What Is a Fixer?
Channel 5, Gregg Wallace’s Fun Weekends (2020)
Gregg gets off a ferry boat on the Asian port of Kadıköy.
Let’s Say You’re:
- filming the world’s highest rating car show and you need access to the Avrasya Tunnel in Istanbul
- a documentary maker and you need to shoot the Canakkale Bridge with a drone
- an award winning director headed to the small seaside town of Assos to shoot a film and you need everything in order.
How do you begin to organize every last thing from your office, thousands of miles away from location?
In the production industry we often need to tell a story in a foreign country. There is a different language to contend with but more importantly we need to operate within a totally alien set of rules, regulations, and customs. To navigate these unknown territories, a film crew needs reliable production services and a local guide.
This guide is what many in the film industry refer to as a fixer.
So What Exactly Does A Fixer Do?
A fixer is someone that arranges and manages everything and anything that an out-of-town crew needs to shoot their story.
National Geographic, Europe From Above (2020)
Our local crew on a remotely directed shoot in the Blacksea during the Rize tea harvest
- Setting up interviews. A fixer’s contacts book can provide access to otherwise unreachable contributors.
- Acquiring general filming permits and location permits as well as exclusive access to events and locations.
- Organizing the movement and accommodation of our on-screen talent and your crew as well as the safe transfer of your equipment.
How To Work With A Fixer
Turkish law requires you to hire a fixer for all filming. It is next to impossible to film or shoot any project without a local fixer in Turkey.
Hire your fixer at the start of a production
They are often involved from the very early stages of pre-production and scheduling all the way through to the edit and delivery. They know how to get all the ‘logistical ducks’ in a row to make a production run smoothly.
Fixers help you find, research and enrich your story
Good fixers are integral to television, film and journalism produced abroad. From the very start, they can contribute ideas and recommend experts or locations that really help you hone your story.
ITV, Joanna Lumley’s Silk Road (2018)
Joanna and the crew film the final scene of a beautiful highland shepherd story.
Keep in close communication with your fixer
Fixers in Turkey must not only have local ‘know-how’, but also in-depth knowledge of the film industry. One of the most important qualities a fixer must possess is the magic touch to get things done. They are efficient and bold negotiators, quick to react and very used to improvising.
The Role Of A Fixer In A Production
Often a fixer can also act as a production coordinator, local producer or line producer.
It is common for fixers to facilitate:
- Prep and shoot schedules
- Casting
- Location scouting
- Art department
- Makeup artists
- Wardrobe
- Stunts
- Kit hire (camera, lights, drones, jibs, generators)
- Accommodation for cast and crew
- Permits and contracts
- Vehicle hire
- Catering
An experienced fixer will have been exposed to an array of challenges throughout their career. No request from a client will faze us!
Fixers save you time and money
With a good knowledge of the country’s history and geography and an excellent contacts book, your fixer will know how to work most efficiently in Turkey. They can find you an experienced mountain guide, a local craftsman or a streetwise driver. They will know which underwater cameraman you need to film a plane wreck at the bottom of the Aegean Sea.
Fixers make sure the production runs smoothly and efficiently
The real skill of a fixer is to make everything run smoothly and yet remain almost invisible. They respond without fail to every last-minute idea change, location request or problem you encounter.
Fixers make things happen more quickly
Great Turkish fixers aren’t only knowledgeable about regional customs, they know most of the local authorities personally. They have in-depth knowledge and understanding of all the political processes in each region. In a highly bureaucratic country like Turkey, established relationships are the key to success.
Your fixer can secure special access for filming
They have strong working relationships with, for example, archaeological Site Directors and key officials at the Ministry of Culture.
- They can persuade a Museum Director to grant your production special access to areas closed to the public.
- They find the rooftop venues in Istanbul with the best views for GV’s and keep your location fees down to a minimum.
Channel 5, Eight Days that Made Rome (2017)
Bettany Hughes on a private rooftop in Galata with a panoramic Istanbul skyline.
Fixers Keep You Safe
Turkey is a vast country with 81 provinces. Fixers are always mindful of both national and local laws, as well as cultural norms.
What is true in a province in the East, may be very different in a province in the West. We protect crews and locals from cultural misunderstandings.
Excellent at liaising with police and local authorities, fixers are always working to keep your team and equipment safe.
Fixers Love Their Work
Red Bull, Istanbul Ultimate Race (2018)
The international crew meet to shoot a race between an F16 jet, Aston Martin, F1 car, Tesla and a Lamborghini.
Fixers are the unsung heroes behind the scenes. Behind almost everything that is shot overseas, there is a fixer that will have paved the way. They think ahead constantly, clearing your path for a smooth shoot or recce. They are an integral part of every foreign shoot. You cannot have an efficient and successful recce or shoot in Turkey without a fixer by your side.
Supporting, troubleshooting and accompanying you as your project takes shape – it is what we love to do!
Red Bull, Istanbul Ultimate Race (2018)
Esra, one of our wonderful fixers, enjoying a once in a lifetime opportunity behind the scenes during the shoot!
