Ever wonder who finds the perfect road, office, or field for a commercial? Or the penthouses in Succession, the gritty alleys on Law & Order, or the iconic Joker stairs? That’s the work of a location scout!

A location scout takes a script, envisions the scene, and tracks down the ideal spot to bring it to life. They pitch options to the location manager, production designer, and director, shaping the production’s visual world.

A deep knowledge of New York City’s diverse neighborhoods, a sharp eye, and a curious mind go a long way in this job. With days spent capturing hundreds of images, it’s all about finding the perfect look.

The location scout is just one part of the location department. Theatrical Teamsters Local 817 (local817.com) represents a full team of location professionals, including the assistant location manager, location coordinator, and location assistant.

This team works with the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment (www.nyc.gov/site/mome/) to ensure neighborhoods are respected. Productions boost local economies—crews eat at restaurants, buy supplies, and rent spaces for extras.

Thankfully, NYC remains production-friendly, ensuring a bright future for ongoing and new projects. Here are some examples of Location Scouts at work across NYC!

 

About the Artists

John Accardo is a New York-based photographer and location scout with a passion for storytelling through images. Born and raised in Brooklyn, his journey with photography began as a child when he first picked up his father’s Minolta SLR, sparking a lifelong fascination with capturing the world through a lens. That passion led him to earning a bachelor’s degree in graphic art at Queens College.

His work is defined by a keen eye for composition and a belief that beauty can be found in anything—from the unexpected to the everyday moments that often go unnoticed. Whether scouting locations or taking portraits, he strives to tell compelling visual stories that resonate with viewers.

An active member of Theatrical Teamsters Local 817, John helped to organize the film and television production Locations Department workers to join one of the leading unions in the industry, advocating for fair labor rights and industry standards.

As an avid traveler, John finds inspiration in new places and cultures, always seeking fresh perspectives for his work. He lives with his family, dog, and two cats on Long Island.

Instagram: @AccardoProductions

Jeri Cohen is a native New Yorker whose diverse background enriches her accomplished career in the film industry. The daughter of an iron and steel worker and a horse breeder, she was a two-sport collegiate athlete and is a proud member of Theatrical Teamsters Local 817. She raised her family in Brooklyn and now resides in the Western Catskills.

Before entering film, Cohen earned a master’s degree in psychology and worked as an art therapist specializing in the treatment of schizophrenia—a career that honed the emotional insight and interpersonal skills that now inform her work in production. Her transition to the film industry began in the late 1990s on Law & Order, and over the past two decades, she has become a highly sought-after location scout, known for her deep knowledge of New York City and her intuitive ability to translate a director’s vision into compelling cinematic environments.

Her original dramatic series, Iron and Steel, uses the World Trade Center as a central location, offering an intimate perspective on the long emotional shadow cast by the events of September 11th. With grounded characters and authentic settings, the series honors the blue-collar New York experience, weaving personal and collective memory into a poignant urban narrative.

@TheDailyScout

Miguel A. Fernandez has been a member of Theatrical Teamsters Local 817 since 2017, focusing on location scouting—a vocation that allows him to engage in his passions for exploration and visual storytelling.

He was born in Puerto Rico, where he lived until a visit to New York City captivated him, leading him to stay, attend high school in Queens, and later pursue higher education at the Rhode Island School of Design. His college years exposed him to a wide range of artistic mediums and disciplines, an experience that, combined with the cultural diversity of New York, shaped his perspective and reinforced his belief that people are part of a global community, not confined to a single place.

This outlook informs his work, allowing him to see the world from multiple perspectives and inspiring his deep appreciation for it—an admiration he strives to capture through photography. Currently, he divides his time between Pennsylvania and New York City, but what shapes him most today is his role as father to his two children.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mig21.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1MjMz2Pxhj/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Website: https://www.youtube.com/@Nysee1

Megan Foerster is a seasoned location scout based out of New York, NY. Her work spans a variety of film and television projects, including The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Girls, Billions, and Elementary. She has worked with a variety of directors, such as Sofia Coppola, Darren Aronofsky, and David Chase, helping bring their vision and story to life on the screen.

As a scout, she is responsible for finding the locations that are the perfect visual match for the script. Her photographic work comes entirely from moments during the process of scouting a location where hundreds of shots are taken to document and map out the look of a setting or space. Joy comes in capturing an image during those fleeting moments when the lighting or symmetry is just right, or when an unexpected object evokes a certain feeling.

