The Anonymous Production Assistant

Should Wannabe Actors Be PAs?

Over on Facebook{{1}}, Christina asked: Do you have a post on wannabe actors being PAs? No. Because it’s a terrible idea. If you’re serious about acting, you’ll spend your days either attending classes or auditioning. You need a flexible schedule that allows time off  when you get a part. This is the exact opposite of […]

Intimacy

I was working on a short film this weekend, and we shot an “intimate scene.”  Basically, the actress was nude.  As is common practice, we kicked out everyone who didn’t absolutely have to be in the room. This was all well and good, but it reminded me of a terrible AD on one of my […]

Keeping People Happy

EastSt said: Um, they are getting paid FAR more then you… Pizza and your gas money is a SMALL price to pay to keep them happy. I really don’t understand this logic. At all. Isn’t the fact that she’s getting paid more in a day than I get in a week supposed to keep her […]

Deliveries

There’s a simple way tell who the big actors are, and who have just started their careers: ask them if they would like script revisions e-mailed to them, or delivered to their house. The ones who’ve been around forever, the ones who aren’t worried about impressing anyone, say, “Go ahead and e-mail it to me.”  […]

Whoooooo are you? Who, who? Who, who?

It’s virtually impossible to tell, by eye, an office PA from a young producer. Unstylish clothing, disheveled hair, four-day beard growth. (Of course, you’ll know immediately if you see them getting out of their car.) But if you see me on the set without a walkie or a pair of gloves on my belt, I […]

Another Stupid Competition

I was listening to the Adam Carolla Show this morning, and they had Kaitlin Olson, from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, as a guest.  They were talking about how poor you are when you’re starting out, and Adam said, “But you’re making good money now, at least.” “Oh, yeah, I’m making big bucks,” she sarcastically […]

Akting!

I mock actors a lot, but sometimes, I really do feel sorry for them. For one thing, it’s the only line of work where age, sex, and racial discrimination is legal. You may be the best actress in the world, but you’ll never play Hamlet. You can’t have a black actor play a 1940s crime […]

Awkward…

Some people are shy. Actors, generally, are not. A certain actor, let’s call him “Mick Molte,” would regularly show up on set wearing nothing but a T-shirt and a pair of pajama pants with the crotch worn through. And when I write, “nothing but,” I’m including underwear. (I must admit that I didn’t witness this […]

It’s Called “Television,” Not “Teleolfaction”

The other day, one of our actresses was so sick that she needed to be driven to the doctor. By this, I mean she had a minor fever and wasn’t feeling very hungry. I’m pretty sure my mom would have made me go to school with those symptoms, but when it’s an actress, the producers […]