The Indonesian Job - Days 3 - Let Me(a) Culpa

Sometimes finding the right photo for the post is hard. None, though, was easy as this one - a layup - as the author actually chose to title the person who refused to fall on his sword "JB." Photo and caption all done for me. How convenient!

This fortuitous find kept me from trotting out my Christine Vachon quote from Shoot To Kill: "It's all my fault. Now can we just move on?" (Ok, so I still managed to get it in here)

It's probably true in other businesses as well, but folks in this business often want responsibility, but are not always as willing to take responsibility. The good ones do.

We weathered the many delays pretty well, with the exception of having to come up with locations at the last minute. One of our replacements for "iconic" locations was a theater as part of the replacement for Grand Central Station, because Raisa is a singer and we got to put her on stage.

After originally going after the Apollo, and then realizing it wouldn't work, we secured a verbal agreement on a theater where a friend had an Off-Broadway play running on the Friday before our Monday shoot. We didn't have a signed agreement with the owner of the theater until we actually got there. All of this meant that we had no time to get permits from the Mayor's Film Office for our exteriors of the club, or the our one company move that day, the closest park for the final Magic Hour sunset shot.

The day went relatively well, with sidewalk walk-and-talks being no big deal. We had a hard out at the theater (they had a show that night) and while we wrapped camera in way enough time, getting gear and such  out cut it close.

The theater staff - the Production Stage Manager, a lighting tech and a rep from the owner - were great and made the experience a lot of fun. The Indonesian team got everything they wanted.

And, then, there was the rush for the Magic Hour shot.

The word "idiot" comes up in front of many things. "Idiot check" - that check you do to make sure everything has been taken out of the space when you leave and that nothing is left behind - is a perfect phrase because what seems obvious often is not.

That morning, Brian (AD) and Leigh (PM and LM) and I had made a point of explaining to the Indonesian team that we did not have a permit for the walk-and-talk outside. In fact, it was borderline, under the new rules, whether we even needed that permit.

The important Magic Hour shot - it would be the last shot of the movie - we did not discuss. We had scouted a park, and thought we could get a shot off.

Somehow, none of us - Brian, Leigh, nor I - told the Indonesian team that we did not have a permit for the park.

Between that and the fact that we were rushing to make sure the light was right, the company move was a little hectic. Leigh was trying to make sure we were out of the theater on time, and had left her assistant with specific instructions of who should be in each vehicle and in what order. Somehow, her instructions weren't followed and the move was choppy.

Worse, by the time we set up at the park, a park official came by and shut the shoot down.

We knew we had another opportunity to get the shot later in the week, but with all the good work we had done, it was our first fail. The Indonesian team had not complained about anything to that point, and my experience with them was that it was not in their nature to be difficult. Still, when they got back, they were clearly disappointed.

I could see from their questions that they were disappointed with our team, and as it was a location issue, I could see how the blame, such as it was, could fall on Leigh, as their questions were directed toward her. This was completely unfair, and I knew I had to nip it in the bud.

Again, there was no way, given the late notice, that we could have gotten that permit. Why none of us mentioned it to them eludes me, other than that with all of our discussion that morning about not having permits outside, we thought it was understood there were not permits for the entire day.

Another reminder that in our business, nothing is obvious.

The rest of our team had worked too hard and too well to have any doubts about their ability remain in the minds of the Indonesian team, and that night, I wrote a heartfelt email to the director and producer, apologizing and taking personal responsibility.

I have worked with too many producers over the years who would find blame with everyone else but themselves, who were quick to accept thanks but would never accept responsibility for things that went wrong.

It wasn't easy writing an email that basically said I screwed up, but it was what I had to do. It is also a lot easier when you reach a certain age and you are pretty comfortable in your own skin. Any regular reader of this blog knows that I have had my share of grief sent my way over the years, and a little more wasn't going to kill me. The same can not be said of Brutus.

Although these things tend to be sketchy in terms of history, a little research suggests that the term "falling on one's sword" dates to Brutus, and this account from Plutarch's The Life of Brutus:

Finally, he (Brutus) spoke to Volumnius himself in Greek, reminded him of their student life, and begged him to grasp his sword with him and help him drive home the blow. And when Volumnius refused, and the rest likewise...grasping with both hands the hilt of his naked sword, he fell upon it and died.

