So we’re in early pre-production for our next feature and I’m blessed to be doing some script tweaking here in the always inspiring Gibraltar at the legendary Rock Hotel (overlooking the Mediterranean AND Atlantic Seas and the coasts of both Africa and Spain. Mark Twain would come here to write – it’s heaven on Earth.)
This morning I get inspired in the shower as I so often do, so I run to grab a pen and pad the instant I’m out, crawl onto the bed and jot down some notes. Suddenly, I hear a rustle and look up to find myself staring into the eyes of a sub-adult male macaque who has just crawled in through our window!
I squeal out of surprise more than anything then, realizing I have just stared into the eyes of the most aggressive demographic (teenage boys) AND unwittingly bared my teeth (a threat), I tell Agustin, “Deal with him, will you? I’m hiding in the bathroom.”
Insert some Batman theme music, sound fx and titles “BLAMMO!”, “KAPOW!”, “THWANK!” here. I heard no such sounds myself, but it adds to the comic effect don’t you think?
Actually, all that really transpired is that the monkey came in, stole a packet of cookies from the tea tray on the dresser and required quite a bit of coaxing to leave. Sadly, we couldn’t grab the camera while he was still in the room. After several minutes had passed, Agustin finally announced,”Okay, he’s gone” and I re-emerged.
Agustin was positively beaming. I shook my head and declared, “I really wish you wouldn’t bring your work home with you.” Ah, life in Gibraltar. Now back to writing…
The nice thing about having made so many horror films by now is that our home is practically a prop and costume shop: banana costumes, torture implements, body parts (mostly fake), and other such fun items abound.
