The Anonymous Production Assistant

Wanna Watch a Movie?

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I asked my readers, What’s your favorite movie released before you were born? Find out if yours made the list!

Book Reports

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Two great books everyone should read: Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino and Keys to the Production Office by Gilana Lobel and Jennifer A. Haire.

Keep Your Eye on Your Long Term Goal

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Marty Lang contacted me on Twitter, presumably in refernce to the joblist, or my own jobs page: @TheAnonymousPA there really is no way to get an inside track on a writer’s assistant position, is there? I scour sites all over the place, and the closest I ever came to finding one was the showrunners assistant […]

Do You NEED to be Good at Networking?

Nancy has a question about networking:{{1}} Thinking of switching from medical office work to office work in the film industry. From what I’ve been reading online (mostly from this site – you’ve been quite a valuable resource), it sounds like you only get jobs if the right people remember your name when jobs come up. […]

Reading Material

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I’ve been gearing up for the next TAPA Networking Event (Saturday, March 31st, mark your calendar!). We’ve got some guests lined up, including an Academy Award-nominated animation director. Names and location will be announced as soon as everything is finalized. In the meantime, I thought I’d share some stuff from around the internet that I’m […]

If You Wanna Make It, You Gotta Make Something

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Today’s guest post comes from Richie Harrington, an awesome assistant, who’s also an aspiring writer/director. So, exactly like 95% of my audience. The only difference between him and you (possibly), is that he’s working to advance both goals. If you want to find out how, read on. Congrats! You finally landed that PA gig on […]

Should I Finish My Degree Or Just Go to Hollywood Now?

Chemical Engineer

Tessa writes in: I’m currently studying Chemical Engineering in New Mexico and I really hate it. I no longer wish to pursue this degree even though I only have one and a half years left. I already know every career choice it opens for me, and I don’t want to do those things. My resume […]

Free Movies and Other Things You Didn’t Know

According to a recent poll of my readers, there seems to be a sections of the TAPA website you might not be aware of. Also, since most of you are into movies, I thought I’d give you some tips on how to get movies for free (at least if you’re in LA). Where the Jobs […]

What is a Low Budget Movie?

Low Budget

I often write about the difference between working on a low budget or big budget production. But I realized, I’ve never defined the terms. If your understanding of the film business comes from entertainment websites, you might be under the mistaken impression that, say, a $12,000,000 film is “low budget.” When you’re comparing it to […]

7 Proven Hacks & Tips to a Great Night’s Sleep Before a Shoot

A good night's sleep.

[Ed. note: Yes, this is a guest post, but A) no one’s paid me for it, and B) they’re not asking you to buy anything. I get a lot of requests to post irrelevant shit on my site just so they can scam my readers. This is honestly the first time someone outside the industry […]