Clearly, Brutus didn't work on a film set, where neither Volumnius nor anyone else would have refused to help. In fact, the grips would probably build a rig to facilitate it.

Thankfully, my response went a little better.

The director wrote me back a very nice email, basically saying that he understood. It was a relief. As it turns out, we did get the shot on our very last day - but not, again, without its share of drama.

As with the Asbury Park scene in Lucky Stiffs, some scenes just seem to be haunted, or looked upon with disfavor by the Film Gods.

Oh, they do exist, and while they do not always require a human sacrifice (it's why I sometimes hire an extra PA - just in case) they require a hearty mea culpa now and then.

Mea Culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

The Indonesian Job - Day 2 - That Time You Meet "Chris Pratt" In Times Square

"Just be comfortable with who you are"
-Chris Pratt

First, my apologies for the delay in getting on with The Indonesian Job series.

The irony of Terjebak Nostalgia is that immediately after it was over, it felt like the best experience in the business that I had in a long time. As I started looking over the production reports and reliving the days, and the lead-up to it, I remembered how challenging it was.

As I've said before on this shoot, it's about the people. Stan, my mentor, used to say that the work is fine, but the worst is when your biggest obstacle is the people you are trying to help. Conversely, there is no challenge that makes a job miserable if you have the right people, and on this shoot, we certainly did.

I tried hard to really evaluate the experience objectively before moving on with the series. As I have said before, I like to keep this blog interesting, informative and entertaining, so I didn't want to move on to the next post until I felt confident I was representing it correctly.

After Day 1, we moved on to filming in Times Square, and then a subway scene for Day 2.

Filming in Times Square involves working with Times Square security, NYPD and unpredictable tourists. I have used Birdman as an example of how we could shoot Times Square, as we were not going to be able to control pedestrian traffic. Our shoot day was a Sunday, which meant more tourists but fewer workers. For the most part, my AD Brian's familiarity with shooting in Times Square made it smooth sailing.

We then moved on to filming on the subway. Getting a permit for the subway is expensive, both because of the insurance requirements and personnel that needs to be hired. I informed the Indonesian creative team that we could film this without a permit, provided they were willing to work within our parameters and deal with what we got on the subway. Between language and cultural differences, I worried about getting this done in time, but, again, not only was it on time but shy of our twelve hour day and they got B-Roll. Another set of scenes that had cost us a lot of worry in prep but that went as smoothly as it could have.

The Day 2 Production Report noted that we did lose some time because of slight incompatibility of our rig with the steadicam.

Oh, yeah, the steadicam.

Steadicam, like hair stylist for Day 1 for Raisa, were things I had repeatedly asked about and repeatedly was told we didn't need it and that Easy Rig was fine. On Day 1, the Indonesian team had felt a little frustrated with the limits of Easy Rig because it wasn't well, steadicam. One of those instances where a low-budget indie tries to get they look they want with something less than they want to pay for it.

After much discussion, we all thought steadicam would be a good idea, and we hired a really good guy named Victor. The Indonesian team was impressed!

Yes, he was good - very good - but that was not why they were impressed. Over and over what I kept hearing back was how much they loved working with  - Chris Pratt.

Victor is pictured upper left, the Parks and Recreation actor lower right, with the sound advice to "be who you are" (and, I suppose, not your celebrity doppelganger). In case you have trouble telling them apart, Victor is the one wearing the steadcam rig.

OK, while I see the resemblance, I didn't quite find Victor Pratt's twin. Nonetheless, he was good at his job, and the resemblance and his work made them happy. Good enough for me. Victor got used to being called Chris Pratt. Below a picture of Victor with some of the crew in Times Square.

Oh, and one more thing about Day 2. It was the birthday of our production supervisor, Aliki. That may have been one of the few "almost" fails of the day.

