The Anonymous Production Assistant

The Best Book on Directing I’ve Ever Read

First of all, if you haven’t been to the library since you graduated, you’re missing out. They’ve got millions of book, and they just give them away. For free! And if you’re having flashbacks of the card catalogue and Dewey decimal system, don’t worry. The LA library’s website has a search engine, just like you’d […]

Shit Happens

I just saw this post on Reddit: Christopher Nolan breaks the 180 degree rule in The Dark Knight Can anyone explain why he did it, and also why it works? I’m new to film making, and I’ve been told that this rule is a rule that you shouldn’t break. But after seeing that Christopher Nolan […]

#NotAllDirectors

There’s still time to win box seats at the Staples Center, thanks to CAPS Payroll. * * * Evan G decided to respond to a six-year-old post about an asshole director. I wasn’t around at the time, but as the current keeper of the TAPA flame (and no big fan of directors myself), I feel […]

Don’t Move!

I have a hard time getting into the Emmys. Unlike, say, the Oscars, there are way too many nominees for me to have seen everything worth seeing, and to therefore have an informed opinion on who should or shouldn’t win. I mean, I loved Peter Dinklage’s speech in the courtroom in Game of Thrones, and […]

What’s Taking So Long?

Different types of shows have their own rhythms. Multi-camera shows build slowly, from a simple table read and maybe a rehearsal on day one, all the way up to the full-0n craziness of a 16 hour shoot night. Single-camera comedies can be a grind, because something is always going on, whether it’s a tech scout or […]

Conference Call

A friend of mine is working in post on a sequel to a big budget movie that you’ve heard of and probably didn’t enjoy very much.  The director has that kind of psuedo-fame that comes from being a jerk.  I try my best not to judge such people until I’ve worked with them myself, but […]

Secret Origins

Green PA commented on a post from a couple weeks ago, “The Curse of the Origin Story”: I recently got very lucky and was able to finagle my way out of the mail room and into a sweet PA job on the lot. I have been scouring IMDB to find the origins of all of […]

How to Impress

A friend of mine discovered I write this blog, and is now playing a rousing game of “Guess the Roman à Clef.” She hasn’t gotten them all right, so I’m glad my attempts at obscuring my identity have had some effect. Anyway, she had a tip for getting on the director’s (or anyone else’s) good […]

Be Prepared

Yesterday, we had a table read (meaning the actors read the script in front of the producers and network executives). The only thing you need to bring to a table read is your script. Guess what the director didn’t bring. Besides his script, I was also told to grab his bag. In his office, he […]

Success

I’ve met Bryan Singer twice. The first time, he came as a guest judge for a student film competition at my school. This was before X-Men had come out, but he must have been in the middle of post, so it was pretty cool that he came by. Of course, at this point, Singer had […]