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November 17, 2008

…..and none of the above. Life is being marginally better to me and the family. That’s not a sentence. Life is treating myself and my family well, of late. That’s better. Despite my wife being without a work permit and consequently very ratty and generally bad tempered, the sign of work filtering through the dusty, ash-filled horizon here in LA, has all of us a lot more upbeat than this time last week. A TAMPAX  commercial (should I really tag this?) in Cape Town for a couple of weeks has me wondering how the hell I’m going to deal with a 35 hour (with connections) flight to CT via London. I had no idea there was no direct flight. Most everyone when they hear we are going to South Africa to film naturally assume we are going there to take advantage of the beautiful locations, of which, obviously  there are plenty in abundance from one end of the country to the other, along with the equally wonderful weather, especially at this time of year. Well, this isn’t always the case and this particular job is a case in point. We are going there for other reasons, largely economic. In fact, totally economic. Because of the state of the Rand, due to President Mbeke doing a George Bush and opening his gob every now and then to let flow some invective or another about AIDS being curable….just take a shower….(actually, that one was courtesy of the next incumbent, due to take over the presidency of the country, but already president elect of the ANC, Mr. Jacob Zuma). But anyway, every time he does this, the Rand takes a hit like the Dollar in W’s case. So, nice and cheap…..up to 50% less (!!!) I’m lead to believe, than the USA, and that is still keeping it a union job, paying all the dues etc. Which is great as I get to do the job anyway and get my hours in toward eventual union membership and HEALTHCARE that I don’t have to pay for on the credit card!! Whoopee. So, ridiculous as it may sound, we are going to spend the whole shoot inside, in a studio, building and shooting about 7 sets over two to three weeks. I can hear this echo now as I realise that the whole reason I came here to the US a few months ago was due to the absorption by Eastern Europe of the high costs of production in London and UK generally. We had been going to Prague for some 10-15 years but then, although the UK productions were still travelling, the production designers and in some rare cases, the D.P.’s were being left behind in favour of the now, excellent crews in Prague, Romania, Croatia etc. etc     . I don’t think the same can happen here entirely, but it’s food for thought. Of course, Vancouver and Canada were similar cases some years back, but I know little about this and would welcome any and all feedback on this particular phenomenon.  I started this blog, only hours ago now….it takes a while you know, between dropping the kids off at school, hosing down the ashes from the weekend fires and other mundane tasks….with a spring in my step. That has been seriously eroded by the news that our tenants in London have decided to vacate our home, leaving our huge mortgage to the mercy, once more, of the Gods. Anybody on the look out for a 5 bed, large garden in Muswell Hill, North London….drop us a line.  

