NYWIFT Blog

By Daryl Bright Clay

Welcome to NYWIFT, Lindsey Lambert! 

Lindsey is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker originally from Austin, Texas. She works as a location scout for film and television in the NYC area, currently on Law & Order: Organized Crime.

After receiving her Master’s Degree in Human Rights from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in the spring of 2022, she began directing and producing her debut feature documentary Teaching Social Studies about public school education and the anti-critical race theory laws in Texas. It is currently in production and she hopes the film will be completed by the summer of 2025.

In our interview, she discusses her decision to go back to school, her work on the new Amazon Prime series Étoile, how to educate young people about our challenging history, and the most memorable location she’s scouted to date. 

(photo courtesy of Lindsey Lambert)

First, tell us, what inspired you to pursue a career in the entertainment industry and how did your education prepare you for your current role?

I decided to pursue a career in the entertainment industry because movies and TV have deeply impacted aspects of my life; they have taught me things, comforted and inspired me through the toughest of times of my life.

I received my undergraduate degree in English with a minor in TV/Radio/Film from the University of Texas at Austin in 2010. I met several of my closest friends through that program and interned on the Warner Brothers lot, reading scripts and providing coverage for executives. It was there that I realized that out of the two major film industry hubs that NYC was the place for me to build a career and begin my adult life.

Before my final choice of major I had switched several times (pre-law, philosophy, government) wanting a career where I could play a part in making a difference in the world. I wasn’t built to work out of an office, and through internships realized that those lines of work could never make me as happy as the turbulent freedom of a film freelancer. 

I received a real-life, on-set education on major film and TV sets such as Orange is the New Black as a production assistant soon after moving to NYC. I decided that I wanted to work in locations after having tried camera, office, and wardrobe assisting for various jobs.

When the industry shut down in 2020, I was forced to confront internal questions about what I really wanted, like many others reconsidering my career path. Life is short and unpredictable, so what do I really want? Am I doing enough to make a positive impact on the world?

I then decided to apply to graduate schools and was accepted to John Jay to receive a master’s degree in Human Rights. It felt like a huge risk but was of the best and most personal decisions I have ever made, especially as this was ten years after receiving my bachelor’s degree. I felt the need to continue my education and shift my trajectory, meeting incredible students and professors and practicing my writing skills. For the first time in a long time, I had the opportunity to think about worldwide issues and form an informed and educated opinion which would be shared and evaluated by my professors and peers.

After working behind the scenes in TV and film I would not have nearly the amount of confidence I have now as a writer, director and producer.

What brought you to NYWIFT?

I joined NYWIFT because I wanted to feel more connected to and get to know more female filmmakers. I have been to several NYWIFT events in the past few months and have met some wonderful and inspiring people that I have learned from and been able to speak frankly about creating and financing my documentary.

I have found it to be a fun and supportive group of women and I hope to meet many more members in the months/years to come!

You are currently working on the first season of Amazon Prime’s Etoile as a location scout. Tell us about your journey to landing this project. Can you describe a particularly memorable location you discovered and how it contributed to this project?

I’ve been working as a location scout since 2019 and have made fantastic connections with many managers along the way as a freelancer. One of my first location scouting jobs was with my manager on Etoile on the HBO show Divorce starring Sarah Jessica Parker. We have worked together several other times since including on the fifth and final season of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. The same creators and showrunners came back for Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino’s new show Etoile about the high-stakes world of professional ballet.

The most memorable location that I have scouted for would have to be an Israeli kibbutz for a flash forward moment in The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. In the episode, Midge takes a helicopter to visit her son on a cabbage farm on a kibbutz. There were several mediating factors in the selection of this location in commutable from NYC. The location had to be within “the zone” (if you’re a locations person, you know). It needed to be close enough in miles from Columbus Circle per union guidelines. It had to be a farm that could reasonably look like it existed in the 1980s, meaning no modern farming tools or techniques. It had to be in a town and on a film-friendly farm that could would allow us to land a helicopter (a feat in itself). Finally, the farm had to be flat enough for our special effects department to see distance in the image to add far-off desert mountains. That was the most challenging part of the search as farms within the zone tend not to have that enormous wide-open space without trees or hills obscuring the distance. I looked for months for this location, meeting just about every film-friendly farmer in the tri-state area.

I stumbled upon Chester Agricultural Center one day driving through Chester, NY and it miraculously had every parameter required for the location. It also made me feel proud that we would be funding their amazing non-profit organization.

Chester Agricultural Center doubles as an Israeli kibbutz in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (photo courtesy of Amazon)

Along with being a location scout, you are a documentary director and producer currently working on your first feature film on the Texas Public Education system. Can you tell us more about what led to your desire to work on this project and why?

I began this project in the fall of 2022 when I read that the Texas Board of Education was considering changing the usage of the word “slavery” to “indentured servitude” in their social studies curriculum. This pitted legislation against the “teaching” of critical race theory and calls from parents and students for diversity and inclusion in education against one another. I was outraged, but also curious about how my home state could publicly discuss further whitewashing a very bare-bones depiction of our collective past.

As Americans, historically we bury stories that are uncomfortable. I grew up in a world (Texas) where I was taught a very vanilla version of history in public school. How should we talk to the next generation about the past?

