Claire Thompson: On Location In Sydney

If you want to get to know Sydney, just ask someone involved in production. And if you really want to know Sydney, ask Claire Thompson.

The head of production at FINCH, Thompson has had years of experience traversing the city on location scouting jobs, catching sight of its under-heralded snatches of beauty.

She is also a passionate campaigner for sustainability in the industry. She was instrumental in connecting Green The Bid, an international operation that aims to move film production towards carbon neutrality, with a consortium of Australian production heads.

That compassion and radical empathy comes across on every job that she takes on — and her recent interview with Shots.

Designed to give a rundown of everything about Sydney as a shooting location, from its hidden secrets, to its downsides (Claire really doesn’t like the noonday sun), the interview is a masterclass in getting to know a place, and then what can happen when you point a camera at it.

Take, for instance, Thompson’s poetic answer about her perfect Sydney day.

“A spontaneous meandering day where my partner and I left the car at home, took the ferry across the harbour, did a three-hour hike along the coast only to finish up on a pier eating oysters, drinking champagne and having to call an Uber home that evening,” she told Shots.

Read the whole interview here.