Never Quit a Show
Lauren writes in about quitting a show between seasons: Stumbled upon your blog and website and…thank you. I appreciate what you’re doing and sharing! I would like your advice on something though. So I got my first long-term PAing job on a TV show in Chicago. It’s going great. However, my dream is living and […]
Two Sides to Hollywood
When someone contacts me about my resume service, the first thing I ask is, “Do you want to be a PA, or an assistant?” Because, you see, there are two sides to Hollywood: the business side, and the production side. Here, I’m using “production” in the broadest sense, encompassing every department from art to editorial. […]
Who Do You Work For?
Judging by the comments on last week’s post, I’ve been a little too cute when discussing the question of who you work for. The truth is, there are several valid answers, depending on what you really want to know. Working on a film or television production is not really the same as working for the […]
Advice from Other People
Giovanni writes in: I’m eyeing a few productions that will shoot in Louisiana this summer. For an on location shoot, when does the hiring process usually start? Is it constantly ongoing? I assume it happens during pre-production but how far in advance I have no clue- weeks, months? I have already sent in my resume […]
Working Title
Gabrielle writes in (via Twitter, which is why it’s so short): The movie I worked on is still in pro&working under a mock title does the m.t. or the actual name go on the resume? This is similar to a question Melissa asked a couple months ago, but it still bears addressing. I’m assuming you […]
PA vs. Intern
Haley commented recently: Thanks for your Blog of awesomeness! So, I just got an interview to be an Art Dept. intern on a new Showtime series (yay!), and I had two questions for you. 1) What is the difference between a PA and an Intern on set? Legally, it means you can’t work. No, really. […]
Titles
There’s a curious inconsistency I’ve noticed in the way film industry address each other. No one is ever called “Mr. Spielberg,” or “Ms. Ephron.” It’s “Steve” and “Nora.” Even if you’ve just met the person, you’re instantly on a first-name basis. This is particularly hard to get used to for a polite boy from the […]
What The Heck Is A Production Assistant, Anyway?
A PA is all things to all people. By which I mean, any shit job that nobody else wants to do is given to the PAs. Making coffee, making copies, driving all the way across town to drop off a script and thus adding unnecessary greenhouse gases to our environmental crimes. (Seriously, e-mail exists. What’s […]