I want to focus on positive solutions and inspirational activism even more than the problems that necessitate them. So much of the time when talking about these vast subjects, equity, public education, institutionalized racism, viewers shut down and stop accessing their empathy. Being a Texan (and an American) is a multifaceted, complex, subjective thing and I hope that my approach would reflect that: a deep love and appreciation for my state alongside a critical lens to the way it has been managed and suggestions about ways to improve it.

I’m personally passionate about public education because I think that a decent education is the cornerstone of democracy, and should not only be available to children with affluent parents who can send them to private schools. I was educated in public schools through elementary, middle, and high schools as well as the University of Texas at Austin. Growing up my home life could be really chaotic; school was a refuge. My outlook on life and sense of community was formed thanks to the kind, encouraging educators I was lucky enough to learn from along the way.

Key art from Lindsey’s film (image courtesy of Lindsey Lambert)

How has your experience as a location scout influenced your approach to directing? Are there specific lessons or insights from scouting that you apply to your work behind the camera?

This is such a wonderful question! Scouting has absolutely influenced my approach to directing, in that because of scouting I have had the opportunity to interact with an enormous range of people I might never have had the chance to meet or speak to. I am a very introverted person by nature and scouting has opened me up to being curious not only about places, their histories and aesthetics, but also the people who own them, work in them, live in them, and are impacted by them. People I get to talk to are my favorite part of being a location scout and some have even become friends.

I’ve taken these lessons and skill sets from scouting to the set that I am in charge of when I direct. Interviewing someone for a documentary is an intimate experience that I would struggle with more if I didn’t tap into my curiosity about the person in front of me. I also know how abusive set culture can be from first-hand experience and have found it fulfilling to be able to be the person in charge of setting the tone and treating people with fairness and respect, as well as fair compensation. The subject of my documentary can be dark and deeply uncomfortable, but in running my set the way I wish all sets could be run, it has been emotionally comfortable, respectful, and even fun! 

How do you balance your career as a location scout with your own projects as a director and producer? What strategies do you use to manage your time and creativity effectively?

I have been fortunate to have had supportive managers/bosses in going after my creative pursuits. I scouted full time when I got my master’s degree in a year and a half from John Jay in Human Rights. Filming for my documentary has taken place between freelancing jobs. Work behind the scenes for the documentary (emails, phone calls, networking etc.) has had to balance with the needs of my location scouting.

If I had any strategy, it would be full and transparent communication with the person you are reporting to, and keeping literal track of your time. For me, that was a way to put things into perspective that I learned from scouting during the day and getting my master’s degree at night. I would even set a stopwatch while doing tasks for either and recording it so I could see if and why anything started to seem out of balance. I’ve tried to be as organized as humanly possible for both, and also believe that when you are passionate and dedicated to multiple things that enthusiasm feeds back and forth between tasks, fueling what can sometimes feel impossible.

One of the biggest perks of location scouting also is the freedom to determine your day-to-day schedule depending on the needs of the project. As long as you are giving your all and turning in great results, you can have the time to pursue your passions also have a life.

Still from When They See Us (courtesy of Netflix)

What has been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on, and why?

There are two major projects that changed my life and were truly an honor to have worked on: When They See Us and She Said. 

I was a location coordinator on When They See Us. Written and directed by Ava Duvernay, When They See Us is the story of the wrongly convicted Central Park Five depicting the horrific impacts on not only the kids themselves but their families. It was phenomenal to be able to contribute to the project, working as the coordinator to submit permits to the Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment and coordinate requests with facilities like the Department of Transportation, the Fire Department and the Movie and TV unit of the NYPD. Seeing the finished product was emotionally heartbreaking and creatively inspiring to me, the way Ava runs her sets and very artistically and sensitively conveyed this important story.

I was a location scout and later assistant location manager for the New York Times location of She Said, atarring Carey Mulligan, She Said tells the story of the two New York Times reporters [past NYWIFT Muse Honorees Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey] who broke the story on the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandals. As a survivor of assault myself, it was both triggering and empowering at times to contribute in any way to this story that exponentially influenced the #MeToo movement.

We filmed in the actual New York Times offices in part because the pandemic left major portions of the offices unused and available. It was almost like a time capsule into March 2020, calendars and personal effects of reporters left in place with a thin layer of dust. I was so proud of the way the film turned out and the role I played being a custodian and protector of the real New York Times offices we were by circumstances permitted to film in, adding an important layer of authenticity essential to the film.

Andre Braugher, Patricia Clarkson, Zoe Kazan, and Carey Mulligan in She Said (2022)

What advice would you give to someone interested in pursuing a career in location scouting?

If someone is interested in location scouting I would say, reach out to me! Ask me any questions, look at my photos, hear my (many, many) stories, and if I’m working and able, I would love to invite them to tag along and see what the process is like firsthand. It is a fun free and creative niche in the film industry I happened to fall into.

I would also highly encourage apprenticing/interning/assisting in other departments if you want to be a location scout. My diverse experience trying different departments informed my perspective on the industry and first hand knowledge of the challenges each department faces and the role I can play as a scout in alleviating that with my choices (ie easy load in, space constraints, support space, etc). 

Connect with Lindsey Lambert on LinkedIn. and follow her on Instagram at @LambertLindsey.