Good production people are efficient, and Aliki is very good. She was scheduled to stop by set, then head back to the office. The plan was to get her flowers on set, and both my PM Leigh and two trusted PAs worked hard to keep her there and get her the flowers. Ah, but Aliki was too fast for them, and she slipped away while the flowers were only moments behind her!

As our office was only about 10 blocks away, a PA rushed down with the flowers. Below, me with Aliki and Arneece, our POC.

Next, day at the theater (Day 3) and an airport shoot (Day 4).

The Indonesian Job - Day 1 - Greetings, Blessings - and Where's the Grip Truck?

"Camera truck's comin' in....We're about two blocks away...Where do we park?...Excuse me, where do we park?...Anybody know where the camera truck can park?...No."
-Opening of Living In Oblivion

Crew Call for Day 1 on Terjebak Nostalgia* was 5:30AM. Neither Brian, my AD, nor I have a fondness for unnecessarily early call times, but there was a dawn scene included, and we needed to get there early to get it.

I got there a half hour early, at production call, and the Indonesian crew and Brian were already there. I emerged from my cab with gifts for our Indonesian counterparts.

Reza, the producer, was a huge New York Knicks' fan. Earlier in the week, I contacted the Knicks' PR department and told them I had a guest from Indonesia who was a big fan. They immediately (and kindly) sent over a large bag of swag that I presented, last, to Reza when we met.

My first gift, for all of the Indonesian cast and crew, were NY Mets' baseball caps. My beloved Mets had made it to the playoffs, and I thought it was a timely and slightly different gift. The result: a number of Indonesian crew (not to mention Brian and I) wearing Mets' caps.  (see pic above)

We had some fun with that, especially when a passerby, after being told they were from Indonesia, said she didn't realize Indonesians were Mets' fans. At least temporarily, they were.

What wasn't fun was the grip truck, which had camera as well, being 55 minutes late. We had hired a PA who we did not know very well to drive it (none of our regulars were available). When I confronted him with why he was late, and had not even bothered to contact anyone, his answer was "Hey, it was a long drive from the parking garage."

I let him go on the spot. Things can happen. Alarms can be missed. But simply ignoring the amount of time the trip would take (it was a Saturday morning with no traffic) and then having no remorse for not at least calling to inform us was inexcusable.

My company was the production company in New York, and after going out of my way to greet them properly, and after my team had done an amazing job of putting it all together, this was a total embarrassment. Fortunately, the Indonesians were very understanding.

Due to Reza's quick thinking and Brian's usual ability to make things happen, we got the opening dawn scene, but not before Rako and Reza offered a brief prayer for good fortune with all of us gathered around. It was a very touching moment.

Although they had originally said we would not need a hair person in addition to our makeup artist, I thought it would be best to have one first day to make sure we could establish Raisa's look here, and further, to make a woman who was a pop star in her country feel comfortable here. Rachel, that stylist, is pictured far right above, in front of Monda, a PA we hired who spoke both English and Indonesian as well as an additional translator. He wound up being crucial to the camera department and is now working with them on their next feature!

I was relieved when we made the day. The notes on the production report are below.

G&E Truck 55 minutes Late, PK (name deleted) the driver did not inform anyone he would be late, he was let go.
STJ (name deleted) was hired as PA but informed us at call that he is no longer on this production and did not show up.
Breakfast was 30 minutes late to set up due to us not being let into the location until 5:20am.
Sound reported Walkie frequencies are interfering with sound.

*Pictured above, from left to right, are Eric, our glidecam operator, and Hani and Reza (DP and Director, respectively) with Brian behind them in his own Mets' cap, and their AC in front of him. Reza, the producer, is wearing the Knicks' scarf.

**While I referred to it previously as Letters for Raisa, which is what we called it, the Indonesian name for it  was always Terjebak Nostagia. One is not a translation for the other. As it has now been released with the Indonesian name, that is what I will use.

The Indonesian Job - Location, Location, Location

"If I'd lived in Roman times, I'd have lived in Rome. Today America is the Roman Empire and New York City is Rome Itself"
-John Lennon

When film companies from other countries - especially Asian or South Asian countries - come to New York City, they want to shoot "iconic" New York locations; those locations that people back home have seen in movies.