November 9, 2008

Well it has to be said these are amazing times for America and subsequently, I’m sure, the rest of the world. We, my family and I, couldn’t have chosen a more exciting time to decide to come and live here, but having said that of course economically, timing could have been better on the one hand and on the other, it’s pretty damn bad everywhere unless you happen to live in Finland. Why Finland….? Nothing to do with economics of which I know little, it just sounds to me like a forgotten part of the planet that’s not only cold and white, but just doesn’t really show up much on the world stage. Except when your agent sends you a script set in Finland during the rule of the Romanoffs about some geyser of whom I have never heard of, Mannerheim. Suddenly, that part of the world looks more interesting and certainly, after reading this epic of a Dr. Zhivago - type thing, my radar is on full alert and my Google finger hovering nicely. The whole story wraps up nicely around a time and a place like no other. A production designers dream. I have read no less than three scripts this past two weeks and certainly this beats them all. Scripts can be soooooo ploddingly boring at the best of times. The imagination of the reader has to define most of the story as you are dealing with a visual medium, not a novel. A novel will lead you through the nuances of a good story whereas the grey matter is relied upon heavily to steer one through the demanding pages of a script. Which is why I firstly admire people like ‘the script reader’ for being apparently able to sift through the multiple piles of drivel sorting for those diamonds that may or may not exist, and secondly why I fear that those people responsible for green lighting this stuff have any clue at all when it comes down to it. How many diamonds are being cast over….? how many shit scripts are being made….(eg. ‘funny games’…..what the fuck….?????)When I first got hold of Saving Private Ryan I was bored rigid. Jeez, what a load of old cod…..who gives a flying toss about some geyser stuck in the mud of northern France being fought over by a bunch of whiney Americans led by Forrest Gump? Well, actually, about ten frigging million or so it turns out. That’s because I had little less than a clue how to ‘read’ these things but by the time I got hold of Waking Ned, I had learned a whole lot more. Production design is about scripts, storytelling and humanity… It is also about a whole lot of other things which is why it’s so damned interesting.   Anyway, three recent scripts and two let downs later, I’m stuck with a script I like but I don’t know why. Is it because, bottom line, I have to feed the kids? I don’t after all care what your script smells like, if you’re going to pay the bucks, I will LOVE it and do the best damned job no matter how bad it is. And we will sift relentlessly through the sludge in the hope of finding some gem of a storyline or an emotional treat that will take it out of the realms of stupidity and into the realm of ’indi’ or some such? Hell, lets get one thing straight here….no matter how crap your script is, as a production designer in need or otherwise of paid work, I am never going to tell you the truth about your long-agonised-over-missive-work-of-art. No siree….careful what you say to those on the way up because…blah, blah blah on the way down etc etc…..(I’ve been on the up for 30 years…there is no down, there can’t be.) And if you DO intend to pay me handsomely then your script is the best goddamned thing since the last goddamned thing. But whatever my intentions, and when we have agreed the basis upon which I will do my very best to make your film look great, then that is what you will get if I have to sweat blood to achieve it unless of course you turn out to be a prick which is a whole other thing altogether….! Then, occasionally, thank the baby J, every once or thrice in a life time, along comes an Awaydays or similar lovely little number being developed, nurtured, lovingly whittled and eventually green-lit by those aforementioned twats who still may not have much of a clue but have been suitably harangued into acceptance of the indisputable fact that you cannot possibly pass up on this little beauty guv’nor……..and that is what it may turn out to be so long as all the miriad of other ingredients that go into making a masterpiece fall eventually into place. These, and other figments we will discuss in future episodes. Meanwhile, this is late as usual.

October 24, 2008

It’s so gratifying to see a film that you worked on (put heart and soul into, spent many long hours, day and night away from family and friends) NOT go straight to DVD, and, if the reviews coming out of the London Film Festival are anything to go by, Awaydays may just have the legs to carry itself a little bit further. Needless to say, I am very proud of my Liverpudlian effort although I haven’t yet seen it myself! Again, I think I may have been proved correct with reference to my theory (come on, keep up!) that those projects where the effort of every cast and crew member is supplemented by some extraordinary good feeling and all round faith in whatever it is, will eventually come out in the wash and show in the final telling. Let’s see. All those projects that have been spoiled in one way or another through the production process….believe me there are way too many ways to achieve this…..have mostly turned out to be flawed in the final cut. Here’s a link…   http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/awaydays and here’s a pic…        

October 13, 2008

I have neglected my blog and feel the worse for it I can assure you. Ralph Lauren and his merry band of men have had me running around in ever tighter circles for far too long now and the light is still a mere pin prick away. This has little to do with the film industry but then, if you’ve followed my missives up to now, you will gather the connection without too much trouble. I would much to prefer to talk about other stuff that frankly, crams every other minute of my day as it often seems more relevant. The industry has always (to my spouse’s consternation and bewilderment) been central to my existence and I’m sure this is common to other bloggers. The art is in striking the balance. There is a fine line between feeding the family and feeding your own ambition and ego. After my first son came along, this suddenly dawned on me and I sincerely wish it would dawn on others BEFORE they embark on family life. There is little point, in my mind, in having children if you can’t spend reasonable time with them. Unfortunately I have to travel pretty well constantly in my game, but those long (scary) quiet times are well spent totally engrossed in the far more energetic and tiring pursuit of kid-dom. This new American regime we are experiencing ( ie. early school starts and earlier home times) encompasses a whole new assortment of juggling skills, especially as my missus is still In Croatia finishing off a huge Kohler commercial for Therapy films. Speaking of which, her experience with the art dept. there has not been quite as wonderful as mine was several years ago. I can see why too. It reminds me of my first experences shooting in Prague in the early nineties. There was no doubting the breadth of experience of the personnel working the industry there, especially under the umbrella of the brilliant Stillking films. When it came to working with period or fantasy, the resources of modelmakers, poly-sculptors and various other craftsmen were, and still are, second to none. Nevertheless, throw in a high end, high tech, high finish, modern day or futuristic piece requiring very modern props and dressings and the whole process started to fall gently but surely, apart. The same thing is happening in Croatia. Unless you have the bucks or resources to ship em in, you ain’t got a hope. I clearly remember racing around Prague with an irate taxi-driver and a yellow pages, a fist full of Crowns and an unlimited budget searching desperately for enough shiny props to do justice to my wonderfully built state of the art bathroom set, whilst the grumpy old prop men scratched their chins, swigged back their breakfast schnapps (substitute) and declared the English art director a wanker and his mission hopeless. I somehow managed but I feel for my wife who has also experienced the Prague knock back but is now going through it all over again in another far flung former eastern block country. Needless to say, Prague no longer has that problem. Along with some amazing restaurants, shops and boutique hotels, the few of us who still travel there to work have pretty much all we can ask for in every department.I hope this splurge makes up for my recent neglect. 

