10 years working from home
Creating a documentary on my father’s everyday life
Almost 10 years ago, my father’s shoulder surgery that prevented him temporarily from going into work turned into a full-time work-from-home situation.
His shoulder healed quickly, but his company Ernst & Young decided they would let him continue to work from home given his high level of productivity while he was out, and due to their decision to cut back on office spaces.
My father, Mario DiRubbo, and I are very close. While most working parents have to leave their house to go to work, my dad was always in his home office when I would get back from school.
My sister and I cherish this.
During my senior year of high school, I was able to leave my campus and go home for lunch. My dad and I got to eat lunch together every day during the school year.
And after school, my sister would have soccer games that my dad was almost always able to attend.
As I began developing ideas for a short documentary-style video, I figured there was no better person to interview than my dad.
As excited as I was to shoot with him, I quickly realized that there wasn’t a lot of fast-paced action occurring when he works.
This led to my b-roll becoming mostly shots of areas in his office.
However, I was determined to make a great video.
Even though some of the shots were not very exciting, I realized that the quality of the interview itself could make the documentary more interesting.
I asked questions about the benefits of working from home for so long and about what he was able to accomplish.
The best part was he gave the same answers I was hoping for in my head.
Time to relax at home. Time to be around more often for his kids.
I am so excited I was able to capture this in a documentary. It was a beautiful way for me to learn more about my favorite part of my dad.
