PRODUCTION ENTRY 01 - Director Brendan Merrill's Personal Journal

AT 7AM I FINALLY FALL ASLEEP AFTER HAVING PACKED THROUGH THE NIGHT, organizing the remainder of my possessions into suitcases and plastic bags. Placing them in piles or loading the car, the dawn breaks as I try to sleep for an hour before the first of two runs to the storage facility. Mr. E_____ is kind enough to drop me off at Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX where I begin an epic schlepping of baggage including a tripod, my camera, two computers, audio equipment, clothing enough for 2 months (hardly) and a bag of duty-free goodies for the folks in China. To my chagrin there’s no bar anywhere near the gate and I am forced to buy beers at a coffee/panini stand while absorbing the meager breakfast that would go on to sustain me for a ten-hour flight. Ten? Nope. Twelve. A prior victory pays off on the plane as I seat myself in the very last row, 75F, where I have 2 seats and a window to myself with no companions. This barely makes up for the fact that I can’t sleep, creating a mini-tent with the blankets pulled over my head for the first five hours, tossing and adjusting constantly with a few short-lived lapses into a particularly surreal dreamscape. After 4 movies and two trays of mama-huhu Chinese-airline cuisine we land at Pudong, passing through customs and baggage claim faster than I ever remember doing it before. This must be the adrenaline kicking in… moments after my body breaths the night air rushing through the subway cars on Line 2 it begins to remember the environment, flooding the senses with memory and filling me with a rabid anticipation of what’s to come. I stop by the apartment of the lovely Daria, picking up C______’s spare key and finally making my way back to Xikang Lu. The view from the 18th floor is still stunning. Welcome back. Taking a long evening walk I head down to Dr. Beer, winding my way through the neighborhoods and grabbing dinner before turning in after an extremely long 48 hours. With tired limbs I settle in alone at C_____’s apartment as he’s out of town until Sunday and his roommate will be gone for another two weeks. Time to crack it.