life of a film school wife

One more post for tonight, then I swear I'm done. This one is about film school. And why my husband is the biggest grunch in the world.

Aaron is in pre-production all week for a movie he is producing this weekend. Here's the breakdown for what that means: the days before the show, the producer is in charge of making sure the locations, actors, crew, volunteers, food and any extraneous stuff is scheduled, planned, executed, and tied together with a pretty string. He works with the director to make sure that they have plans and back-up plans for all of the work that's going to go into the weekend – a short 26 hours when an entire movie will be made. In the case of the film this weekend, Aaron's big stressors are the fact that one day (13 hours) of his shoot will be in the elements on a construction site. In Tallahassee, that is Russian Roulette. So, in addition to scouting the location that he (the producer) and the director want as their first choice, Aaron is also in charge of securing a second, indoor construction location that the crew will film at if it does indeed rain.

In pre-production, Aaron as a producer has overtaken Aaron as a husband. He works his butt off to try not to bring work back home, but in film school, it's all but impossible. Aaron's schedule is not like most in that he is on set or going to-and-from set for 13-15 hours a day, seven days a week, with no breaks. And that's not exaggerating. I have so much respect for his class of 18 – they all break their backs and push themselves to the max to put out the best films and make their program what it is. On Aaron's first day of class, they told him to tell his family and friends goodbye, and that for the next two years he would be solely focused on one thing: film. And that's what they do. They eat, drink, sleep and breathe it; miraculously, they love it. They love it. They love it. They love it. But that's where the hard part comes in... what happens to the other relationships?

Essentially, they're on hold. For Aaron, that means he doesn't have weekends or holidays (with exception of Christmas break and Thanksgiving). He doesn't have summers off. He can't make plans in advance. Ever. Is it tough on him? Absolutely. Would he change it? I don't think he would. And you know what? I wouldn't want him to. He's getting the preeminent start in what he wants to do with the rest of his life, and I think that dream, for him and for us, is worth pursuing even with all the exceptions it has introduced into our life. I know he would do the same thing for me (thank God I have no desire to go to film school). I guess I'm writing this because Aaron would never write it out. He would say "it's tough," from which you could gather what you wanted. But I'm here to say that I am so incredibly proud of who he is – the time he gives up, the ease of living, the sleep, all of it. Every time I hear that alarm go off at 4:30 a.m., and every time I hear the lock open at midnight, I (sleepily) admire him.

So why am I writing all of this? Because I have to remind myself of all of that good stuff I just talked about. Especially tonight. He's got a producer's temper tonight – and I think I might just withdraw him from school if I had to deal with it longer than this week. So, there you go. :)