and, uh, just came off of 9 1 1, but I've worked with a lot of them. For 10 years or more.
Carli Patton: Hmm.
Wendall Hinkle: So,
Carli Patton: well, and Nashville's booming. So you're saying Scarpetta films in four blocks and you're on two, and then you're working through three and four.
Yeah. Do you know what's, after you wrap block four of Scarpetta or do you really focus on one project and then when this project wraps, everyone takes a minute and then you get your next thing?
Wendall Hinkle: No, some people can do that. I can't because I already know what's coming [00:42:00] up next. 9 1 1 Nashville was picked up for season two.
Carli Patton: Congratulations.
Wendall Hinkle: And Thank you. And, uh, I know when they wanna start filming and so I'm already looking ahead of, okay. I gotta get through this to be ready for that because the demands are very high on that show.
Carli Patton: Yeah.
Wendall Hinkle: So
Carli Patton: it's a fast-paced show.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah, it's
Carli Patton: from what I understand.
Wendall Hinkle: Yes.
Carli Patton: It's on my list.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah.
Carli Patton: Yeah.
Wendall Hinkle: The, uh, everybody talks about the kite, but, uh, what I like to talk about is the Airstream trailer on top of the KVB bridge.
Carli Patton: Okay, tell me more.
Wendall Hinkle: There's, there's a scene where there is a, you'll have to watch it to understand I'll, now I'm
Carli Patton: gonna go
Wendall Hinkle: home and trailer. There's an air binge, binge watch
Carli Patton: every episode.
Air.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. There's an Airstream trailer trapped on, stuck on top of the KBB bridge and our guys have to, uh, rescue the people inside. And that took a long time to set that up.
Carli Patton: I say, how did you get a trailer on top of the bridge?
Wendall Hinkle: Well, the crane, a big crane.
Carli Patton: Well, there are plenty of those in Nashville right now.
Wendall Hinkle: Yes, there is. Yes, there is. But you have to look into things too, like, okay, how much [00:43:00] weight can this bridge take? Sure. And. Shutting down the flow of traffic in and out of downtown Nashville by closing the KBB bridge means you're setting up all kinds of detours. And it's a lot of coordinated coordination with a lot of different departments to make that happen.
So
Carli Patton: did you have to call your fixer for that one?
Wendall Hinkle: He helped. Yes. He helped. I
Carli Patton: bet you did.
Wendall Hinkle: I, uh, I gave, I gave the city the advance just to say this is coming.
Carli Patton: Mm-hmm.
Wendall Hinkle: But I called him also in advance to say, look, this is coming. And you know, it's gonna be, there are people who want to help, but they're, they don't have the authority to approve, approve this.
So it's gonna have to go way up the, uh, the ladder.
Carli Patton: Do you ever just wanna call the writers and be like. You get won a season, you get one oh
Wendall Hinkle: every day.
Carli Patton: Craziness. A season
Wendall Hinkle: every day. The, uh, the problem with the show like 9 1 1 is the audience expects
Carli Patton: every Yeah. Every episode. And so that's like the nature of the show.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. So when you're in episode three of season one and you've already got a bridge on the, or, uh, a trailer on the bridge, it's like, okay, where do we go from here?
Carli Patton: Yeah. No kidding.
Wendall Hinkle: You know, [00:44:00] and then that's the writer's task is to like, they're always trying to up their game, so who knows what's gonna happen next.
Carli Patton: Mm-hmm. Are there any dream projects you have, like, you've had such a great career, but is there anything that if somebody called you tomorrow to do X, you would try to drop everything and go do it?
Wendall Hinkle: One of my all time favorite books is a Raymond Chandler book called, uh, the Long Goodbye. And so if someone called me up and said, we wanna do this, we wanna be true to this book, it's a period piece set in LA in the fifties, I would figure out.
I would want to do that. There was one version of that book made a long time ago, and I never liked it.
Carli Patton: Hmm.
Wendall Hinkle: And so I always thought that's, it's, and again, it's, it is, it's about the characters, the personalities, the dialogue. Chandler was this, he was a brilliant writer, and everyone said, well, he wrote detective stories, but the brilliance of Chandler, the elevated them, uh, out of that genre is, you know, he has the convention of the [00:45:00] detective narrating the story.
But really it was Chandler as a writer making his comment on LA in the fifties.
Carli Patton: So what do you like to read and does that inform, like being a reader? Does that inform your creativity and what you do?
Wendall Hinkle: I can tell you like authors that I like. Mm-hmm. You know, and it's, it's. Um, you know, I think I read everything Kurt Vonnegut ever wrote.
