The Anonymous Production Assistant

The One Time Being a Fan Got Me a Job

Generally speaking, it’s not a good idea to talk about being a great big fan of the show you’re applying for. This business attracts a lot of weirdos, which makes people extra cautious when deciding whether or not to hire someone. They’re going to be working with you 12 hours a day for the next […]

What Is a Hollywood Assistant?

Dwight Assistant Regional Manager

I frequently get emails from new readers who are confused about what an assistant in Hollywood actually is.There are a lot of jobs in Hollywood with the word “assistant” in the title, which can be very misleading to someone new to the Industry. These seem like entry-level positions, but many of them are not; in […]

Contacts & Lists

Photo by Wesley Hilario on Unsplash

There’s around 150 to 200 people on any given film or television production. It’s a safe bet they’re not all Facebook friends. So, it’s up to the production office to create various lists with names and contact info. This begins, as with most things, with the [glossary]start work[/glossary] packet. Along with the I9’s and payroll […]

The Match Game

This is another one of those things I keep seeing when I help people with their resume and cover letter: the name on your resume needs to match the name on your email address. This is especially true of Gmail accounts, since it’s probably the most common email out there, both for individuals and for […]

Taking Advantage

So there you are, working your ass off as a PA, running around and doing ridiculous tasks that you will never be able to properly explain to your parents. You love what you do as much as you hate it and you know this is the bottom rung of the Industry ladder. But have you […]

Assistant Production Coordinator Jasmine Barceló

Today’s guest is someone most of my readers would like to meet– an assistant production coordinator. Jasmine Barceló started out as a PA on Dexter, just like you or me, and has worked her way up to a position of authority. (At least, as far as PAs are concerned.) If you’re the kind of person […]

What’s a Production Secretary?

Adam writes in: I just got an interview for a new gig Monday as a Production Secretary. For some reason none of the scripted shows I have worked on have ever had a Production Secretary. A former APOC recommended me and so I assume she feels I am capable of handling the job but I […]

Sympathy for the Departments

Every morning, the office receives a [glossary]production report[/glossary] in [glossary]the football[/glossary]. And every morning, the production report is wrong. A PR, for those who don’t know, is a bizarro call sheet. Instead of telling you what you’re going to do tomorrow, it tells you what you actually did yesterday. It lists the scenes that were shot, in […]

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 […]

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 […]

Be A Morning Person

The production office is one of the few departments that works in shifts. Because we’re one of the few departments that can, and because we kinda have to. On days when the production is shooting late, you still need to open the doors at around 8:00am. Business needs to be taken care of during business […]