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Many expat spouses just drift along, but Martha Escoda is using her time in Shanghai to do what she always wanted: get involved in movies. Now she works with a Spanish production company and is writing her own special script.

 

Moving to another city in another country means a major adjustment, even a life change. For movie buff Martha Escoda from Barcelona the move has been transformative. She has used her two years in the city to pursue her childhood passion for cinema.

 

And she has learned enough Chinese to spend memorable hours at her ayi's place, playing mahjong and chattering away about family and friends. And when she's ill, her ayi makes bamboo or ginger infusions or black fish soup. "This is the Chinese touch that I love," Escoda says, "and when I arrived, I couldn't speak a word."

 

But back to the movies. Now Escoda is working for Factotum, a Spanish production company, making a coproduction, a family drama, for TV3, the main Catalonian-language channel in Barcelona. It will be aired in China on the main channels in every province.

 

"I am all the time watching movies," says 34-year-old Escoda who was in advertising and worked as a perfume product manager in Barcelona before moving here with her engineer husband.

 

She likes directors such as Zhang Yimou and Jia Zhangke. She invites friends to watch movies in her apartment every Friday, and then they discuss them. She also has a PlayStation portable so she can download movies and watch them whenever she likes.

 

She has so many favorites but Breakfast at Tiffany's is dearest to her -- "Audrey Hepburn reminds me of my mum, so I love to watch it," she says.

 

Her tastes are eclectic, as diverse as ET, The Godfather, Spanish and especially Asian movies.

 

Escoda first studied advertising and then cinema in Barcelona, but cinema has always been her passion

 

"I always wanted to be in cinema from a little child, when I used to ask for books on it and I dreamed of making movies."

 

When she came to Shanghai she continued her cinema studies online, viewing the time as a way to change her professional life.

 

"Moving to Shanghai was a good opportunity to pursue what I really wanted to do."

 

She is now working on a coproduction TV drama between Barcelona and China.

 

"This is a very new concept, one of the first coproductions between Spanish and Chinese TV, so it is exciting to be working on something like this and it is a great opportunity to put a first foot in the industry here. And the Chinese community in Barcelona is becoming huge," says Escoda.

 

Only in the early stages, "it will be a family drama, we don't know the name yet as we are just developing the story."

 

Working as a bridge between the two countries, "I am the only Spanish person here working on this project, so basically my job involves research, coordination and being a physical person for the Spanish TV channel here.

 

This week the writers are going to Barcelona to get the script finished. The shoot is expected to begin in September.

 

True to her plans to change her career, Escoda is also working on her own projects. "I have been writing a film script called 'If It Was Her' since I arrived."

 

Another family drama, the script was inspired by a recurring dream about her late mother.

 

"My mother died 14 years ago and she always had wanted to live in China, which was also partly my motivation for coming here and of course writing this script."

 

Escoda doesn't want to say much about the subject. "What I will say is it is a search by a person who is looking for their mother. It is very inspiring to be here and write part of my script locally.

 

"Although it is a story that could be filmed anywhere, I love this city and hopefully this script, if it ever gets sold, will be my way to come back and shoot it here."

 

Escoda plans to leave China when the TV series wraps late this year or early in 2008. "The thought of leaving China now makes me feel very sad," she concludes.

 

"I found myself here again. After my mother's death, I went through difficult times. Since I'm here, I feel that I finally found the great path."

  

Martha Escoda

 

Nationality: Spain

 

Age: 34

 

Profession: Scriptwriter and production assistant

 

Favorite place in Shanghai?

 

The Jade Budda Temple

 

Things that I love?

 

The sound of the big boats in the river in the afternoon, the smell of the steamed rice and the dumplings, the tea, the orange sunsets.

  

Wonderful experience?

 

My ayi invited me to play mahjong in her place with her friends. It was fantastic, three hours with them, sharing all they have with me and chatting about my life in Spain, asking me thousands of questions, how do we live in Spain, the parents, the life.

  

Worst experience?

 

The communication in the beginning, I did not know anyone and my husband was always working. On the first day I went to buy some basic sugar and milk but came back with yogurt and MSG salt.

  

Description of yourself:

 

Movie person 200 percent, passionate and friendly.

  

Favorite weekend?

 

Spending time with my husband and friends as we both work during the week.

 

Strangest sight: People in pajamas walking backwards and businessmen well dressed in suits squatting in the streets to rest.

 

 Life's motto?

 

"If you can dream it, you can do it," taken from a Nike campaign from 10 years ago.

 

What can be done to improve Shanghai?

 

Traffic, because every time I get a taxi it is very scary and there have been many times I have almost had a big accident.

  

Advice to new expats?

 

Learn Chinese, the basics at least, as it is very important to communicate.

 

(Shanghai Daily July 3, 2007)