It’s Not Too New. You’re Too Old.
Today, my boss handed me a spreadsheet where one line had spilled over onto a second page. She told me to cut and paste it onto one page. It took me a moment to realize she meant using scissors and glue. I said to her, “I was born in the eighties. I haven’t physically cut […]
Be Prepared
Yesterday, we had a table read (meaning the actors read the script in front of the producers and network executives). The only thing you need to bring to a table read is your script. Guess what the director didn’t bring. Besides his script, I was also told to grab his bag. In his office, he […]
Memo To Anyone Sending in Your Resume
If you’re sending in your resume, please keep the following in mind: Your resume does not need to be six pages long. Steven Spielberg’s is not that long. I used to work for an agency that represented Oscar and Emmy winners, and no one’s resume was more than a page. If you just graduated from […]
What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
Yesterday, the writers’ assistant asked me if I wanted to be a production coordinator. The question puzzled me. Who actually wants to be a coordinator? I can’t imagine anyone stepping off the bus in L.A., and thinking to themselves, “I can’t wait to coordinate some productions!” I know some people roll off the turnip truck […]
Naming Names
I was walking down the hall at the studio, yesterday (as is my wont to do), when one of our producer/writers came out of the bathroom just as I passed it. We did that awkward thing where you’re walking at the same speed to the same place, without actually walking together. Feeling the need to […]
On Screen
(First, I’d like to point you to an amusing post on Amanda’s website, about how soon you forget what it’s like to be young and poor.) In most offices, there are enough binders to create a replica of Stonehenge entirely from supplies purchased at Staples. My boss keeps copies of everything– every script, every draft […]
Double the Standards, Double the Fun!
I was overcome with curiosity by my fellow PA’s statement yesterday, “You don’t know who I know. I could make your life a living hell.” (Seriously, though, he’s a nice guy. This is waaay out of context.) I knew he had been hired because the coordinator was told she had to hire him. So today, […]
I Don’t Wanna Be That Guy
They say you hate in other what you hate most about yourself. I recently came off a show where I had one of the worst bosses of my entire life. Besides having the emotional maturity of a four year old (he once yelled at the script coordinator for bringing him pages, when we had just […]
Really Writing
I walked into the writers’ office yesterday and saw a ping pong ball and two paddles sitting on the assistant’s desk. I paused, staring at the ping pong ball. This was one of those moments you see in indie movies, where the character is contemplating his life, but you don’t know exactly what he’s thinking […]
Where It’s At
Yesterday, Nathan wrote, “You want to write… write!” This is the best, most important advice any aspiring writer can get. But if you’re sitting at a desk in Nome, Alaska, typing away on an Underwood by candlelight, filing your scripts in a drawer, you’re not going to have a writing career. There’s an old saying […]
There Must Be Some Way Outta Here…
Do you ever have one of those days where you look around and think, “What the fuck am I still doing here?” I’m having a day like that today. People always like to tell you, “You have to pay your dues.” But they never tell you how long you have to pay your dues for. […]
Job Well Done
Some days, you can be proud of the work you’ve done, knowing that you’ve contributed, in some small way, to the production. Then there are days when you drive two and a half hours to pick up a DVD with a three second vanity card. I don’t understand why it wasn’t just uploaded to a […]