Director's Diary - 5 Days Out

I am not a fan of starting an entry with a woe. However, over the weekend, my uncle that had been battling lung cancer died. On Friday I pushed everything to correspond with his doctor and the hospital. Then I sat on the phone with my mother for two hours, while she cried. It has not been an easy time.

It's weird to be so excited about something on the horizon and then be so derailed by a tragedy such as a family death.

I feel like it's an out of body experience. At times I am on autopilot working to complete production needs, while checking in with my mom on how she is doing. Then for some odd reason, without awareness, I will switch and when dealing with familial drama, I will go on autopilot and become deeply engaged with pre-production.

I resorted to making lists, checklist for costume, checklist for props, checklist for pending purchase items... Then Lauren jumped in with me and we made approached DAY 1 like professional Wedding Planners (which I was for 5 years)... it was a long Sunday, but we accounted for any hiccups and we were able to make a 10.5 hour day.

I haven't worked out in three days. Even with the death in the family, I know that being physically active is my go-to, it's how I don't fall apart or suddenly explode.

My team is incredible and very supportive, I wouldn't have gotten this far without them.