Uh, I certainly read everything Raymond Chandler ever, ever wrote, but I used to, I love, uh, Tim Robbins. Mm-hmm. Another, if somebody ever converted. I always thought his best book was still life with Woodpecker. And it's like, how come no one ever made that into a movie? 'cause it's a brilliant book. You should make
Carli Patton: it into a movie.
Wendall Hinkle: I should. Yeah. I should. The, uh, I
Carli Patton: feel like, you know, a fixer that could help you do that.
Wendall Hinkle: Um, uh, lately I've been reading a lot of Hunter Thompson. Mm-hmm. And you had to be very careful with Hunter. 'cause that will get in your head, but Sure. Uh, but again, he's in a very specific time and [00:46:00] his insights into society and how he looks through looks at everything and, and, uh, uh, just reading Hell's Angels.
Mm. And he, he made friends with these guys in the sixties and rode with them. And, uh, just to get an insight on this sort of. Peace of America, you know? So, uh, I like, like that, uh, used to read Charles Bukowski, but you can only take him in small increments also. So now that I'm hearing this, I read a lot of dark stuff, but I didn't, but, but I like things that are, it has humor.
Spencer Patton: Mm-hmm.
Wendall Hinkle: So there's insights. It might be dark, but as long as he's gotta have some humor to it, that's grim and depressing. I don't want to read. Sure. And it probably started with Vonnegut when I was in college reading Vate. 'cause uh, you know, Vonnegut, his stories are hilarious, but dark. But I think it was because Vate really had faith in people and suffered a lot of disappointment.
Carli Patton: Mm.
Wendall Hinkle: But he really believed that people who wanted to be and could be better so. Yeah, that's
Carli Patton: what I hear about [00:47:00] how you're talking about literature is that you like the nuance and you like to really transport when you're reading and see where that time and place and the nuance of what's going on around you.
I feel like that translates to what you do.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah.
Carli Patton: In your job. That's very cool.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. It is taught me to look at, look at things from a certain perspective. Mm-hmm. You know, like doing business today in this industry is not the same as it was 20 years ago. But then look at the bigger thing with society, you know, trying, when we were doing, uh, my name is Earl, 20 years ago, there, there was no, social media wasn't a thing.
You know, when we started that show, we didn't even have smart phones. We had flip phones. The, uh, I think the iPhone came out somewhere around the time. I think season two or three, everybody showed up at the, uh, beginning of that season. Hey, with a new iPhone. Yeah. Yeah. So, so all of these things affect, you know, so looking at, if you wanna know where you're at right now, you kind of gotta look at where we came from and what was it before.
And it's not just nostalgia, but it's [00:48:00] perspective, you know.
Carli Patton: Well, and to that end, we didn't even ask, how did you find yourself being in this type of role? Did you wake up as a little boy and be like, you know what I wanna do?
Wendall Hinkle: So. How I always answer that question is I got into this the old fashioned way.
Carli Patton: Mm.
Wendall Hinkle: I married into it. Ah. So I, uh, I got a degree in, uh, satellite and costume design and theater in a BFA from Kent State. And, uh, I went to New York to work in the theater and really focused on lighting design. That was something that spoke to me. I, I wasn't a great artist and uh, but, uh, I knew how to work with lights and I really liked that and worked on a couple notable things.
But New York's a tough place to live, and I hit a glass ceiling pretty quick. I was young and needed to earn a living, and it was the old, well give it 20 years. Oh yeah. And, you know, it's like, okay. So I decided, and, and I loved film and TV too, so I made a few contacts in my New York [00:49:00] years and I went to LA and just started over and worked my way into the TV business.
Um, so. In the meantime, I, I've done a lot of things. So I put myself through college. I was a cook, and then I went to New York and I was a stage hand and I built sets and I swung a hammer and I hung lights. And then what I would do is I would, I would answer crew calls in the daytime to make money.
Carli Patton: Mm-hmm.
Wendall Hinkle: Building sets and that stuff. And, and then at night I would go for little theater companies that had no money. I would do lighting designs for them for free at night so that I could get my name out there and people could see what I could do. Wow. So I did that and then I didn't wanna do that anymore.
And So you never
Carli Patton: slept
Wendall Hinkle: what I'm hearing, never slept. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And sometimes I would have three things in a day. Sure. I would, uh, I would get up in the morning, hang lights, or. Build flats or something. Then I would go in the afternoon to a rehearsal for something I was gonna do a design for. And then at night I would go to, [00:50:00] uh, a show like Off Broadway and I would run the light boards for the shows.
Mm. So that was my life for a number of years. But like I said, then I went to LA and, you know, I had like two phone numbers, but I was determined I was gonna do this and it didn't move, move that fast. So I ended up in a roundabout way, running a security company in la and I did that for about eight years.
