Day 353

353/365, a photo by Aaron LaRue on Flickr.

This is Joe, he is the superhero of UCSB's film department. 
 
Joe is like the collective dad of all the film students. During my first week as a freshman, my friend Lisa introduced me to Joe, and my experience at UCSB was exponentially better because of it. Film professors pop in and out of your life, depending on whether or not you take their classes, but Joe is in his office, day in and day out, ready to help. 


Want to make a movie? Joe can help. Want to start a weekend long workshop series? Joe has it covered. Want to throw a film festival on campus? Joe's your man. Need help getting into those overcrowded classes? Joe is the guy you need to see. Without Joe, there would be no Reel Loud. There would be no Word Farm. There would be no Cam Con. Without Joe I would not have got to shoot the trailer for Random House, I would not have had my job as a TA, and I sure as hell would not have been able to graduate in three years. We have a ton of great professors, and the film classes at UCSB are amazing, but almost everything that I love the most about the film department is because of Joe. 


I've been lucky enough to spend a lot of time with Joe, and the thing that amazes me most is that he's still a big kid. His office is literally jam packed with toys and he's not too old to dawn a retro Batman helmet. Even though the school is going through huge budget cuts, cutting elective classes, downsizing core classes, and trying to eliminate things like Reel Loud, Joe navigates it all with a smile on his face. He truly is an incredible human being, and I know that long after my time at UCSB is over I'll be coming to Joe!