Support Group

My name is Greg - and yes, I am an ugly American.

Yesterday turned into a bigger problem than was originally envisioned. But that's just getting to be par for the course for me... :)

Let's back up.

I was originally supposed to be delivering a cut of this show on May 1. Cause the first week of May in China is a big holiday and everyone goes home. Including me - thank God.

But this show was supposed to be easy.

Unfortunately - it was not. While the script was approved - everything else has been in a constant state of flux between the US and Shanghai - with yours truely, the big middle finger - caught in the crossfire.

It seemed all was good - until Wednesday.

We were having a very nice phone conference between all three parties where I was explaining that because of the enormous amount of changes - we wouldn't be delivering the show as promised - until the week after the holidays.

This seemed to be going down OK - but suddenly - my phone cut out.

When I started this job back in August last year - the office manager in SF found a phone that would work in China and was tied to my bosses credit card. Only problem was - it would go for $30 dollars of calls - then cut out unexpectedly and without warning. Then it would come back on 4-5 hours later without announcement.

As my calls have heated up this week - the phone goes out once a day - usually at the worst time possible.

Yesterday I arrived at our session to find that Shanghai is livid because of some new changes that they didn't like. What they didn't know is that those changes were requested by the OWNER OF MY COMPANY. While I was on the phone with one underling in Shanghai to explain what was going on - his boss was writing a nasty email about me making unwarrented changes and starting to wonder if I was capable of delivering a cut.

Sigh.

Then I find out that while my editor is there - the graphic artist won't be there till noon. And I only have the edit till 2. And as soon as the graphics girl arrives - she goes to lunch.

And my phone doesn't stop ringing.

Putting out fires in Shanghai. Putting out fires in the States from the fires that started in Shanghai.

Somehow in the middle of all this - I am told I don't have any editing time for Friday. We've been bumped.

I am rushing the graphics girl as hard as I can. At 1:45 - she runs to the bathroom - and we have two more graphics to do. And they are not even rendering... and she doesn't come back for 20 minutes!

Now I am eating into someone elses session. Three ganster looking guys with a huge duffel bag of tapes are sitting in the lobby starring at me like I stole their baby.

We finish the graphics by 2:30 - really making everyone mad - and then realize that the place they want the last graphic is not matching the place where it came from. They want it in a new place. But there is nothing about what goes in the place we stole it from.

It might be interesting to note here that I am completely and utterly Lifetime Movie of the week illiterate in Chinese. I can speak. But I can't read. So I am having the graphic girl read me the script section where this new graphic is supposed to go - cursing in English - watching the tears drip down the cheeks of the gansters waiting for the suite - and calling Shanghai trying to figure things out cause the show HAS. TO. BE. DONE. TODAY.

When my phone cuts out.

And that's it.

I pulled the ugly American card.

Now granted. If you told the company that you wanted the edit suite everyday all week - and they said yes - you would assume you have the edit suite everyday all week.

But, grasshopper - this is China. And you are White. And don't assume.

So I went all Alec Baldwin on his daughter on the scheduler.

Long story short - I have 4 hours today to make it right. And a guy from Shanghai is flying in to help make sure its right.

But I have this really bad ignorant white man taste in my mouth. But I do feel really connected to my ancestors in a way that can only be made possible by thousands of years of imperialism and cultural ignorance.

So I have that going for me.

I am Greg. And I am an Ugly American...