Taxes
I’m preparing my taxes right now. (Side note: I hate math.) I don’t actually “prepare” my taxes. An accountant does that. I simply go through a year’s worth of Starbucks and Jack in the Box receipts and try to figure out what I can claim as a write-off. Gas. Do I get to write off […]
PA Rate… and Raises
I’ve talked before about PA rate in a blog post appropriately titled… “PA Rate.” Everything there still applies, but I wanted to talk for a moment about negotiating for a higher rate. On every PA interview I’ve been on, the coordinator will ask either “What’s your rate?” or “What did they pay you on your […]
The Unemployment Card
What’s unemployment like?
TAPA at Sundance: Part Two
A few more thoughts on Sundance, for the TAPA readers who are going for weekend #2 or Sundance 2013. The shuttles. It’s tough for a lot of Los Angelenos to go someplace that relies so heavily on public transportation. Nobody at Sundance drives. Everybody walks, everybody takes the shuttles. On the plus side, they’re free. […]
TAPA at Sundance: Part One
On sort of a whim (and an unexpected gift from my parents), I went to Sundance this year. For those tenacious PAs who are heading up to Park City, Utah, later this week or mulling a trip for next year, I thought I’d prepare a handy guide of Do’s and Don’ts for the festival: Dress […]
So This Is The New Year…
I’m going to take a break from my usual rants about things that annoy me in Hollywood. The vitriol-masked-as-humorous-annoyance will be back again soon. Until then, I want to talk about new year’s resolutions. We’re two-and-a-half weeks into the new year, but it’s not too late to write your resolutions. “But resolutions are stupid,” you […]
The Labyrinth of Unemployment (Insurance)
The longer you work in production, the better you should become at filing for unemployment, right? Wrong. I can file. I can order office supplies. I can organize a cast list and a crew list and a non-confidential cast list. I can email out call sheets and schedules. I can keep inventories. I can [glossary […]
See You on the Next One…
The standard “goodbye” on a film set or production office is “See you on the next one.” It’s not as harsh as goodbye. It’s a little more definitive than a simple see you later. It acknowledges that this is the life we’ve chosen, moving from job to job like itinerant circus performers. But let’s get […]
Parkinson’s Law of Wrap
On almost every show I’ve been on, someone has remarked during production that we’ve been allotted an ungodly amount of time for wrap. You’ll hear, “Can you believe the studio is giving us five weeks for wrap? What are we going to do with all that time?!” Or you might get, “I once had to […]
Production Yak
I’ve talked before about Coordinators 411, which – as you know – is a Google group that includes all of the production coordinators, APOCs, secretaries, and eager PAs working in Hollywood today. It’s a great resource when you need to find an animal trainer before tomorrow morning’s 7am call time or need to unload all […]
Whistle While You Work
Imagine a quaint little production office. UPM knows everybody by name, asks them about their weekend and their career ambitions. The Coordinator is keen on being fair when he doles out overtime and permission to wrap it up each evening. The kitchen is stocked with delicious, healthy food. The PAs hurry to and fro, whistling […]
The Last PA
At the beginning of the show that I’m currently on, I wrote about the special role of the First PA – the first PA hired, the first PA to endear himself to the hearts and minds of the higher-ups. Now, as this show wraps up, I thought it wise to talk a little about the […]