getting Started
There’s a lot of things they don’t teach you in film school. (And which they definitely don’t teach in YouTube editing tutorials). When you arrive in Los Angeles (or New York, or Atlanta, or…), the question quickly becomes, where do you begin?
Let’s start withe defining terms. The basic, entry-level positions are PA (AKA production assistant), executive assistant (or just “assistant”), or personal assistant (which is not a PA). Plus, there’s internships. What are all these jobs? Check out the articles below.

What Is a Hollywood Assistant?
I frequently get emails from new readers who are confused about what an assistant in Hollywood actually is.There

PA vs. PA
This happens all the time with people new and/or unfamiliar with the industry: they get Production Assistant and

PA vs. Intern
Haley commented recently: Thanks for your Blog of awesomeness! So, I just got an interview to be an
Breaking in as an Assistant

First Day in the Production Office
Jerrica wrote in: I start an office PA position on a network show in a week and I

Your First Day on Set
Below is a reprint of a guest post I wrote for the Work in Entertainment blog. If you’ve

Many Kinds of PAs
First of all, what the hell, Warner Brothers? I feel like I can get onto the Universal lot

Office PA Vs. Set PA
Thomas writes: I was reading your blog tonight and you have some really interesting stories and anecdotes. None

No Entertainment Industry Experience
Sally, one of my Patreon supporters, writes in about lacking entertainment industry experience: Thank you again for this

Three Common Resume Mistakes
After cleaning up a couple of hundred resumes, I’ve found some common resume mistakes pop up over and
How to Get Your First Job as a Hollywood Assistant
I recently discovered the website Any Possibility, mostly because they linked to TAPA on a recent post. It’s
Two Resumes
Scott writes in: The NBC Universal Careers twitter tweeted this link about the automated systems that scan resumes
Resume Consultation
Still need help updating your resume? Not even sure what it should look like? From PA to producer, intern to executive, we can help.
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