The Anonymous Production Assistant

How to Get Your First Job as a Hollywood Assistant

I recently discovered the website Any Possibility, mostly because they linked to TAPA on a recent post. It’s written by Sam Wilson, an experienced assistant at several literary{{1}} agencies. I know of lot of readers, like me, want to be represented by one of those agencies some day. She offers a very insiders view of […]

Suing for Unpaid Overtime

Steve writes in: I am an executive assistant working for a production company. I am paid hourly, fixed at 44 hours/week, whether I work 40, 44, or 70 hours. Basically, I am trapped in the office until my boss leaves at night. Through my employment, I have been shorted about $10k in overtime, lunches, and […]

Personal Assistant Stuart Friedel

On today’s episode, you’ll actually get to hear the voice of Stuart Friedel, assistant to John August and producer of the podcast Scriptnotes. The job of a personal assistant is a multifarious thing. He assists (as you might imagine) John not just in writing, but also in the creation of apps and, of course, producing […]

I’m a Talent Assistant. Now, What?

An anonymous reader writes in: I am a personal assistant to a well known actress, and she’s bringing me onto a big-ish shoot with her for the first time in a few weeks. Before working for this actress, I worked in production for about 5 years, but I never paid any attention to the talent […]

PA vs. PA

This happens all the time with people new and/or unfamiliar with the industry: they get Production Assistant and Personal Assistant confused. PA vs. PA. Yet there is a distinct difference between these jobs. This should not be an official barometer, but if laundry is in any way involved in your job then you’re the latter PA, […]

Perfection

Following yesterday’s post, I had a few more thoughts on mistakes. I used to be a personal assistant to a producer. He asked me if I ever wanted to be a director, and I said I did. He told me I could never do that job until I could do this job perfectly. This statement […]

I Quit! Wait, Why Are You So Cool With That?

I used to be an personal assistant. I did it for about a year, until I realized I didn’t like living two lives. A personal assistant (which is not a PA) does the things you might expect– answer phones, schedule appointments, fax, copy, file, blah blah blah. But most assistants take control of every aspect […]