So by the time I was, I, I had met my, uh, my first wife, she was the location manager and she said, look, you know, this entire city, 'cause I had accounts in three counties. Mm-hmm. Ventura, la, orange County, and, and had been driving for years, checking on guards and doing some investigative work and stuff like that.
And she said, and. You know what everybody does, because that's what I had trained to do. So she said, you're gonna stop all this other stuff and you're going to be a location manager now. And so she got me and there was a show going on and it's a union town, but there was a show going on. It had just started and it was [00:51:00] extremely difficult.
And they were grinding through location managers and firing them and, and they hit a point where they needed somebody to be in the office to sort of manage all the stuff happening. It was a show that was shot entirely on location. Mm-hmm. And it was just craziness scripts were late and, uh, and they never stopped filming.
And so. She, nobody, the word had got out in town about this crazy show. And like I said, they, they were just grinding through location managers. Yeah. To the point where they were making calls and people were like, no, thank you. I'm not interested. They couldn't hire people anymore, anymore, which is
Carli Patton: perfect for a
Wendall Hinkle: up
Carli Patton: and coming.
Wendall Hinkle: So, so she said. We need to hire my husband. And so they called the union and you can do this. And so they made the case. They had offered the position to a number of people, and, uh, they'd been turned down. So the union let me come in. I worked for six weeks and on like literally at the end of six weeks, I took a call from the union.
Okay, you've got your time in join up, or you're done. Yeah. Yeah. So I joined the [00:52:00] union and that was how it all got started. Wow. But yeah, I, you know, kind How,
Carli Patton: how long did you last on that show once you got
Wendall Hinkle: in? Well, I made it to the end, but it only lasted 12, 13 episodes. Okay. And oh, it was fraught with all kinds of problems.
Carli Patton: Okay.
Wendall Hinkle: But, uh, um. Everyone thought it was gonna be really big. Mm-hmm. And it just never, and there were a lot of internal problems and a star that had many problems. Mm-hmm. And so it just, it kind of didn't
Carli Patton: work.
Wendall Hinkle: So yeah. I finally got my big break. 12 episodes later, I was outta a job again.
Carli Patton: Oh.
Wendall Hinkle: But, uh, but I stuck with it and the, uh, and of the appealed to me.
'cause again, you know, I'm kind of a late bloomer. I wa I was, I was star. I'd already had three or four different careers and now suddenly I'm doing locations on a TV show in la. But, uh, that, that was the one that stuck.
Spencer Patton: Hmm.
Carli Patton: That's so fun.
Spencer Patton: Hmm. Now, Wendell, the way that we land each podcast is we have four fill in the blank questions that we do where, uh, you [00:53:00] finish it up with a word or a short phrase at the end, uh, that you think completes the thought.
Okay.
Wendall Hinkle: Mm-hmm.
Spencer Patton: Okay. Ready? Number one, my favorite thing about filming in Tennessee is blank.
Wendall Hinkle: My favorite thing about filming in Tennessee is the people.
Spencer Patton: Mm-hmm. Number two, the biggest challenge of managing locations for a show like 9 1 1 Nashville. It is
Wendall Hinkle: the biggest challenge of managing a show like 9 1 1 Nashville is meeting the deadlines.
Spencer Patton: Number three, when I'm scouting a new location, the first thing I look for is blank.
Wendall Hinkle: When I'm scouting a new location, the first thing I look for is the visual aspects that it will lend to the product.
Spencer Patton: Yeah. And four, the most surprising place in Tennessee that worked [00:54:00] perfectly on camera was blank.
Wendall Hinkle: The most surprising place in Tennessee that worked perfectly on camera was the Hermitage Hotel.
Carli Patton: Oh, I believe that. So iconic to Nashville.
Wendall Hinkle: I have filmed there for many things, but, uh, I have a great debt of gratitude to the hotel because we were, after Nashville was done, we had, uh. There was a little lull, there wasn't a lot of activity, but things were coming in and, and producers from Netflix reached out to me.
They were doing the series for Netflix, and part of it was set in the Middle East, and part of it was set in, um, Washington, DC and a lot of it was set on this cross country thing, so it was called Messiah. Mm. And it's kind of fun if you ever wanna look it up. But, uh, they, they had the Middle Eastern thing worked out and, uh, for some of the Texas desert stuff they had that worked out, they were gonna do that New Mexico and then [00:55:00] all the rest of the pieces for the story.
They could only go to one place and they needed, they needed the town that could play all of these different things, country things, all of that. But, but the catch was, there was a prominent storyline that took place in a Washington DC hotel. Uh, a famous historic one. Interesting. Mm-hmm. And so they had done their own searching and they found online the Hermitage Hotel and thought this was a match to sell the story.
