The Anonymous Production Assistant

What the Hell Are Purchase Orders?

A PA who shall remain nameless (for soon-to-be-obvious reasons) writes in: I’m PAing for my first big production, and my coordinator just told me that since we don’t have open accounts yet, I should use POs for the stuff we order. She already had taken some time to show me some stuff that needed to […]

The Movie Next Door

Will writes in with a story that comes up quite a bit in Los Angeles: A movie is currently filming literally down the street from me. It’s a Hollywood film being produced by Paramount, as that was stamped on one of their vehicles. I know they are all staffed up since they are already filming. […]

Applying for a Job While You Have a Job

Nick writes in: I’m nervous to apply to some shows because the company I work for may do work with said show. Have you ever had a circumstance where you applied to a job where someone was connected with your current job? I haven’t, and I can’t really imagine it happening. Why would the coordinator […]

Amateur Resume Mistakes

Mark writes in: I came across your blog while searching for tips on CV-s and cover letters. I found a lot of helpful advice, but none about putting your photo in the CV. I know it’s not common to embed photos in your resume for the production intern positions, but it seems to me that […]

Reviving Old Contacts

R.O. writes in: Love your blog! Please keep posting 🙂 I have a question that I haven’t seen being addressed. Since my situation is a bit specific, I wanted to go ahead and throw it out there. I got a film degree and “worked” (a.k.a did a bunch of stuff for no pay) for 3 […]

So You Have an Idea…

Joe writes in: I’m just a 32 year old boy. And like every 32 year old boy, I have an idea for a TV series. I don’t have any connections, but I do have a show bible and pilot script. Is there any way a regular old boy without any connections can get anyone to […]

Don’t Slave Your Resume to IMDb

I’ve noticed a pattern among clients of my resume service. One of the first things I ask people to do is give me a list of every movie, show, commercial, video, or whatever that they’ve ever worked on. Even if it was just for a day, or all you did was deliver some DVDs to […]

Crafty Service – Comic

This story is 100% true. [glossary]Craft Service[/glossary] really is required to pick up horse manure. This comes up less often than it used to, when every other movie was a Western, which is why it always comes as a surprise.

Your Rate Quote

Rob asks: I’m working on getting a PA position, and the coordinator wants me to give her my last 3 weekly rates. She says it’s studio policy. I’m wondering if this is a normal practice or is this a trap? Am I allowed to stretch the truth a little here, in order to hopefully get […]

Gratitude

Kara writes in: I recently got offered a small PA gig and found out I had been recommended for it by a PM I worked under last month. I’m not in regular contact with her, so would it be appropriate to drop her a email, or maybe a message on facebook, thanking her for the […]