Camerado Movie and Media Production

A long way from Cambodia...have been hauling ass on the final cut of Susan Hero in Robert Deniro's Tribeca Film Center here in NYC (where I am now cutting and visiting friends)all week;though burned out from the edit in the Bay Area, have now finally been able to collaborate in person with G,co-editor of Susan Hero, for the first time in two years. Prior to now, all collaboration had been limited to DVD cuts of the movie sent by snail mail to Cambodia, where I've been living for nearly a year and a half. Now I truly believe the picture is pretty much as good as it will ever be,may need a pro mix and color correction, but not much more can be done. Thus, soon, will begin submitting in earnest to agents and fests, including Sundance. Tomorrow, a likely meeting with Dr Alan Rice who played cloning expert Dr Kurt Morell in the movie. He's based here in NYC, works at the Museum of Natural History...where they now have an exhibit on Darwin.

Still in Mill Valley, CA, in Marin...been editing away for the past week or so and making what I thought would be a minor adjustment/polish edit on the new machine. But it's actually been more intensive than anticipated, have made significant and numerous changes, about 25-30% different than before! Picture is better now, much stronger, and now I wonder how I expected it to get snapped up by a fest when it was only 75% there. Now, in this new pass, have been startled and amazed by the edits that are taking place, they almost seem to be coming from nowhere, as if the movie is editing itself. That is, certain sequences are getting tweaked in ways that I did not anticipate, and it's as if I'm just sitting here doing the cutting.... Anyway, final scene today, then titles, then wil set aside for color correction and mix.

Just came back to the US day before yesterday to visit for a couple emonths before heading back to Kampuchea. Haven't been in the US for a year and a half. Lots of new cars, cars everywhere. No people on the streets, and no old ladies selling chili snails. Lots of hamburger places. Nice clean bay without plastic bags strewn everywhere. But no kids playing "The Shoe Game". No cripples or thin bums with handcranked wheelchairs. Not too many people smiling or saying Hi, especially not so toothily and goofily. Fresh air off the Marin Coast, able to hike without worrying about landmines or robbers...many plump women with blonde hair wearing fashionable, loose fitting black clothes. They are well educated, and they mean business. They drink Big Coffees from Starbucks. Clean streets, big houses, shiny California State Troopers. Price of gas very high, but no one seems to mind too much, lots of cars whizzing by with one sole occupant. IPods, shiny new things, very plum...

(copied from HURRICANE, the uncut ongoing production diary of Camerado) Went to Pailin with Long Heng and Hi, his colleague who used to visit former top KR leaders Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, and met with both through great luck, with the hopes of getting their participation in an innovative, non journalistic documentary portrait about themselves. Anyway, strange meeting with Nuon Chea first, aka Brother Number Two (Pol Pot was, of course, Brother Number One) After a long hard day on the road by bus and shared Toyota Camry, we arrived in Prum, the small town where he lives -- LITERALLY right next to the Thai border (so he can still make his escape if need be). The taxi let us out next to a Casino on the border, then a few motodops arrived to see where we were headed. Hi told them we were headed to Nuon Chea’s house, and of course everyone knows where it is…headed down the small dirt road, now muddy a bit from the rain, mountains nearby fully wooded and shrouded in fog which rolled fr...