How to Run a Production Office
Watch the latest Call Sheet interview with UPM Jennifer A. Haire and UPM Gilana Lobel
Book Reports
Two great books everyone should read: Cinema Speculation by Quentin Tarantino and Keys to the Production Office by Gilana Lobel and Jennifer A. Haire.
What Can (Or Should) You Put Up With?
Avoiding crappy directors isn’t as easy as you’d hope.
Gun Safety And You
How to keep yourself safe on set.
Good And Bad Reasons For Film School
There are a lot of good reasons and a lot of bad reasons to attend film school. Let’s discuss them all!
From Agent’s Assistant to Series Creator – an Interview with Merigan Mulhern
You’ve heard the story: start out as an intern, become an agent’s assistant, then a PA, a writer’s assistant, staff writer, and eventually create your own show.
Well, today’s guest LIVED that.
How to Avoid Eyelines
I’m re-reading Making Movies by Sidney Lumet for, like, the fifth time. It’s a great book, and I highly recommend it for any aspiring filmmaker. Some of the terminology is dated (and a lot of the technical stuff is dated), but there’s no better way to learn than at the foot of the master who […]
“Are you doing anything right now?”
Pam writes in: I have a question about something that happens to me on sets and in offices sometimes, but I never know how to answer. What should I do when someone gives me something to do, that isn’t that important, and then someone else asks if I’m busy and can help them? I know […]
How To Become Hollywood’s #1 “Must-Hire” On Major Productions… Without ANY Insider Contacts or Experience
This is a sponsored post about a free Production Assistant Masterclass. You may have noticed I don’t do a lot of sponsored content; that’s because I screen these sorts of things very carefully. If I don’t believe the product or service will benefit my readers, I won’t take the money. Additionally, two other factors led […]
Fire Watch With Me
Lauren tweeted a question at me: @TheAnonymousPA Hey TAPA this might be a dumb question but I’m just starting to get more professional gigs. When I’m on fire watch do I count as available? I.e. if someone asks for something flown in elsewhere I can’t leave my post right? Even if everyone else is on […]
Keep Your Eye on Your Long Term Goal
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 […]
Amazon Rentals
Jamie writes in: I just got a job as a PA (really an unpaid intern) on an independent movie. They put with the production designer as part of the ‘art department’. (really just the two of us). She told me we would be using Amazon Rentals for most of the set decorations. I can’t seem […]