The problem, in part, is that the New York of movies does not always exist anymore. There was an excellent article in The Guardian earlier this year called "Confessions of a location scout: Why the New York of the movies doesn't exist anymore." Much of the article deals with the "dangerous" locations highlighted in 1970s films like Fort Appache:The Bronx and The Warriors. However, it also deals with many of the nicer landmarks that have changed.

Showing the "grimier" side of New York has become harder. When I worked on the original season of Taxicab Confessions, we often would spend time in the Meatpacking District.  We knew we could find hookers - straight and transvestite - and that we'd find sordid people with racy stories. Indeed, even on low budget film shoots, I spent many a morning on those cobblestone streets reminded why it was called the "Meatpacking District": the many warehouses that did just that, as well as slaughterhouses.

Unlike in Apocolypse Now, no one every said, "I love the smell of dead animal flesh in the morning."

Now, if you were to go down those streets late at night, all you will smell is money and the most interesting characters would be those few who were not club kids waiting for their Uber.

Before the hiatus Leigh had locked up some great iconic locations. Among them were Grand Central Station and Luna Park in Coney Island. The time lost also meant locations lost, and these two locations were among them.

No time to fret. Leigh went about trying to lock new "iconic" locations on no notice. The shortened shoot meant that we were going to lose the interiors for the most part, and that those would be filmed in Indonesia. In fact, the Indonesian team had crammed days of shooting into three days over that weekend, with almost no prep time. They had met their challenge; now, it was on us.

We kept going in circles on what made a location iconic, and more importantly, what would an Indonesian audience find iconic. Leigh was able to cobble together a Times Square day, after which we would film a scene on the NY subway.

We needed the airport scene where Raisa arrives and goes home. The shortened window made JFK very difficult, so we moved to MacArthur Airport. Leigh did a great job of making MacArthur Airport work, which included her making a scouting trip that meant leaving Manhattan at about 5AM for a 7AM meeting on Long Island.

While MacArthur had decidedly less traffic and complications than JFK, it would not be easy. As the scout suggested, it was even further from NYC than JFK, and that meant less filming time in a 12 hour day. In addition, we were still talking about an airport and TSA. On Leigh's scout, she learned what that meant, including dogs sniffing the truck for bombs, equipment and people separately going through metal detectors using the same procedure you would use for a trip.

We would also be assigned one TSA agent per 10 people, and anyone straying away on their own would be subject to arrest and up to a $10K fine that they, personally, would have to pay. This definitely got everyone's attention.

While Leigh was battling getting these locations Brian, my AD, was trying to put together details for a scout that included this long trip as well as locations we did not have yet.

Of course, these other locations still had to be approved by the director, who would not be able to see them for himself but rely on pictures. This process went well into Wednesday, when our team was complete (or as complete as it would be) with the arrival of Rini from Washington DC. We were thrilled to finally be in the same room with our counter-part in DC, who we had spent countless hours with on the phone, online and various other methods from text to Facetime. We still had the communication and time differential with Jakarta, but at least we were in two locations and not three.

We started talking about parks - there were many in the script, and it turned out some of the "parks" were actually meant to be on a college campus. We went through an arduous process of figuring out what was "Park 1" vs "Park 2" etc. As we kept sending more pictures, which park was which would often change. This meant that while Leigh was trying to secure the permit the chicken-and-egg game of her permitting and Brian scheduling was happening. We wound up doing most park scenes at a park in Brooklyn.

Reza, the director, became focused on getting something in Dumbo, and much of his desire fell around a picture he had of Dumbo which was by the bridge, something like this.

As we took different pictures, some of the best angles would be in a private park adjacent to the bridge, which would be difficult to get on short notice. Other streets were on the MOFTB hiatus list, meaning that they had filming so often that locals complained and there would not be permits issued for a while. To paraphrase Yogi Berra, they had become so popular that no one could go there anymore,

We knew we wanted something in Central Park, and late in the process - even while we were shooting - we secured the well-known carousel in Central Park (now hideously named after a presidential candidate I will not name). Aliki helped get that for us at the last minute.

