Garún has spent 35 years keeping film sets on schedule

Garún has worked in the film industry for 35 years, managing extras and production schedules on projects ranging from commercials to international films, according to mbl.is.

Earlier this summer, on a sunny day far from the capital, an mbl.is journalist met Garún while working as an extra in a foreign film. The production cannot be discussed in further detail because of a confidentiality agreement.

Garún managed an army of extras with remarkable efficiency and warmth, and everything went smoothly. Even the weather was ideal, which is not always the case in filmmaking. The experience gave the journalist a brief glimpse into film production and prompted a wider conversation with Garún about the industry she has known inside out for 35 years.

No two days are alike

Garún was 15 when she first worked on a film set during the production of Stuttur Frakki. After that, she went to high school while working alongside her studies.

“Back then, there were no steady film projects under way; perhaps one a year. But around that time, a lot of commercials began to be produced, and when I was 18 or 19, foreign advertising crews started coming here to film. We lived somewhat off that,” she says.

Garún says she has worked on sets for commercials featuring almost every car brand in the world. At the time, Iceland was nearly empty, making it possible to film on Route 1 for hours without a single car appearing. She usually worked as a “runner”.

“Today, I would call myself an assistant director. That does not mean being the director’s assistant exactly. Rather, you are the production manager who represents the producer on set, looks after the schedule and staff, and prepares the organisation in cooperation with the director and cinematographer,” she says.

“By the time I was 18, I was already working on commercials, music videos and reality shows such as The Amazing Race. It is incredibly varied work, and no two days are alike. It is seasonal work and, in a way, seafaring on land.”

“Iceland is such a diva”

Garún says job security is limited because she works as a contractor, although there are usually plenty of projects.

“I have worked on three Star Wars films, Star Trek, James Bond, Tranformers and Ódysseifur, to name a few. My CV is nine pages long in the smallest font. That is not because I am so good, but because Iceland is so beautiful and because so many highly skilled professionals live here. There are top-class people in every position. But Iceland can be difficult for filmmakers because we have something called weather. Iceland is such a diva,” she says.

Filming often takes place on glaciers in all kinds of weather.

“I will not tell you how many times I have been on glaciers with foreign film crews who are having a nervous breakdown because it is cloudy and the glacier is grey and dirty. They have spent hundreds of millions and the weather is terrible. Then they despair and want to move the shoot or go somewhere else and film different scenes first.

“I tell them to wait a little. Iceland is just waking up and on its way to having its make-up done. Then we wait a little, and suddenly a patch of blue sky appears and everyone is happy. But of course, sometimes Iceland is in a bad mood and wants to be in fog.

“This is what Icelandic filmmakers deal with every day, which is why we are incredibly quick to move and change everything. We can move an entire base camp in five hours, perhaps 30 cars and motorhomes, along with all the extras.”