“My dad was always pointing out lesser-known films that he liked and making sure we watched them with him,” Cayman said, “He built my first movie library for reference and it’s been growing ever since.”
Many years, six states, and eight relocations later, Cayman settled in Savannah as a Locations Manager. And he’s stayed busy for the last four years.
First introduced to Savannah during his time at Fort Stewart Army Base, Cayman quickly knew there was something special about the city. Once out of the Army around 2003, he wanted to stick around and learn more about the film industry.
What better place to do that than Savannah College of Art & Design?
With a wife and young child, Cayman needed steady work to pay the bill. As a student, he and a friend found opportunity launching a production company doing commercial and marketing shoots around town.
After graduating in 2007, the movie scene in southeast Georgia was booming and things couldn’t be better. And then came the recession, and Cayman decided, like many others, to move west for work.
“I worked for MTV for a while, Food Network, a bunch of non-union stuff, just trying to get my foot in the door of the mainstream industry,” he said. But one year into his new adventure, life and family called Cayman back east to a small town in Virginia with zero film industry. A Master’s in Special Education and a job teaching passed the time there until 2015 when the phone rang.
On the other end of that phone was Cayman’s old friend from Savannah calling to tell him the film business was back and booming in Georgia and he needed a partner. That was enough to convince Cayman. He packed up and was heading to Savannah on a mission.
“The last few years have been the golden years for Savannah film,” he says.
Thanks to a tight-knit locations community in Savannah, and film community as a whole there, these ‘Golden Years’ have kept Cayman busy. He’s worked on about 10 projects during that time, including films such as “The Poison Rose” and “Mara.” A favorite project was “Peanut Butter Falcon,” where Cayman worked with Jody Schiesser, one of his biggest supporters in the industry.
Besides working hard as a locations manger and starting his own company Cayman has also joined the Teamsters Local Union and been welcomed into the Locations Mangers Guild International.
“It’s been a journey that’s for sure, but the production industry led me hear and I’m happy for that.”