We were trying to replace Grand Central, and the only obvious equivalent, the Empire State Building observatory, was not going to happen easily within our budget or in the time we had to secure it. So where?

Since Raisa was a singer, we thought about putting her in a theater. Why not the Apollo in Harlem? That was iconic, right?

Leigh made inroads there by literally walking in a back way when they did not return her calls. She is a lady who does not take "no" for an answer easily, and she spent a short time on the verge of incarceration from Apollo security. Somehow, she had an outline for a deal there, and we added it to the scout while still trying to secure a location agreement.

By Thursday, it was time to do the tech scout, a tech scout that had been rescheduled numerous times. I did not go, with much to do and knowing that two great production people, Leigh and Brian, were on the trip, and that Rini, a producer herself, could be there to represent Reza's wishes.

While they were away, word began to filter back that there were problems with The Apollo. Frankly, I was annoyed at first. At this late date, I did not want to hear complaints. We had a great place that Reza agreed to that seemed willing to work with us.

However, during the production meeting that followed, it became obvious that it was no small problem.

The ground rules the Apollo wanted were strict. Often, when working in a union house on a non-union shoot, there will be insistence that union "shadow" crew be hired. While costly, I could live with this. Let's just pay them and get it done.

But wait! It turns out they not only wanted their people on, they were insisting that ONLY their people could handle equipment. Basically, my grip and electric crew would be sitting there while they watched people with no interest in our shoot set up equipment. I started to imagine this while an Indonesia-speaking Cinematographer and Director were trying to give directions. Furthermore, there would be no showing anything that branded the space as the Apollo Theater.

Together, these demands became too much. What was the point of paying a very high fee to not show that the location we were shooting in was iconic? None of us could see any situation where the union requirements would not make filming there a nightmare.

I suggested a downtown venue, where a theatrical producer I had come to know pretty well had a successful show. Doug, the producer, was on board, but we also needed the signature of the theater owner, and she was out-of-town and not being communicative. So it was that we were now going to a place on that Monday while still trying to figure out if the permission would come through. I decided to take that chance and late on Friday night, pulled the plug on a place, the Hammerstein Ballroom, that was holding a security check from us.

Leigh and I were in the office late into the night before Day 1, Leigh refusing my imploring that she get some sleep. She was not going to set until she had everything.

Through all of this, Aliki and Arneece were generating all the paperwork needed at a pace that entire office would normally have, and Rini would work her usual 2 days for one, the 12 hours on NY time and then another 12 hours on Indonesian time, desperately trying to keep the flow of communication going.

Brian and Patrick, our AD department, were planning for a shoot in two languages with no shot list and no real idea of what the director and DP wanted in the scenes.

None.

Next, the filming of the New York portion of Terjebak Nostalgia, which had its release just this past week in Indonesia. We congratulate them!

In Case of Blizzard, Do Nothing (Or Catch Up On your Blog)

"A snowstorm rewards indolence and punishes go-getters, which is why it's the best natural disaster there is."
-David Dudley, Op-Ed NY Times, 1/23/16

First, a mea culpa.

A few months ago, after a fascinating co-production with an Indonesian company, I started writing about that effort. Then, I got caught up in so much that I found it hard to keep up this blog. I'm going to use this post to get my devoted readers up to date.

Most of my long-time readers know that I try to avoid short, journal-like posts and trend toward more well thought-out articles. Those take some rewriting and reflection, and while I hate to have left these pages empty this last month and a half or so, I'd rather try to offer somewhat interesting and hopefully enlightening and entertaining posts.

Catching up. Here goes.

I will continue the series on Letters For Raisa, the Indonesian film that I understand may be released in Indonesia in February. A trailer is linked below. (A good opportunity to bone up on your Indonesian)



That production, and the insanely good people I was blessed to work with here and from Indonesia, reignited a love for production that had grown dim from what is often the drudgery of low budget filmmaking.

It was then I decided to expand my production services company, Fire Lotus Entertainment, and open up an office in Midtown Manhattan. Working with other production partners, in addition to the production office and my services line producing, I can now put people together with just about any gear, as well as production insurance. If they have the script and the money, we can make it happen.