September 26, 2008

it is late and I am exhausted. The last few weeks have been magnificent and equally debilitating. I have been fortunate enough to be working with David Turnley, Pullitzer prize winning photo-journalist, on a commercial based in and around L.A. which he was directing out of Furlined. Jeff Cronenweth (Fight Club) D.P’d and Scott Craig put the whole thing together. I look forward to seeing the end result as I feel D.T got some amazing performances from the cast, besides which I have to be proved right on my personal belief that a film stands or falls on the various energies determined by the crew, whatever the size or manner of the project. That is to say that films, t.v, commercials or promos that I have been attached to where the vibe on and off set has been the most enjoyable; where everyone is in tune with each other, with the script and with the environment, these are the projects that show up the best as the finished article. ‘Waking Ned’ which we prepped at Shepperton studios, England then shot in the Isle of Man under the wonderful direction of the amazing Kirk Jones, was one such example. Even with an amazing script there is no guarantee that you are going to get an amazing end product, so it is imperative that the director pulls everybody together to share in his enthusiasm and passion for the project. Kirk did this memorably. In fact he even called a meeting early upon our arrival in the Isle of Man, of all the residents of Cregneash, the ancient village we took over for some 10 weeks, to explain to them in detail what we, and the story, were about. This went down very well with cast, crew and vilagers alike and set the tone for the whole process. Consequently, I am certain that the extraordinary passion we all shared on that picture is palpable throughout. Likewise, I am sure the passion we all shared on the commercial will make it just that little bit special. Let’s wait and see. I have neglected my blog of late for which I apologise, but the several very different set of circumstances that have prompted my wife to suggest I take up yoga or meditation to alleviate the various strains on my mind and body, have almost become more than mere mortal should take. Needless to say, life here in L.A is nevertheless proving to be more than exciting and the subtle aroma of possibility constantly arouses my senses to a point where every day is anticipated with baited breath….! Unfortunately, I am far too exhausted to tell you about it. But I’ll try. Next up is a completely new venture for me and one I am eager to pursue. Some bright spark looking to re-create a certain paint finish on an old garage in Melrose avenue, currently being converted into the next Ralph Lauren Polo outlet in Hollywood, decide to take a look at one of my past films and as a consequence I am now designing the exterior of said building together with the wonderful vision of Dikayl who seems to be some sort of product designer or some such for PRL. This is a completely new string to my bow and, frankly, something that only happens to us mere mortals here in Hollywood, just like they said it would when I was just a spit of a lad sweeping the floors at Pinewood. Speaking of which, I met my new friend Barry Isaacson and his lovely family last Sunday down at the beach for some good old ex-pat R&R only to discover that we were both at Pinewood at the same time….1978/80 for gods sake!!!! He, as a runner or some such on the first Superman film, and myself working as a trainee Matte artist with the legendary Cliff Culley and subsequently as a trainee model maker with the even more legendary, Ray Harryhausen! Anyway, I’m hoping to get Barry….now a very successful film producer….interested in my District 6 project which has been on the drawing boards for over 5 years now and every day closer to becoming the masterpiece in my head. I know this will eventually make it to the big screen as I am now in Hollywood and this is where dreams do in fact come true…if you put in the hard graft that is. Living the dream……..