Thailand Here I Come

 

I’m not 100% sure what time it is, but I THINK it’s 8am in Manila (in the Philippines).  My flight from LAX – Manila was 13.5 hours, and I guess I’ve been sitting at the International terminal in Manila for about 4 hours.  I’m not sure but I think I still have about 5 hours to go before landing in Bangkok.  It’s so strange to not have a strong grasp on time.  I am not wearing a watch (which was stupid in hindsight!) and I turned my phone off when I left LA so as not to incur international calling and data charges. So the world continues to spin around me but I can’t do anything but hope I don’t somehow accidentally miss my connecting flight (it’s more stressful then you think!).  I’ll get a phone in Bangkok but for now I’m in this weird alternate state of time and distance. 

The flight to Manila was actually quite pleasant. I didn’t even need or want to take an Ativan (I have had pretty severe anxiety attacks on planes in the past so always carry some just in case). In fact in many ways I didn’t want the flight to end. The food and service was really nice and there were tons of good movies – I watched Mud (Matthew McConaughey) and Monsters University. There was even an empty seat next to me so I had plenty of room. Flying international is such a totally different experience from the usual domestic madness.

But let me back up.  What brings me across the world to begin with?

Well it begins with a Craigslist ad on around July 24. I don’t even really remember why I was perusing craigslist that day. I was working on a temp legal gig in Downtown LA and must have been bored. I’m bored all the time on legal jobs, though, and when perusing job sites I would normally look for other legal gigs. For whatever reason, on this day I took a look through “crew gigs” and found an ad for a line producer.   Details are a bit hazy because I was working on the legal job full time and teaching at New York Film Academy (NYFA) every night of the week.  But I met with the producer over the phone and we seemed to hit it off, so the following week I went in for an interview and got offered the job that afternoon.  Honestly, the only question in my mind was “what about Diggie”? As we all know I am kind of obsessed with my dog and had a hard time even contemplating being separated from him for 2 months.  But honestly I didn’t take any time at all to decide.  Honestly I knew in my gut that I would go. I do love to travel but haven’t done so in many years due to financial and other reasons, so this was the perfect opportunity.  I accepted the job and decided to look on the whole experience as an adventure.

Needless to say I’ve spent the past several weeks getting ready. Finding someone to rent my apartment, making arrangements for the dog, finishing up the semester at NYFA, making lists, getting shots (which is a whole other story), doubting my decision, getting a Thai work visa, having some anxiety, packing, getting scared/sad/excited/nervous, and downloading apps about Thailand onto my iPad. Finally, the day came for me to leave and I found myself more excited than scared.  So here I am, in Manila, wondering again what time it is and hoping I don’t miss my flight.

What awaits me in Thailand I’m not exactly sure.  There are several American crew members already in Bangkok (I couldn’t leave until September 7 due to my teaching commitments) so those folks have been location scouting, casting and prepping. We start shooting on the 23^rd so I’ll have just under 2 weeks to prep.  I do know we’re staying at the Omni in Bangkok for at least the prep period and maybe the shoot.  We are possibly shooting about half the movie in Ayutthaya, which is about an hour or so north of Bangkok and is the old capital of Thailand. I’m actually looking forward to NOT being in Bangkok but we’ll see what the reality is.  The American crew consists of the Producer, me (Line Producer), Director, 1^st AD, Cinematographer and Production Designer, all of whom are already there, plus a Sound  Mixer and Visual Effects guy who will come as we get closer to production, plus our 3 lead actresses.  Everyone else will be hired by our Thai production company partner, none of whom I’ve met and most of whom won’t speak much if any English. 

I’ve done several horror movies in the past so under normal circumstances this would be business as usual, but since I have no control over hiring the crew or really even how the Thai company will spend their money, I have no idea what exactly my role will be. I have learned from past films to be flexible and to try not to take things personally when things go awry.  I will try to remember to Keep Calm and accept that I don’t have control the way I would in the US.  I don’t even know if I’ll have internet access J  So, now that I am actually on my way I feel that it is time to stop focusing on the TRIP and start focusing on the FILM.  But maybe give me a day or so to get over jet lag first. And maybe get a Thai massage.

Things I’m excited about: Seeing the elephants after the shoot is over, either in Ayuttaya or Chang Mai.

Things I’m scared about: Accidentally drinking the water or otherwise getting sick from food, water, rabid dog bites, malaria pills or other mysterious ailments.

Things I have no idea about: how the film experience will go.

Things I miss about home: My Diggie.  He KNEW I was leaving and was so sad and scared. He actually tried to climb in my carry on bag (I’m not even kidding about that).  It was the most pathetic sad sight and it was hard not to lose it completely.  I already got an email from my Dad saying that he is happy and wagging his tail, so hopefully he will have no concept of time and hopefully we’ll have a happy reunion in 7 weeks.

More to come once I arrive in the land of Pad Kee Mao. 

 

  Here we go!       

Fiesta Class, Baby!!!