Been in Hong Kong for a week now and things are going pretty well. I’ve been dealing with jetlag this whole time but I got the first 4+ hours of sleep last and I’m feeling pretty bubbly. Bubbly I say.

The flights over were freaking long but uneventful. Stef and I went to LA on Wednesday and then we met up with Gregg, Matt, Adrian and Amelia at LAX on Thursday to head the hell out. Our baggage pile was massive. We not only had our personal junk but we had to take one of the cameras and the laptops for working so it was quite a pile of crap.

The kids were pretty good for flying so much. We had a 12-hour flight to Seoul, Korea and then headed on a three-hour flight to Hong Kong, so along with the flight to LA the day before, we had spent 20 hours of the last two days on planes. I wasn’t surprised when they were running all over the place at the airports.

Crew members Tasman and Josie picked us up in Hong Kong in this little bus with room for like 20 but we just fit with all the luggage. Got checked into the Kornhill Apartments and tried to go to sleep as soon as we could.

Of course, we couldn’t, and sleep has been something that has mostly eluded me on this whole trip. Now Matt and I both have a little thing that starts with D that is killing us. Keeping me up at night.

The crew is great. The biggest concern right now is locations. I’m having to adjust the way I’m seeing the film every time we visit a location. Just going to be a huge challenge.

And this week we shot some b-roll of the HUNGRY GHOST festival that completely underwhelmed us in just about every way. On Tuesday, the parade started so early that there was barely anyone on the street. Then yesterday, the burning of the King of Hell, which was supposed to end the opening credit sequence, was major bust.

From the script:

EXT. TOWN SQUARE – DUSK

The biggest fire yet towers thirty feet into the air, surrounded by a MOB OF PEOPLE.

Yul and Melissa can’t believe the dangerous spectacle taking place in front of them. Yul brings out the video camera. Melissa snaps pictures.

The Mob circles the fire, some getting dangerously close, working themselves to a frenzy.

We close in on the seemingly out-of-control fire.

CREDITS END

What we got was five dudes hurriedly carrying the King of Hell into a furnace and horizontally feeding him into the fire with about three people looking on. Lasted about two minutes. They didn’t even stand the sucker up! I guess the photos I found online a year or so ago were of a different Hungry Ghost celebration, because in that joint, people were getting down to the nitty-gritty for sure. Just GOOGLE Hungry Ghost festival and hit the images button, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Still don’t know how we’re going to pull that one off.

But all’s good. Shit like this happens on films all the time. You just have to adjust and sometimes you end up with surprising results.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to have much time to write but I will be updating the FLICKR and YOUTUBE deals as much as I can, so tune into those if you’re really bored. Some cool shit on there, actually. Shooting a film in Hong Kong is turning out to be quite a ride. Can’t wait to see what’s just around the bend.

So peace from a D-ridden, sleep-deprived, tall-ass Cuban director from Hong Kong.

-ed