She is a proud member of both the Location Manager’s Guild International and Theatrical Teamsters Local 817, and is excited to expand her photography and work abroad in the UK, Europe, and Africa.

David Graham has been scouting and photographing the world for 30 years. As a location scout, he serves as the eyes of the director, finding spaces in which to create a film or advertisement. He has had the pleasure of working with eminent directors and photographers, including Patrick Demarchelier, Steven Klein, Ang Lee, Peter Lindbergh, Michael Mann, Todd Haynes, and Steven Spielberg.

In 2017, he published his first book with renowned German publisher Kehrer Verlag, The Last Car, a volume of photographs documenting gay street life in Mexico City and its vast subterranean subway network.

Location scouting is central to his recent book, Locations From a Movie I Never Made (2024), a capstone to his career. The images were created during his scouting assignments and travels as he developed his own photographic style—one that merges the formal eye of a location scout with the connective curiosity of a street photographer, searching for a unique sense of place. While capturing spaces as potential backgrounds, reality began to resemble the staged; a narrative ready to be told, where passersby entered his frame as if they were characters about to appear in his own untold story.

Instagram: @davidmarvin_instagraham  |  Website: davidgrahamlocations.com

Aaron Hurvitz is perhaps best known for scouting the Joker steps—a location which became a cultural phenomenon and now attracts tourists to the Bronx from all over the world. He’s worked with some of Hollywood’s premier directors, including (but not limited to) Steven Spielberg (West Side Story), Martin Scorsese (The Irishman and Killer Flowers of the Flower Moon), Todd Philips (Joker & Joker: Folie à Deux), James Mangold (Indiana Jones 5 and A Complete Unknown), and Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer).

In his 20-year career, Aaron has worked on everything from small independent films to top-budget franchise films, and he’s lent his expertise to productions across the United States as well as internationally.

Aaron is also an award-winning photographer who has showcased and sold his work in New York, New Jersey, San Francisco, Minnesota, and Spain.

Website: aaron-hurvitz.com  |  Instagram: @captain_a_ron  |  Facebook: Aaron Hurvitz

Malaika Johnson was born and raised in South Jamaica, Queens. She graduated from Queens College with a BA in Media Studies and a minor in Music Theory. She has worked in film and television in the tri-state area as a location scout and assistant location manager for over 20 years, with credits including Avengers, The Dark Knight Rises, and Boardwalk Empire, among others. She has a passion for the art of filmmaking and loves to share it with people.

Jason Kouzikas , originally from the Downriver region of Detroit, Michigan, has worked in the New York film and television industry for thirteen years. Jason quickly found his career home in the locations department, where he has worked in various positions for eleven years, with the last seven years focused specifically on location scouting. He appreciates the challenge of helping establish the look and tone of a film or show. Beyond typical scout photos showcasing a space, he enjoys finding details to highlight the personality of a location, as well as photographing intricate light studies to provide a sense of the total environment and ambience. His love of photography was instilled by his grandfather, an avid hobbyist photographer, whose vintage cameras and photo manuals Jason still cherishes.

Website: kouzikas.com

Joseph E. Mennella, a Brooklyn-born New Yorker, has over 30 years of experience in film, television, editorial, and still photography production. He has worked as a location manager, location scout, and photographer, bringing his expertise to a wide range of visual storytelling projects.

He brings a unique visual perspective that combines an eye for practical, accurate representation as well as a visual aesthetic that lends itself to heightened realism and depth. His work is a culmination of years of working with photography as well as an eye for dramatic immersion and thoughtful representation.

Always striving to push the boundaries of realism and imagination in photographing exteriors, interiors, and structures, his work imbues the viewer with the sense of being both within and a part of the images he produces.

Entirely self-taught, he is currently looking forward to greater challenges in the realm of architectural- and design-based photography while remaining true to his roots in a cinematic style that is both a unique and fresh approach to the genre.

Rik Nagel, photographer and location scout, has navigated New York City’s contradictions—from glittering penthouses to shadowed subway tunnels—uncovering beauty in its layers for over two decades. His work has framed scenes for the likes of Beyoncé and Martin Scorsese, but his personal photography thrives in the unscripted: a fleeting shaft of light in an alley, the quiet choreography of everyday New Yorkers. His images don’t capture the postcard version of NYC; they reveal the city’s pulse, the moments most people hurry past in the hustle and noise. For his current project, America Hindsight 2020, Rik traveled to all lower 48 states during the 2020 pandemic, photographing and interviewing people as history unfolded. The goal was to be the one person to witness it all firsthand. Educated at Carnegie Mellon University, he moved to the East Village in 1993 and fell in love with NYC.

