The Anonymous Production Assistant

Dream a Little Dream of… Production

Max writes: Do you ever get what I call PA dreams? What happens to me is that during weeks with particularly high levels of stress, I have reoccurring dreams in which I’m aware that it’s 3AM and yet also aware that my Coordinator or Production Manager wants me to get out of bed and bring […]

Just Because It’s Free…

…doesn’t mean you have to eat it (ALL). I’ve gained twelve pounds on this show. Considering my size, that’s put me over the edge into the “overweight” territory. I’m not someone who obsesses over their weight, but the last thing I need is to be catching heat for being the tubby PA. The PA lifestyle […]

Going International

This week, the show I’m on leaves the friendly confines of Los Angeles for the unpredictability and authenticity of Eastern Europe. This means that for the last week, the entire crew has been running around like a bunch of toddlers, fearing “the move” like it were the pending apocalypse. I’m sure if these same people […]

Act Like You’ve Been There Before

This week, our #2 actor started, so we sent him a bouquet of flowers to congratulate him. (It wasn’t until I typed that last sentence that I realized how stupid of a Hollywood tradition it is to congratulate an actor for starting a show. The only thing they’ve done up to that point is sign a […]

Hollywood: Land of a Thousand Promises

A few years ago, I directed a web series that got a little bit of heat with an amazing sizzle reel. We got a producer attached, and the sizzle reel found its way to Kevin Reilly, and he said, “This made me laugh out loud, and very few things make me laugh out loud.” I […]

Good Enough

On my first show, I was copying blue crew lists, and the corner of page two kept curling in the copier, resulting in a tiny black smudge appeared on everybody’s crew lists. The secretary flipped through a handful of them, then gave them all back to me. “Do them again,” he said. “Figure out a […]

On Set Internship

Amy commented a while back: If I were to enroll in school to be able to take internships, how would one go about getting an on set internship? I’ve watched a few credits that have “art department intern” and other credits listed but I can never find these through production company websites or other job […]

The Black Swan Interns

Last week, the New York Times reported: Two men who worked on the hit movie “Black Swan” have mounted an unusual challenge to the film industry’s widely accepted practice of unpaid internships by filing a lawsuit on Wednesday asserting that the production company had violated minimum wage and overtime laws by hiring dozens of such […]

Zero Experience

Katie writes: I am wondering what my resume should look like if I have absolutely ZERO experience in the entertainment/PA world. My background is in fashion, I have worked only in theatrical works (some stage managing). I really don’t want my resume to sink my ship. I’m a great ass-kisser and do-good-er, but can’t put […]

Ringback Tone? Seriously?!

Dear unnamed crew member on the unnamed movie I’m working on, Have you noticed that when you answer your cell phone, people are mysteriously rude to you? Even if it’s someone who’s having an otherwise pleasant day and has no reason to utterly despise you – have you noticed that they sort of hate you? […]

Question Regarding Set PAs

E writes: For the past couple of months, I just went through a whirl wind tunnel of day playing scripted shows and some features, and just landed my first full time additional set PA job. I’m green, but at least I know enough to know that I’m green. With that being said, do you have […]

Travel Coordinator: A Way Out

Another path out of the doldrums is to become a Travel Coordinator. This path is just as idiosyncratic as the path toward becoming a script coordinator, definitely not as clear-cut as the one that leads to production secretary. A travel coordinator plans the travel and hotel accommodations on a show that travels. As far as […]