The Final Push.

Mississippi.

Its a delta. The whole place was a swampy river before they hemmed the river in. Now its just a huge delta.

Last night our flight was canceled from Memphis so we had to hire another car and drive the three hour trip the puddle jumper would have done in 25 minutes. The car hire was over double the rate we would have paid in loco too. A grand down due to the wind. Wonderful.

My old friend Andy once said to me the only way to produce a big shoot abroad is to try and save as much money as possible before you leave, by doing the very best deals possible and then, once you're on the ground, you just have to roll with the changes and buy your way out of everything and anything that fate throws your way.

He's right. Shit happens. Money cleans it up.

The good news is that the film we have shot today is some of the coolest and most beautiful stuff you will ever see. My client will weep, or at least pay their bill!

We wrap the gig tomorrow, the final push of a nine day monster job through seven states costing god knows how much. I'm very relieved and proud of what my two guys and I have achieved. We've been plagued by illness, bad luck, faulty sat navs and ignorant fools but also had a very fine time seeing new places, meeting very cool and interesting people and kicking the ball pretty hard when we got the chance.

I'll look back at this gig with a grin.

Roll on the next one.

Fatigue.

Its great to see new places, but no matter who you are with or where you are eventually fatigue sinks in and you start to long for what you cant have.

I'm not really complaining though, because I'm lucky enough to do something I love for a living.

Its typical too that on the last day we are spending in New Jersey we find the coolest bar with a roasting open fire and great food. We've been eating in crappy chain store restaurants all week and we find this place NOW!

Bollocks.

New York didn't fail to impress by the way. My old chum Alex and I got to the top of the Rockefeller tower on Sunday as the crimson sun sank beneath the New Jersey horizon. Words do not come close to describe what it looked like. The picture below should do a better job.

Its chances to find moments like these that make the fatigue disappear - like tears in rain, as a certain famous replicant once said.

We finish here Tuesday and head to Mississippi on Wednesday.

Talk about chalk and cheese...

Ice Wikis & NYC.

Its Saturday today.

The frost was so hard last night a close up look at the roof of our car revealed what looked like a mini snow forest. The whole of this pretty little town in New Jersey was white with frost. The morning sun reflecting off the ice everywhere I looked.

Its properly cold. Not chilly like it is in the UK, but really really cold. We’re talking about 20 -22 F, which is about minus 5. If you stand around outside the cold sinks through your coat into your shoulders. Lovely!

This morning we are shooting a film about wikis. Like the world famous ‘wikipedia’ where people from all over the planet upload interesting topics and information to the global Wikipedia, but this one is specifically designed for my favourite client. Its really clever, but I cant tell you anything about it. I.P. etc.

Later on we are heading into NYC. In my opinion its the coolest city in the world. It’s a fantastic place. I’m feeling like a little kid at Christmas (appropriate as its December) at the prospect of two days in the city. Round here people never use New Yorks’ name, they just call it “the city”. There’s no other ’city’ to compete, so it needs no name.

Bring it on.

The Wonder of America.

So I find myself once again in the arms of America. Its a great place - with lots of not so great places in between. We have been lost in the bowels of New Jersey for a few days and are now in DC for one night before heading back up the turnpike to NYC. I dont know why America has an economic crisis. The entire population is obsessed with malls. The first thing, some, (too many!) people say to you is "Where are you staying?" to which you reply 'a dump in the middle of nowhere beside a non stop highway that has a make your own trans fat waffle counter masquerading as a breakfast buffet' and they then say "oh great, thats right down the road from the xyz Mall - you'll like it there, they have a restaurant on the second floor selling reheated frozen prawns".

Great. Bloody great. But you have to go there because there's absolutely nothing else to do and nowhere else to go. There's loads of folk buying shite they dont need eating food that will kill them. Of course not everyone we meet says that...some people we meet are captivating and charming and far more intelligent than us!

This time I'm here with two very talented an friends who are also cinematographers, Alex & Andy. This is good for many reasons, one, that I can relax about the film we are here to make being fantastic and two, I have the pleasure of having the complete piss taken out of me for the slightest misdimeanor. I should also say that this pleasure is shared three ways.

We had breakfast today in Bethlehem. No shit. Bethlehem. In fact we agreed that "Breakfast in Bethlehem" would be a good name for a rock band. The town has the biggest steel works I've ever seen. It was actually bloody impressive. Check out the picture.



Anyway, with about 8 hours sleep in the last 60 I'm off to my kip. Sleep well. ZZZZZZZZzzzzzz


xxx

The Magic of Africa

From time to time I get the chance to fly around Europe, USA and sometimes the rest of the world directing films for clients, whether ads or corporates or documentaries. Recently I found myself in Cape town and then Pretoria with my old friend and cameraman Alex Scaglia.

Neither of us had ever been to Africa before, and I know SA is 'different' but its still Africa. We were filled with horror stories of car jacking, folk cutting your hand off to get your watch, general advice about what not to wear, what not to do, where not to go etc. It seemed to me that the biggest problem South Africa has is its reputation.

We were treated with huge respect, sincerity and generosity by everyone we met. It was a truly surprising reaction that neither of us expected and one that has stayed with me since I returned to London. There is of course some wise words in the advice of those who know the place better than us, especially with regard to where not to go at night etc but such advice is as relevant in London, Edinburgh, Paris and New York as it is in Cape Town or Pretoria.

The difference is that people talk about those other cities in such glowing terms, whereas people do not give South Africas major cities the same plaudits. They should, because we had a great time in Cape Town & Pretoria, every bit as much fun as I've had in other big cities (NYC aside perhaps).

The country is another matter entirely.

It is a magical, beautiful and truly inspiring country and although it still has its problems, and is plagued by corruption and more than its fair share of violence, its a stunningly beautiful place to see. It wont cost the earth to visit and it will linger in your soul long after you return home. We were lucky enough to handle Lion cubs at one sanctuary and watch Rhino and Elephants living their lives in the wild elsewhere. The landscape is epic, the earth full of iron ore, it glows red in the sun, and the light that falls across the land makes the entire place feel like its been brushed with gold.

People that have been open minded enough to ignore the negative image of many African countries talk about visiting them changing your life. Even after one trip I understand now what they mean. I want to see Kenya now, then maybe the Congo. The list of places to visit where someone wont pull an AK47 on you is endless. I'm compiling mine now.