The Anonymous Production Assistant

PA Rate

A reader who didn’t sign her email and has an incomprehensible list of letters and numbers for an address (at netscape.net, of all domain names) asks: I’m currently working as an Office PA on a […] film which I have been told is trying to keep things cheap, and was a little shocked that I […]

I Have This Conversation, Like, Five Times a Day

I really enjoy the Xtranormal videos production people have been posting on YouTube. In an effort to expand my media empire, I thought I’d create my own, about what it’s like answering the phone in a production office:

At the Sound of the Beep

Turns out, there was something I forgot to mention about phone etiquette in yesterday’s post. If a caller asks for someone who’s not there or unavailable, the first thing you do is offer alternatives– “Can I help you with something?” or “The coordinator’s not here, but the APOC is.” I worked on one show where […]

Phoning It In

As an office PA, if you’re not driving somewhere, you’re probably answering the phone. What surprises me is how many office PAs aren’t doing it right. Here’s a little refresher for those of you who think “Yeah?” is a perfectly acceptable salutation. When answering the phone, the correct greeting is, “[Show Title], this is [Your […]