
--
The Location Managers Guild International (LMGI) have named Hidden Empire Film Group's Roxanne Taylor, Deon Taylor and Robert F. Smith as recipients of the 2019 LMGI Humanitarian Award for their philanthropic reach across the globe. The 6th Annual LMGI Awards highlight international features, television and commercials in which the creative use of filming locations set the tone, enrich the character and enhance the narrative. Winners will be revealed during the formal ceremony on Saturday evening, September 21, 2019 at the Eli & Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica, California.
L-R: Robert F. Smith, Roxanne Taylor and Deon Taylor
The Hidden Empire Film Group's deep compassion and active engagement in raising awareness of human rights and social issues is a unique, and inspiring hands-on brand of activism, said LMGI VP and Awards Co-Chair Lori Balton. Their commitment to advancing social change, improving education, and promoting human dignity is seemingly endless. HEFG is about helping people find a voice and opportunities they would never otherwise have. They have an inspiring, hands-on brand of activism.
Through the creative vision of director Deon Taylor, Hidden Empire Film Group's 2018 film Traffik spread awareness on human trafficking. Producer Roxanne Taylor comments, It's happening everywhere to everyone, and minorities are 90% of the victims.
Like his wife, former pro basketball player Taylor overcame hardship. I have become who I am today simply because I was told no everywhere I went. I'm the product of no. Joining forces with Smith, the couple strives to help others climb beyond adversity.
They mostly fly under the radar, particularly producer and philanthropist Robert F. Smith who recently was lauded for erasing student debt for the Morehouse College class of 2019. He also has signed the Giving Pledge-an effort to address society's most pressing problems by inviting the world's wealthiest individuals to commit more than half their wealth to giving-back or charitable causes either during their lifetime or in their will.
Hidden Empire Film Group developed the Be Woke. Vote initiative - philanthropic social media at its finest, fueling activism around the upcoming US elections with prominent voices like Jamie Foxx and Chelsea Handler. This nonpartisan political series encourages voter registration and inspires young people to discuss political issues affecting our communities. Another endeavor is Roxanne Taylor's charitable non-profit CLIMB: Community, Learn, Inspire, Motivate, Build. CLIMB encourages young people to learn all that it takes to make better life choices and become a success within the community.
Their filmography includes: The Intruder, Traffik, Meet the Blacks and Supremacy; as well as the soon to be released Black & Blue, Fatale, and Meet the Blacks 2: The House Next Door.
As previously announced, acclaimed Oscar -nominated director Peter Weir (Witness, Dead Poets Society, The Truman Show, Master and Commander) will receive the Eva Monley Award, which recognizes and honors industry members who support the work of location professionals. Location Manager Michael J. Meehan (Dead Poets Society, The Perfect Storm, Pirates of the Caribbean, Master and Commander) will receive the 2019 LMGI Lifetime Achievement Award.
Committee Co-chairs of this year's LMGI Awards areLori Balton, Mike Fantasia and John Rakich. For information about the LMGI Awards, please visit www.locationmanagers.org or contact awards@locationmanagers.org. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact LMGIawards@ingledodd.com.
The LMGI Awards are proudly sponsored by:
GOLD LEVEL: NBC Universal Operations, Warner Bros. Studio Facilities;
SILVER LEVEL: Central Oregon Film Office, Film Fiji, Film Shasta/Redding Convention & Visitors Bureau, Film US Virgin Islands, Hollywood Locations, Los Angeles Center Studios, Pacific Production Services, Pacific Traffic Control, Production Security Services, Reel Waste & Recycling, San Diego Film Office;
BRONZE LEVEL: Baton Rouge Film Commission, Classic Tents & Events, County of Placer-Lake Tahoe Film Office, Fairplex, Great Dane Production Services, Harris Diversified, LLC, Humboldt-Del Norte Film Commission, ON-SET Disposals, Pinewood Atlanta Studios, Sofitel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, SouthScout Locations, Spacefy, Inc., The Location Portal;
MEDIA SPONSORS: Creative Handbook, FOCUS Show Ltd, The Hollywood Reporter, The Location Guide Ltd, SHOOT and Variety.
# # #
ABOUT THE LMGI:
The Location Managers Guild International / LMGI is a global organization of career location professionals in the motion picture, television, commercial and print production industries dedicated to upholding the highest ethical standards. Through local commitment and international strength, we support strong relationships between production and government agencies, businesses and communities. We promote awareness of our place in the entertainment industry as indispensable creative collaborators through a variety of innovative programs. The LMGI was founded in 2003 as a 501(c)(6), non-profit corporation as the LMGA and rebranded in 2016 to reflect its growing international membership. The LMGI is not a labor union, it does not represent Location Managers/Scouts in wage or working condition negotiations. For more information about the #LMGIawards, visit locationmanagers.org or follow the LMGI on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @The_LMGI.
###
Most recent headlines
12/12/2025
HUDSON, Mass. BitFire and Appear have struck a strategic partnership aimed at offering broadcasters, sports leagues and streaming platforms a faster, more flexi...
12/12/2025
The broadcast industry is evolving faster than ever. #IPWorkflows #remoteproduction, and next-gen audio systems are reshaping how teams design, deliver, and sca...
12/12/2025
LOS ANGELES The payroll and production accounting platform Wrapbook has announced the acquisition of Cinapse, a modern scheduling platform for film and televisi...
12/12/2025
DEHLI Ross Video has announced that it is expanding and restructuring its commercial and technical teams in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation...
12/12/2025
LONDON Following the success of its UK launch in January 2025, Rise AV, the global not-for-profit initiative dedicated to supporting and advancing women in the ...
