VOICEMAIL: Hola Amor. I’m just calling to say hello. I just wanted to hear your voice. I was just missing you a lot a lot and just felt a bit lonely. So I will talk to you later, but I miss you a lot. I love you.
JUAN VIA PHONE: Oh amor. I wish we were together right now.
JAKE: I know. Me too.
JUAN: It’s a continuous cycle.
JAKE: Stop it.
JUAN: It is.

This is an experimental short film about my relationship with my boyfriend Juan, who lives 232 miles away. It’s about being together even when far apart; it’s a love story in long distance.We’ve been living apart for the past 9 months — I came to New York City for graduate school, and he stayed in Washington, DC for his job at the state department. Our situation is not unique. According to the census, the number of couples in long distance relationships has doubled in the last twenty years.

Originally we met online, through a dating service called OKCupid. Now much of our relationship takes place via digital proxies like FaceTime, Google Hangout, Snapchat, etc. How appropriate that a relationship begun on the Internet now continues in those venerated tubes.