DGA Trainee Program
If you want to be an AD, the DGA Trainee Program is a pretty good deal.
Tiers
The Hollywood Juicer wrote about a director on his blog recently: it seemed clear that he considered the camera operators and production support people (ADs, script, and camera coordinator) to be “the crew.” The rest of us – the juicers who sweated atop 12 step ladders re-hanging heavy lamps on a swing set after the […]
Something’s Wrong
Every once in a while, when I’m delivering stuff to set, the crew starts rolling before I get off the stage, and I’m stuck until the end of the take (or takes). Yesterday was one of those times. With nothing to better to do, I watched the monitor. After the fourth or fifth “Going again!”, […]
Say Yes
If you’ve ever taken an improv class, you’ve heard the rule, “Say Yes.” If your partner says, “Man, it sure is cold up here on the moon,” you don’t say, “No, no, this is the old west.” You’d be surprised how many people want to do this. PAs have a similar rule, or at least […]
What’s in a Title? – II
It’s already a demeaning job; do we have to call them “extra,” too?
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 […]
Office PA Vs. Set PA
What is the difference between the two main types of production assistant?
Who Hires a PA?
Samantha writes: I’m a soon-to-be college grad, and I’m planning on moving out to LA this summer. I was wondering who it is I should be contacting to get a PA position? People have told me numerous positions like the AD and the UPM, but I don’t know who I really should be getting in […]
Following Up or Pestering?
Reader Janice emailed this question: I’ve been a PA for three gigs now but never on a “visiting” set, where the main production happens in, say, NYC, and small portions are filmed in, say, DC. The PA from NYC called on Monday and said that I’d be working today through next Monday on a feature […]
Distro
One of the basic tasks of a PA is distributing paperwork that no one wants to read. (With good reason, usually; more than a few times, I’ve passed out a memo regarding the fact that the elevators in our building would be shut down… on Saturday. When no one was going to be there.) As […]
Anti-Semitism
We have a new AD, and he seems like a douche. Of course, I think everyone’s a douche, so my impression may be skewed. Then again, maybe he is a douche. So, I asked my fellow PA, and he said, “Yeah, that’s what you get when you have someone who’s an AD and a Jew.” […]