With help from a talented producing partner, my website, firelotusentertainment.com, was launched in late November. It would not have happened without help from Leigh at Human Storyteller, NYC (follow that link to look at her amazing work!).

As with any effort, it has had it's fits and starts. A very good project, Karma, that is in development and was slated to start production in February is on hold. As usual, funding issues.

I also have been talking with a talented actress, Maria Soccor who made her directorial debut in a big way with a documentary called Lords of BSV. It is about a form of dance born in Brooklyn that many may not know about, and so much more. I'd like to list all of the awards it has won (you can see them on the site) but that would be an article in itself. I have seen it twice. It's truly inspirational to see how, from the roughest conditions, the jewel of creativity emerges. Reminds me of the Fire Lotus, after which my company is named, which grows in the bottom of ponds.

As the zen saying goes: "The Lotus flowers roots are sunk in soot and debris, in fact, the very stuff of our lives." Much like the gorgeous flowers produced there, Lords of BSV is a real treasure. Follow the link to it above to learn more.

Finally, a fascinating project came my way. On Letters for Raisa, a prolific producer and line producer I have known for years and had the pleasure of working for, Aliki, offered to come on as Production Supervisor. I wondered how two line producers would work together, or whether she would be comfortable working for another producer. My fears left on day one, and her graciousness and generosity made it a fantastic experience.

In December, another talented producer and line producer, Nicky, was looking for a location manager. As we were discussing people that I knew, she mentioned that she was also looking for a PM. I offered my services, and she was good enough to bring me on.

I am on what should be Shoot Day 7 of Tokyo NY, a film written and directed by Naghmeh Shirkhan, whose first feature, The Neighbor, was so well-done. Alas, we are in the middle of one of the biggest blizzards in NY history. Today was to be our first major day of exteriors, and the weather is so bad we cannot even shoot interiors. Alas, on film, Murphy's Law truly does rule.

I have tried to be as much an aide to Nicky as Aliki was to me. The thing about putting two talented line producers together is it is like bringing two master chefs together: they can create some new, amazing dishes, but running the kitchen can be awkward at first. We've both made adjustments to how we work, and I am thoroughly enjoying it and thankful for the opportunity to work on what I know will be a unique and fascinating project. Again, more detail on that as we move forward.

Much of the film is in Japanese (with some amazing Japanese performers). After the Indonesian film, and now this, my office manager and receptionist at my office suite asked if I did mostly Asian movies. No, Martina, it just seems that way.

Right now, I am talking to one playwright about adapting a work of his I love for the screen, another playwright about introducing him to some Broadway producers I know, Maria about her next documentary, and, just this morning, with a novelist about adapting her work, all while trying to keep the wheels rolling smoothly on our production's train and listening for Winter Weather Advisories to see how we will (or won't) be able to film tomorrow.

Here I offer my promise to try to catch up on Raisa's story and move forward about the rest in a more timely manner. Thanks for your patience.

In the meantime, some advice from the brilliant David Dudley article quoted in the headline:

"The Snow Gods reserve special contempt for those who don't respect their ability to bring human activity to a standstill. The snow cares not for your deadlines, your happy hour plans, your scheduled C-section (or your Call Time - mine). It wants only to fall on the ground and lie there. And it wants you to, too."

The Indonesian Job - Brave New World

"How beauteous Mankind is. O Brave New World that has such people in't"
-Miranda. Shakespeare's The Tempest

So, now we were back in prep. It's Monday, and we're going to start filming on Friday for seven days. Because I didn't know for sure we would be able to start up until Monday morning, only Leigh, Arneece, Aliki and Brian were in with me.

Before that, of course, was one more twist in the shooting plan.

On the day we went on hiatus, we were to have a shot list discussion with Rako, the director. It was even mentioned in the producer's email to me discussing the shut down.

That phone meeting never happened, but we still had much to discuss, and Brian and Leigh went to the conference room to get that conversation going while Aliki, Arneece and I dealt with many of the other logistics of getting us back up and running.