And so in a roundabout away they found me and they said, you know, we've got this show and the question is, can you film at the Hermitage Hotel? And I said, yes, I have a long relationship with them. They're great. And they said it would be a while. So I talked to the Hermitage Hotel and said, look, we can bring a whole show to town, but it's kind of hinging on you guys the uh, because, no pressure, because if I can't, if I can't deliver this iconic hotel they want, then they're gonna go somewhere else.
All the other scenes and things that we [00:56:00] had to find that came with it, but it was about that hotel. And so they were on board and we took over the top two floors of the Hermitage Hotel for maybe a month.
Spencer Patton: Wow.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. And they're great. And I still filmed there. We filmed there on. 9 1 1 on Scarpetta. Uh, we did a Great Lifetime movie a number of years ago called Patsy and Loretta, we filmed there for that, not to mention the original Nashville series.
They're film friendly and it's a great look and, and you can get a lot of different looks there. Mm-hmm. So it, you know, it rarely plays itself in the story. It's always, we are always using it to play somewhere else. Yeah. You know, the restaurant, the bar, all of that stuff.
Spencer Patton: Hmm.
Wendall Hinkle: So
Carli Patton: I actually love that place.
Yeah. I'm glad you picked it.
Wendall Hinkle: Yeah. Yeah. No, I love the Hermitage so
Spencer Patton: Well, Wendell, thank you for letting us into your world. There's a lot of things that come to mind when I thought or think about what a location manager does and doesn't do. And so [00:57:00] the fact that you have such a mastery in a space that is very unique and very novel, but.
Are able to break it down in an unpretentious unfancy way to make it connect with us, uh, is just really appreciated and it is a compliment to how obviously, well you've done your job to be on the shows and, uh, the, uh, kind of, uh, markers of success that you have on your resume.
Wendall Hinkle: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate being able to come and again, kind of pulling back the curtain a little bit for people to understand what it takes to make these things.
So yeah,
Carli Patton: I vote that we call him a location ninja. He is no longer a manager. He is a ninja, and that is how I'll refer to you henceforth.[00:58:00]
Spencer Patton: Wendell Henkel, a location manager for film. Television, some big stories, big names, big shows. Like he has 50 hours worth of stories that he could tell.
Carli Patton: Oh yeah. I, so when Wendell came in, obviously we read and prepare. Every time we do a podcast, you have no idea who you're meeting. Like sometimes we have friends that we've met before, but a lot of times we're coming in on purpose, not knowing everything.
'cause we wanna be able to ask the questions for people that don't know the background. Such a kind in the beginning, soft spoken, artistic man. And then just to hear his stories and him come alive, like, I enjoyed that so, so, so much. Even how he talked about literature, even if he called it dark, I hadn't read all of those authors, but what he takes from them is the period and what's going on, and almost the story behind the story, [00:59:00] which.
Serves exactly. What he does is he creates the story behind the story and I was just cracking up. I wanted to crack jokes, but I knew that it wasn't the time or place his 57 lives before he became a location manager. All surf.
Spencer Patton: Yeah.
Carli Patton: What he's doing, it's like we say all the time, God does not waste a single past experience from lighting to building sets to being a security officer, managing a security company like he does all of that now.
How fun that that was his background.
Spencer Patton: Seeing an artistic gift where the Lord gifts people in such unique ways, especially when they're so different from my own. It's just great, especially when someone is so kind and not pretentious about it. Mm-hmm. Because you could come with an error that makes it. Not fun and Sure [01:00:00] unapproachable and he is absolutely the opposite.
Mm-hmm. Of that. Mm-hmm. And when you think about the shows that really stick in your mind is your favorite show, whoever you are, the set, like the music
Wendall Hinkle: mm-hmm.
Spencer Patton: Is so important. Like I love some of those videos where they change the music for a scene and the scene is entirely different. They leave the lyrics the same, the location the same, the actor's the same, but they change the music and it's a totally different feel.
And it's the same exact thing for location. If you mess up the location or if you nail the location, it just makes the experience.
Carli Patton: Well, and you know what's funny is you probably wouldn't know if he was doing you, let me say it this way. What's funny about that is you don't know when they're doing a good job because when they're doing a good job at all, melds together into this multisensory experience that you just.
You love it. You're touched by the product of it, but you can't explain [01:01:00] why it meant so much to you. And that is film and television. But if you did a bad job, you would know immediately. Mm-hmm. Right. And so it's one of those humble, thankless jobs where everyone who's doing the big stuff knows who he is.
Yeah. And wants him on the, on the job because he's gonna do excellent. But to us, pedestrians that had no idea, like, we don't know. And that means he's doing his job well.
Spencer Patton: Yeah.
