SHOWDOWN at SHINAGAWA
Tales of Filming from Bombay to Brazil
by BILL ZARCHY
On sale now!
Introduction by Larry Habegger
My new book Showdown at Shinagawa is now on sale at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle e-book versions.
Order the paperback version — http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/0984919104
Order the Kindle e-book version — http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H5AEWT8
Showdown at Shinagawa: Tales of Filming from Bombay to Brazil tells true stories from my long career as a director of photography, working on film and digital cinema shoots across the U.S. and all around the world — Japan, India, China, Uganda, the Philippines, New Zealand, France, Singapore, England, Taiwan, Mexico, and Brazil.
The book is available now on Amazon as a 216-page paperback and on the Kindle Store as an e-book. Both versions include 21 pages of color photos.
Showdown at Shinagawa is funny and poignant, adding serious, silly, and sardonic perspective to my adventures shooting on the road. My crew members and I overcome stupefying jetlag, deal with personal and professional challenges, and sometimes gain a deep sense of satisfaction. And — every day is different!
In this volume of tales about his filming experiences around the world, Bill Zarchy takes us along behind the scenes of international film production. Everywhere he turns he encounters cultural illuminations or obstacles.
Bill’s stories are peopled with characters, whether his production team cronies, the subjects of their shoots, local hires, or people met along the way. He even makes a personal connection with Bill Clinton over the loss of their dogs.
—from the Introduction by Larry Habegger, Executive Editor, Travelers’ Tales
As both a director of photography and a writer, Bill Zarchy is a natural observer and storyteller. In Showdown at Shinagawa, his well-crafted stories of commercial filmmaking are a unique behind-the-scenes look into the adventures and practicalities of this offbeat, time-and-money-driven world. It’s a one-of-a-kind combination, both a travel memoir and a film book. People dream of visiting faraway places and meeting exotic strangers, and travel books are one way for them to fulfill these fantasies from their living rooms.
Showdown features 18 tales in all, the rich experiences of a cinematographer whose assignments have taken him to 30 countries and 40 states. Zarchy brings us along for the ride on a darkly funny bus trip down India’s deadly Bombay-Pune Road in “Wrecks and Pissers,”drags us through the disorienting milieu of one of Singapore’s high-tech cleanrooms in “No Worry, Chicken Curry,” faces a surreal Japanese bowling-for-budget match in the title story “Showdown at Shinagawa,”and shares the challenge of filming former President Clinton while dealing with family tragedy in “Dog Years.”And so on, across six continents, over three decades of his work as a director of photography.