That is, until Brian appeared at the door to the office. "JB, you need to come in here." He was referring to the meeting in the conference room.

Over the many years I had worked with Brian, the process had been the same. We would talk before the shoot day, and then just touch base as needed. I would get basic info on how things were running from the 2nd AD or 2nd 2nd AD. Only if it was urgent would I reach out to Brian.

Similarly, Brian handled what needed to be handled, and only when it was a producing issue did Brian call for me. That means in the course of a shoot day, if Brian's number came up on my cell, I dropped everything and picked it up. If I was on set and either Brian came for me or sent someone to holding to get me to set, it was important.

As we are walking toward the conference room, he shares that Rini, the Indonesian-American producer, had informed them that the cast and crew would now be arriving on Friday, and Day 1 would be Saturday.

"Rini, they are arriving Friday?"

"Yes, they are."

"But, with the hard out on October 14th, that means they can only shoot 6 days?"

"You are correct, sir."

Rini and I had come to appreciate the absurdity of much of what was happening very early on. We were in the odd and frustrating position of often reiterating to each other what we already knew, sometimes just to make sure we were getting it right.

Often, in these moments, Rini would resort to being Ed McMahon to my Johnny Carson, and she would go to McMahon's go-to line on the old Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, "You are correct, sir;" something McMahon had originally bellowed when he was foil to Carson's "Carnac the Magnificent (or sometimes Great)," a "mystic from the East" who would come up with (humorous) answers to unseen questions. MacMahon, however, would often use this just to agree with Carson.

The Indonesians had learned that since Raisa was the 0-2, they could not travel ahead of her, and with her missed appointment at the embassy, they would all arrive close together. For the most part, now, the Indonesian cast and creative team would arrive in NYC approximately 13 hours before call time on Day 1.

Furthermore, we had a seven day schedule that now had to become a six day schedule, while still trying to retain as much of what they wanted to shoot as possible. After all, it was an expense to come to NY and not only film here, but do so with all the appropriate permits and a mostly American crew. Both they and our team wanted to make sure they got as much as they possibly could get in.

I had done many odd things in my career, but never had I met the director, key creatives and cast for the first time - in-person - on set at call time. We Skyped and used other communication. This meant we would officially do all, not just most,  prep remotely.

I've commented on it before, but it continues to amaze me how much technology has affected not just the camera and lighting side of movies, but the production side. The last two features I've done had offices without one hard line. We have a fax machine - a marvel only a decade or so ago, but in the era of scanning, we never used it. For that matter, most of my young crews prefer texting to even using the cell phones for what they were originally intended - talking on the phone. (This tends to lead to frustration both for me - and for them!)

I remember a photo shop in the West Village where location managers and scouts would stop at the end of the day, have their film developed while they waited, and then taped up location folders, including "panoramas" - which were actually a series of 35mm stills taped together. Now, all of those folders are captured digitally and shared in Dropbox or Google Drive.

We took all of this to the next level. When I wanted to get something across to the Indonesian creative team in a way that was more personal, I would use Google Translate to help find an appropriate phrase. Leigh would spend hours discussing the director's preferences on Facetime.

We did meetings through Skype and one rather ill-fated meeting through Go To Meeting. The latter reminded us that we have become so accustomed to the conveniences of technology that when it fails ( a poor Go To Meeting set-up one day and a Skype glitch another) we find ourselves outraged that we have to "fall back" on "dated technology" such as email and, horrors, the telephone!

What a Brave New World. Not Even Carnac the Magnificent could have seen this coming.

Next time: Rini arrives in New York, prep compressed into four days, and what makes a location iconic anyway?

The Indonesian job - The Emotional Roller Coaster

"Doing nothing is better than being busy doing nothing." Lao Tzu

After the short hiatus caused by the immigration issues, Rini informed me that the entertainment lawyer assured her that they would have an answer by the following Wednesday, September 30th.

The time between that Friday and the following Wednesday - and then, until the following Monday - became what various people described as "an emotional roller coaster," and "an abusive relationship".

