The Anonymous Production Assistant

The One Line Day Player

Okay, today’s episode is a little outside my usual PA mandate, but it keeps coming up on the show I’m on, and I want to rant somewhere.{{1}} A “day player,” for those who don’t know, is someone who works on the production for only a day. This can be because we have a big scene […]

An Unusual Route to Becoming a Writers’ Assistant

Reader Andrew writes in: There’s a small independent film company looking to break into TV. I know the producer, and she’s offered me a writer’s assistant position while they develop a pilot. So it’s really more of a development assistant position, but she calls it “writer’s assistant.” This makes me very nervous. On one hand, […]

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 […]

Flat Rate

Jillian writes: I recently went on an interview for a production assistant position. I had been responding to an ad that had very little useful information on it, besides the shoot dates. During the interview, I asked what the production was and the rate. They told me they could not reveal any information about the […]

Meisner

If you hang around base camp long enough, you’ll start to hear actors talking about the Meisner technique. It seems to have replaced Method acting as the go-to acting fad. Near as I can tell, Meisner is a series of rehearsal practices designed to make the performer look like as big of an ass as […]

How to Approach Another Show on the Lot

Ms. Key (a pseudonym, I assume), writes: I intern on a major studio lot, which has been an awesome experience so far. I plan to do everything I can to make this last as long as possible and parlay it into a paying gig. My problem is that I’m interning on a talk show, while my […]

Script Coordinator: A Way Out of The PA Doldrums

I have no intention of being a PA forever. As I’ve said before, I’d ultimately like to write and direct. Every path out of PA-hood is unique, but one way out that doesn’t get enough attention is the PA –> Script Coordinator route. A Script Coordinator is the keeper of the script. He or she […]

When I grow up I wanna be…

When you first start working in the film industry you realize that it is, well, big. I mean crazy small REALLY big. It employs a lot of people (although never enough it seems…). The term “filmmaker” is kind of a misnomer; everyone who works here actually does something else that they happen to translate to the […]

Let It Never Be Said That I Can’t Change My Mind

A couple of sound points came out of yesterday’s comments section.  From Galen: Don’t forget that actors often have to go through hair and make up after the blocking during the lighting set-up. This takes a fair bit of time and it saves production money to have a [glossary]stand in[/glossary]. I’m all for efficiency on […]

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 […]