Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/747534
coldest East Coast winter ever. I left the snow, had two weeks at home in London, and then had to fly back in the opposite direction to find Reno in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After gathering some great locations, interviewing crew members to put together a spectacular Art Department, mostly New Mexicans, three New Yorkers and one Texan, we were off to Thailand to create the Indonesian settings. I am no newcomer to working in foreign countries, twenty-three to date. The production company wanted me to use an entirely Thai Art Department. I know how important it is to have people who speak the same language, both creatively and in this case, literally. It took me breaking out in a stress-related skin condition to be allowed a US Art Director, Jeremy Woodward from Boston, Left: A different pencil sketch by Ms. Djurkovic of the gold mine site, showing the supply tent. Below: Another rendering from Pisit Udomwongthanawat's SketchUp drawing of the main tent. Bottom, left and right: Duckboards in the muddy monsoon- drenched set were both scenic elements and a necessity for crew access. The tent interior was actually more exterior and therefore, shot at the mine site, although additional scenes had to be picked up in Albuquerque in front of a blue screen. "It became extremely boring to constantly have to say, 'That is wrong for the period,' and frustrating for me that locations that were perfect for the period were often seen as ugly."