The Anonymous Production Assistant

Should I Call When They Ask Me To Call?

A reader whose name I will withhold for obvious reasons writes– I’m a recent film graduate, and will be moving to LA soon. Not too long ago, a casting producer of [Big Time Reality Show] came to my school to give a presentation on reality TV. After the presentation, I introduced myself and told her […]

Think About It

Just about every time I post a new joblist, someone emails or tweets me, “Hey, TAPA, are all of these jobs for LA?” or something to that effect. Also on almost every joblist there is a section with the header, “NON-LA POSITIONS (All Locations/All Positions)”. In big, bold font, just like that. Now, I realize […]

Where Do I Go?

[Name Redacted]{{1}} asks: A question I’m always asking myself when I step on a set as a day player is where do I go? It can be confusing with so many people and so many trailers. And no one wants to be late for call time. So where do you go? First of all, don’t […]

Corrections on the ESPN Overtime Issue

I received a lengthy email correcting several points on Thursday’s post. In order to protect the reader’s anonymity (something I’m familiar with), I’ll try to hide any personal details. First, it turns out Severn Sandt is a woman. I used the masculine pronoun because I was unfamiliar with the name Severn, and a quick google […]

Clocking Out

Some readers emailed me about my use of the term “clocking out” in yesterday’s post. No, there is no actual clock to punch on my show, or any show I’ve ever been on. No, nothing cool like that. We actually fill out time cards here in Hollywood. “That just seems really archaic, filling out a […]

Reporting Overtime

Reader Joe called my attention to this article on Deadspin, about a leaked memo to the crew of the X-Games in Brazil. In it, Severn Sandt, senior TV operations person for the X-Games Remote,{{1}} tells the crew to dress appropriately, don’t make fun of the locals (who he all but calls “lazy”), and remember that […]

The Wrong Department

Sasha writes: My first job on a show was in the construction office, which was great in a bunch of ways. As someone who’d like to end up somewhere on the producer/UPM spectrum eventually, I got a really great understanding of how budgeting for that department works, which I think is an area where a […]

If You Didn’t Get Credit, Does It Still Go On Your Resume?

Melissa asks: A few months ago, I helped a director on his low-budget film for about 4 weeks. It ended up being a huge mistake (he took advantage of my inexperience), and I didn’t receive any credit for it on IMDb. Can I still put it on my resume? Yes, you can! It doesn’t matter […]

Where To Live

Nicole writes in: I am about to relocate to LA after working in film production for 4 years in Austin, TX. I am doing some housing research and had a few questions: 1. Are there any neighborhoods that are more accommodating to working in film? (Convenient drive to studios and production office spaces…) 2. What […]

Immigrant Workers

Reader Luciana writes: I’m writing to you from the other side of the world, Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Nowadays mostly known as the country of the new Pope.) As an experienced media producer, I’m  considering the possibility of going to the US and trying to get a job in the TV/film industry over there, since in […]

My Location

You don’t ever want a show filming in your neighborhood, or worse, your own apartment building. You will find out EXACTLY what kind of area you live in. You see, TV shows don’t have time for nuance and subtlety. They need the audience to understand immediately what kind of location they’re at. If a character […]

“Labor of Love”

I’m a little late to the party, but I wanted to talk about the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign, from the perspective of someone at the bottom.{{1}} On the Scriptnotes podcast, Craig Mazin referred to it as a “labor of love.” It’s not. I mean, I’m sure Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell like Veronica Mars. Hell, […]