The latter came as a result of numerous conversations with my key people, where I was simultaneously telling them I wanted and needed them, and that they should consider other work if offered, because I had no guarantee it would happen. It was Adam, my gaffer and G&E vendor, who used the term above, albeit jokingly.

"JB," he said, "this is like an abusive relationship. 'I love you please stay. Go Away! No, please come back.' " Years of working with my key crew has lead to some rather gallows and definitely politically-incorrect humor, and this was certainly right up there.

There was little funny about what Rini and I were doing. We spent a lot of time asking each other questions neither of us had the answer to. What were the chances we would actually get turned down? Did we put anything wrong in the material? Could we give them anything new? Should the director, and not the star, have been the 0-1? With the push back, how many days could we actually get in?

The most frustrating thing was, well, doing nothing. Because there was little that we could do. Pre-production is all about planning. Neither I nor my team could do any. Nothing we could tell potential locations, which there was a very good chance we could lose if we did not act. Nothing to tell vendors who were holding equipment. No way of knowing which crew people we would lose and no way to reach out to replacements for a project we did not know was happening.

We were in Lao Tzu's dilemma. We were busy doing nothing.

Wednesday almost came and went, and no word. It was late in our afternoon when Rino got word from the entertainment attorney that the first step was approved, but they had to do the interview at the embassy the next morning.

This was great news - we had passed the harder test - and while they could get turned down at the interview, it was unlikely.

At that point, it was the middle of the night for the Indonesian cast and crew. Rini woke all of them up and they rallied for an 8AM (their time) interview at the embassy Thursday morning. If that all worked out. they would be on a plane and arriving the following Thursday, able to shoot seven days. We would worry how to shoot seven days straight - we were on again!

I alerted my key people. It was not certain, but it looked good. I had my key production people ready to come in on Friday, with full prep to start the following Monday.

On their end, all of the Indonesian cast and crew were at the embassy, the cast with their agents, an hour early.

All except Raisa (who was the 0-1) and her manager. They were ten minutes late.

How this could have happened after so long was beyond any of us. "But, Rini, how could they not be...." The answer? "I don't know JB. We are frustrated, too."

This wasn't a death blow for the project, however. The rest of the cast and crew would arrive the following Thursday late afternoon, and Raisa would be there even later, in the middle of the night, ready to start shooting Friday. It was far from perfect, but we had left perfect at the altar a long time ago.

My team - Arneece, Aliki, Leigh and Brian - were coming in on Friday. We could start. I just needed them to do the funds transfer for production.

Early on, I had discussed that I could not commit money we did not have. At one point, all the funds were to be transferred September 7th. After that, we had draw downs of the funds. Enough funds had been transferred to keep us afloat, but the majority of the funds needed to be sent, and now.

Accept the investors were not able (or willing) to send immediately. It would have to be the following week.

This was impossible for me. I could not ask people to come in without knowing if the funds would be there. There was scurrying. There was negotiating.

Finally, I insisted that 2/3 of the funds needed to be transferred Monday AM my time, and the rest the day before we started shooting.

They agreed, but I could not be sure that this would happen. I had to put my foot down. If the funds were not in my account Monday AM, I would have to call the entire thing off.

It was the worst of positions for me. I had many people on both sides of the ocean depending on me. My people here had been loyal. My choices were asking them to stay over the weekend, or releasing them when a few more days would make it happen.

It was among the most difficult decisions I had to make, and I appreciated the input from all of my people.

I was up most of the night on Sunday. My key people were on stand-by - four days before we were to start shooting, with no locations secured and nothing definite. No tech scouts. No shooting schedule.

Then, Monday AM, it was in. Deep breath.

My team came in Monday morning, and we started to plan. Leigh needed to reach out to all of the locations. Brian needed to simultaneously prepare a production schedule with locations we did not know were available. It was the film version of chicken-and-the-egg, and we were pretty much an omelet right now.

Tech week - or what was left of it - was about to begin. Word went out to all our team - and our new costume designer, Caitlin (who had been "hired" without knowing if we were shooting) - that were were back in "prep" - for three days - starting Tuesday. It was a lot to do, but we had the people to do it.

Like a Law and Order episode - or a roller coaster - there were still more twists.