12/12/2025
SAN FRANCISCO Ad-supported streaming service Tubi next week will launch Matter Casting, a new casting standard that will enable seamless mobile-to-TV viewing di...
12/12/2025
LOS ANGELES The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today said futurist Robert Tercek, creative technologist Jessie Hughes from Leonardo.AI and Emmy-winnin...
12/12/2025
Scripps Research team pioneers an efficient way to stereoselectively add fluorine to drug-like molecules A new method uses a novel catalyst and inexpensive fluo...
11/12/2025
Thomson and the Center for News, Technology and Innovation (CNTI) convened a two-day workshop in Sarajevo bringing together more than 35 journalists, editors, p...
11/12/2025
ESPN's Aims for Spectacular With Heisman Trophy ShowEvent firsts include 1080p HDR production airing on both national broadcast and cableBy Dan Daley, Audio...
11/12/2025
SVG Students To Watch: Frankie Patton, University of ColoradoThe 2025 grad is hitting the ground running as a PA on national broadcastsBy Brandon Costa, Directo...
11/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Technology Exhibits Preview, Part 3By SVG Staff
Thursday, December 11, 2025 - 7:24 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
The 2...
11/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: What Makes Gen Z, X, and Y Fans Tick? Dave Gavant of WSC Sports Go...
11/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: 5G, MXL, Spectrum Loss, and Outerspace on Tap for Tues...
11/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: David Levy, Turner Titan and Master of Al...
11/12/2025
SVG Launches Follow the Money' Podcast: Go Inside the Sports Media Biz with...
11/12/2025
A Deep Dive Inside Game Creek Video's Bird and Magic Mobile Units, Home to A...
11/12/2025
How Sound Effects for Monsters Funday Football' Emulated the Sonic Soul of ...
11/12/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: CSP Mobile Productions' Len Chase on Upgrading Tr...
11/12/2025
Having the right song soundtrack your moves can make all the difference when gam...
11/12/2025
It's been a big year for Taylor Swift. Her highly anticipated album The Life...
11/12/2025
New satellites for the SDA Tranche 1 Tracking program in production at L3Harris&...
11/12/2025
The Meadowlands system, a compact and mobile version of the CCS, uses ground-based radio frequency units to disrupt satellite communications....
11/12/2025
The L3Harris demonstration united tactical communications devices, counter-UAS c...
11/12/2025
Throughout 2025, L3Harris delivered innovative solutions to U.S. and allied warfighters across every domain.
With an unrelenting commitment to excellence, our...
11/12/2025
A Majority of the World's Population (51%) Identify As Soccer Fans
The 2025 MLB postseason notched 58.2 billion viewing minutes, up +24% from the prior y...
11/12/2025
WALTHAM, Mass. Video-over-IP software provider Zixi said Roi Sasson has joined the company as vice president, engineering....
11/12/2025
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. In a move that highlights the growing competition between broadcasters and CTV platforms for local advertising, LG Ad Solutions has announ...
11/12/2025
Boston Conservatory Earns Several Best of Accolades in 2025 Highlights include a faculty Grammy win, a seventh consecutive year on Playbill's list of co...
11/12/2025
RASTATT, Germany Lawo and the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) have partnered to launch the SMPTE ST 2110 Practical Lab, an immersive ...
11/12/2025
PHILADELPHIA Comcasts Xfinity operating brand has announced the launch of new national video plans with all-in pricing that the operator said will provide custo...
11/12/2025
After eight years of declines, MoffettNathansons new Cord Cutting Monitor for Q3 2025 shows that pay TV subscribers to linear TV packages rose by 303,000, the f...
11/12/2025
Happy Holidays from Berklee Enjoy this years holiday student-performance video.
December 10, 2025
By
Office of the President
Dear Berklee community,
As w...
11/12/2025
Unveiling what it describes as the most capable model series yet for professional knowledge work, OpenAI launched GPT-5.2 today. The model was trained and deplo...
11/12/2025
11 Dec 2025
VEON's Banglalink Receives Regulatory Approval to Launch Digita...
11/12/2025
Thursday 11 December 2025
Sky Arts paints a picture of Britain's beauty as ...
11/12/2025
Back to All News
Meet the Most Relatable Hero This Holiday: Main Trailer and Po...
11/12/2025
Back to All News
High Tides: Netflix Shares Release Date Final Season
Credit: Netflix / Thomas Nolf
Entertainment
11 December 2025
GlobalNetherlandsBelgium...
11/12/2025
Back to All News
Made in Texas: How Netflix House Dallas Is Leaving a Lasting Footprint
From left to right: America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerl...
11/12/2025
Back to All News
The Second Part of One Hundred Years of Solitude Will Arrive i...
11/12/2025
It's not every day we're asked to create a website for a classical musician!
So, we were delighted to help pianist Georgina Duncan as she embarks on he...
11/12/2025
The Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) today announced additional programm...
11/12/2025
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Irish golfing hero Shane Lowry...
11/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier ti...
11/12/2025
Hunters, saddle up - adventure awaits in the cloud.
Journey into the world of M...
11/12/2025
Sash is ready to samba as Fair City star Stephanie Kelly is revealed as the late...
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
10/12/2025
Sound-Alike Commercials Are Part of Sports' Soundtrack Johnny Cash for Coca-Cola is the latest in a long litany of sonic approximationsBy Dan Daley, Audio ...
10/12/2025
Immersive Sound Is Logical Next Step for Sports VenuesSound-systems suppliers are sanguine, but the market has its challengesBy Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednes...
10/12/2025
The Romans Built Arenas for Immersive Sound 2,000 Years AgoThe historic Arena of Nimes in France is still in use todayBy Dan Daley, Audio Editor
Wednesday, De...