When Your Boss Gives You Work That’s Not Your Job
Samantha writes in: I work as an office PA, but cover also as a runner and as our Post PA too. I have a quick question to ask if I’m getting taken advantage of or not in my workload. Now, the question I have pertains to a Sr./ Co-EP Story Producer asking me to go […]
Interview Prep
I had an interview yesterday for a writer’s PA gig on a new TV show. My last few interviews have gone pretty well, so maybe I walked in a little too cocky. It turned out to be my worst interview in years. Part of it were elements beyond my control. While in the lobby, I heard […]
“In the Next Day or Two…”
As my unemployment comes to a temporary respite, I was thinking about a phrase I’ve heard a lot lately: Expect a call in the next day or two. Usually, it’s a friend of mine who calls to tell me about a job opening. He (or she) gives me the preliminary info and tells me that […]
When to Lie in an Interview
I interviewed recently to be the assistant to an EP on a network TV show. My interview philosophy has changed over the last few years. When I first started out, I lied my way through nearly every question in an interview. When they’d ask what I wanted to do in Hollywood for the rest of […]
TAPA On Set
An Office PA’s place is in the office. (Any loyal readers want to embroider that on a pillow for me?) So when an Office PA ventures on set, it creates a classic fish-out-of-water scenario. On my last show, I had to accompany the supervisor’s seventeen-year-old neighbor to set. She sat there, starry-eyed, watching take after […]
The Similarities Between My Job and ‘The Wire’
I wrote on Twitter that I’ve been using this lull in the pre-production schedule to make my way through Season 3 of THE WIRE. For those uninitiated to one of the greatest shows ever, THE WIRE follows a police unit’s investigations of the criminal underworld in Baltimore, Maryland. In the show, the police commanders have […]
Your Car, The Mobile Office
As a PA, you’ll spend 95% of your time between two places – your desk and your car. I try to keep my desk as clean as possible. My car is a different story. Until very recently, my car was a danger zone. Receipts, fast food bags, empty water bottles (don’t tell the Green PA) littered the […]
Getting Chummy With The Bosses
Last week, the Other PA asked me, “Hey. Joe Buck the EP doesn’t seem to talk to me very much. You think he doesn’t like me?” Here’s what I wanted to say back: “No. He’s the EP. You’re a PA. You two could not be on further ends of the production spectrum. Your day-to-day job […]
Old People Stand In The Way of the Future
If you were born in a decade that starts with the number 7, then you are old. Don’t be offended. Let me be the first to welcome you to your golden years. That being said, stop standing in the way of the future! I’m almost positive that I could write an entire blog about old […]
The “Strong” Pot of Coffee
As the “early PA,” I’m the first one in the office each morning. Like the class president of Mrs. Jewls’ class, it’s my job to turn the lights on. (Important job! No one else is capable or qualified!) It also means that I have to brew the first pot of coffee. This has transformed me […]
Everyone Has a Boss
Regular readers may have noticed that I don’t like being told what to do. It’s a combination of youthful hubris and laziness-disguised-as-hubris. (“I know a better way to do this! I’ll not do it!”) Someday, I’ll be a showrunner, and everyone will have to do things my way. Directors will bow to the writer! The […]
Touching Base
Reader Pamela writes: I was working on an awards show recently, hired as a recipient andpresenter wrangler, within one day bumped up to assistant stage manager for the recipient and presenters stage within one day. The executive producers and Stage manager praised me several times and said they would love to have me work for […]