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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

What TV Does Best

Last night, I watched an episode of How I Met Your Mother called, “The Wedding Bride.”  If you don’t watch the show, that title is probably meaningless to you.  It may be meaningless even if you do watch the show. See, “The Wedding Bride” was a throw-away joke from an episode last year, “As Fast […]

Full Time Work in a Freelance Industry

I know, I know, it’s been a while since I’ve posted. Sorry. I do have an excuse, though.  The show I’ve been on lo these many months has “stopped production.”  A nice euphemism for “cancelled.”  We’re done. Needless to say, I’ve been spending a lot of time looking for a new job.  Considering the luck […]

Fuck Jay Leno

‘s show. From what I’ve heard, he’s a nice guy.  Also, he supported the writers’ strike, and now the guild is screwing with him (which is totally unfair).  He may be the most middle-of-the-road comedian in history, but he’s still a lot funnier than most of the guys in the office who hate him. Despite […]

Holding Back

Many people seem to be under the misapprehension that we in the office like to hold on to things. Several times a day, I get calls asking if a prelim callsheet has been published, or if a package has arrived, or if the latest draft of the script is out. You know what? No. If […]

Something’s Wrong

Every once in a while, when I’m delivering stuff to set, the crew starts rolling before I get off the stage, and I’m stuck until the end of the take (or takes).  Yesterday was one of those times. With nothing to better to do, I watched the monitor.  After the fourth or fifth “Going again!”, […]

Late Night Tours

PAs are often in the office (or on the set) before anyone else, and they’re the last ones to leave. It’s fun, because the inmates are in charge of the asylum, at least for a little while. One of my favorite things to do at those times is to walk around the set. It’s a […]

Not In The Budget?

The agency I once worked for was across the street from a high school. My boss said he liked the location because it reminded him of the old saying, “Hollywood is just high school with money.” (His other favorite saying was, “Farmers farm, plumbers plumb, and agents lie.” I learned more from him than he […]

A Clarification

Yesterday, I said writing is not producing.  I didn’t mean that as an insult. When I came to LA to attend film school, I thought the writer was in charge of the filmmaking process.  It turns out, I was wrong.  People usually laugh at me when I relate that bit of youthful naiveté.  Or they […]