The Anonymous Production Assistant

Keep Your Eye on Your Long Term Goal

Photo by Samuel Zeller on Unsplash

Marty Lang contacted me on Twitter, presumably in refernce to the joblist, or my own jobs page: @TheAnonymousPA there really is no way to get an inside track on a writer’s assistant position, is there? I scour sites all over the place, and the closest I ever came to finding one was the showrunners assistant […]

Want to be a Prepared Office PA?

Lion King Be Prepared

First of all, let me just say I’m super annoyed that Disney is dropping “Be Prepared” from the Lion King remake. Anyway, on to the reader question: What kind of gear would an Office PA need? And what kind of gear would a Set PA need? I have been told once that an Office PA […]

How to Move Jobs and Cities at the Same Time

The Jeffersons

Stuck in New York{{1}} writes: I am currently located in NY and want to move to LA. I have worked in post-production as a transcriber and assistant editor for 3 years on different reality shows and it stains my soul. I want to be in a writer’s room or have a position that writing is […]

How Do I Tell My Boss His Script Sucks?

I found this question over on r/screenwriting about giving notes, but I thought the answer might be useful for my readers, as well– I’m a recent film school graduate, and like every film school graduate – I’m desperate to work. I saw an ad for a script supervisor on a local filmmakers page and jumped […]

Survival Jobs

Racquel writes in: I’m an aspiring scripted TV writer who’s been living in LA for almost 4 months now and am scrambling to survive financially. I’ve been utilizing TAPA, the UTA joblist, EntertainmentCareers, LinkedIn, Mandy, the Friedman Agency, and any person from the industry I come in contact with to try to land a gig. […]

Unions Don’t Work That Way

Elle writes in: I’m a production assistant on a talk show. I’ve been in Los Angeles since 2012 after my relocation from Florida to pursue a career in the motion picture industry. I’m still very new and learning everyday, but at this point, I’d like to know what the next step should be. My goal […]

Want Your Own Office?

A lot of you, like me, are aspiring writers. You write from home, or at a coffee shop, or even while at work. That’s all well and good, but wouldn’t it be nice to have your own space? Well, The Office is offering just that. Announcing the 2015 Fellowship to theOffice If you’re looking for […]

Managing Your Time

Ashley writes in: I’ll be moving to LA in the next few months to chase my dream of becoming a screenwriter. I’m also interested in production, though, and have thought about working on set starting as a PA. I’ve read that as a PA there’s usually little to no time outside of work, and I […]

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 […]

So You Have an Idea…

Joe writes in: I’m just a 32 year old boy. And like every 32 year old boy, I have an idea for a TV series. I don’t have any connections, but I do have a show bible and pilot script. Is there any way a regular old boy without any connections can get anyone to […]

Should Wannabe Writers Be PAs?

Corey writes: Due to the nature of production and the long shifts, would you still recommend PA to someone trying to write films? Many writers have told me that it is often best to pick a job that allows you to pay bills and still have time to write. Since you are obviously doing both, […]

For Those of You With Aspirations

For those of you who dream of getting paid to write (or direct or production design or shoot or whatever else), I highly recommend reading Kelly Oxford’s recent Tumblr post. A little background info: Kelly Oxford is a super-smart writer whose Twitter feed has earned her over a hundred thousand followers. Big whoop, right? Wrong. […]