Website: riknagel.com  |  Instagram: @riktree  |  Tiktok: @riknagel

Eric Papa is a filmmaker, photographer, and location scout living in New York City. He has collaborated on over 60 feature films and television projects and while doing so has wandered and explored countless miles of “The City’s” streets and landscapes. A keen observer of the world around him, with an insatiable curiosity for discovering the hidden stories within our world, his attention is often drawn to the often overlooked details and subtle rhythms of daily life unfolding amidst the bustle of urban environments. These fleeting moments of quiet beauty often inspire his cinematic work, transforming the ordinary into extraordinary visual narratives… beautiful, still moments in a moving life. His approach is guided by the belief that, “Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it,” seeking to capture the unseen in a way that resonates with audiences.

Instagram: e_papawashere  |  website: eric-papa.com

Ivano Pulito, with profound influences from growing up in an Italian restaurant in New York City, dedicates himself to pursuing the arts. In fact, he is a Master of Arts… and not just the culinary one. He received his MFA from the American Film Institute.

Prior to attending the AFI Conservatory, Ivano did the opposite of birds and migrated north for the winter to study in Maine. He received a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College. After college, Ivano moved back to his natural habitat of New York City where he spent three years as an actor in the resident company downtown at The Flea Theater.

Since graduating from the AFI Conservatory, Ivano has worked in various departments across film and television production. His roles have ranged from a stint as a PA and accounting clerk, to development assistant, to EP/showrunner assistant for Scott Hornbacher (Mad Men) and Blair Breard (Better Things). Most recently, Ivano gathered experience working in the locations department on several acclaimed projects filming in New York City, including Ripley, Succession, Ghostbusters, and the upcoming feature film The Bride! written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Last year, he wrote and directed his first short film, One Star.

Instagram: @ipulito

Maya Reid is a location scout for film and television with a background in writing and photography. She has scouted projects such as Netflix’s When They See Us, Inventing Anna, and HBO’s Succession, among others. She loves helping to build the worlds that audiences see onscreen. When not researching or out exploring with her camera, she is usually on the lookout for great oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in NYC. More of her work can be found at mayareid.smugmug.com.

Vincent R Taylor is a proud member of Theatrical Teamsters Local 817 and the Directors Guild of America. His extensive experience spans across various notable projects including films, like Above the Rim, and television series, including Law and Order, Law and Order SVU, the better sister, and Vinyl. Vincent’s contributions have enriched these projects, reflecting his dedication and passion for the craft.

Jeff Vari is a Brooklyn-based photographer and location scout working in television and film. He began his career in the industry as a location assistant on the Law & Order franchise in 2005. He parlayed that experience—along with his love of photography, urban exploration, and film—into his current role as a Theatrical Teamsters Local 817 scout. He is proud to represent the union and contribute to the creative direction of productions for HBO, Netflix, Warner Bros., Amazon, A24, FX, NBC, and others.

Instagram: @jvscoutingnyc  |  Website: jeffvariphotography.com

Thomas Whidden is a Brooklyn-based Teamster, artist, activist, and location scout for film and television. Most of his days are spent researching and photographing potential film locations for some of your favorite programming. Every kind of home you can think of, he’s photographed it. Anything from high end office spaces and government buildings to the most cinematic docks and diners of NYC, a scout knows where to find it.

Working as a location scout has given him a unique perspective on the world we all occupy through his exclusive access to space across the spectrum of wealth and power. In addition to his photography career, Thomas is the vocalist and drummer for LOCATIONS, a genre-bending alt-rock band comprised entirely of locations scouts.

Website: https://www.locationstheband.com/  |  Instagram: @Locationstheband

Seen Before the Scene: A Location Scout’s View

Featuring: Various Artists

Curated by: Sarah Crofts Malaika Johnson Dan Welch

Locations

View Location Details Brooklyn Bridge Park – Emily Warren Roebling Plaza

1 Water St
Brooklyn, NY 11201

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This location is part of Brooklyn Bridge Park
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The views and opinions expressed in this exhibit are those of the exhibition artists and partners and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Photoville or any other participants and partners of the Photoville Festival.

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