Going Coconuts

The original purpose of my first trip to Southeast Asia (SEA) was to step into that world, to locate and develop ideas based on whatever elements and people I find there that, in my opinion, would encourage coming back for a second and even a third time during 2014 with a professional crew. That’s when we’d start at the headwaters of the Mekong River and move south the full 2,700 miles by bus and/or boat to, among other things, to reconnect with rice farmer friends I meet on this first trip. The original goals included: *To just experience being in SEA (weather, culture, etc.) To meet informally with the Thai people and encourage them to get to know me. *To visit rural rice farmers and to get a fix on their understanding of what is occurring to them due to Climate Change - and to judge their willingness to be involved in our project at any level. *To see first hand what actions rice farmers are taking because of climate change and the changing environment. *To meet with Thai and Laos NGOs and community foundations to talk about Climate Change. And to report about what effective people and programs are in-place and are informing the public (as well as policy makers) what to do to mitigate the impact of climate change on food security. As they say, 80% of the work in pre-production for a doc is research. About that time, I decided to arrange to have a video camera shadow me as I explore and make my inquires. Perhaps - just maybe - I could gather enough footage to string together the 2½ minute trailer requested by the Ford Foundation's JustFilms initiative and Sundance Doc Fund. That was just about the time filmmaker Wun Yip, my long time friend living in Beijing, became attached to the project. As the Director, Wun brings an all-together different mind-set and energy to the table. The first trip that seemed to be a research trip rather than a trailer-making trip became something else. A highbred bursting with potential. Concerning your readership of the blog, there are two ground rules to be aware of:(a) you are not required to read all that I post and (b)there is no requirement to respond to my blog with your own comments. Tomorrow at this time I'll be heading to SFO to catch the red-eye for Bangkok.