How To Stand Out From the Crowd
Max writes in: First off thanks for your the wonderful blog! As a student reading the “What to do with your student experience” gives me some confidence as I make the leap to LA. In the post you mentioned that if you were lucky you’d learn set etiquette and maybe how to set up a […]
Consistent Work
Lucie writes in: I’ve been doing freelance PA work in the Bay Area for about 7 months now, and have fallen head over heels for the industry. However, I don’t get called enough to make a consistent income to help pay the bills at the moment. Do you have advice on how to make work […]
Making the Jump
Andrew writes in: I’ve recently (a month ago) started reading your blog and I’ve got to say it is awesome! It’s such a great resource for information that would otherwise be hidden by the exclusivity of film sets. I also love how personal your stories are! If you’re ever in Georgia, I’d love to buy […]
How to Set Up a Courtesy Flag
It’s a grip’s job, but someone’s gotta do it.
Booking Agent for PAs
Martin writes in: I was wondering if you had ever heard of Booking Agents for PA’s. I found a job posting through a networking group on Facebook for a two-day PA gig which pays the normal rate. The contact person sent me an email stating this “Thank you for your submission. I would like to […]
The Minimum Wage and You
Several readers have asked how I think LA’s minimum wage increase will affect PAs. Well, it means we’ll get paid more. There’s a whole bunch of caveats to go with that, though. First of all, the $15 an hour minimum wage you’ve been hearing so much about doesn’t take effect until 2020. I would hope […]
Sometimes, You’re Wrong
A couple months ago, I wrote a post about giving yourself extra time to complete tasks: Whenever you’re given something to do, you need to factor in “shit happens.” If you think you can get something done in five minutes, say it’ll take ten. If you think it’ll take an hour to get across town, […]
The First Time You Get Paid For It
Lauren writes in: How many things/what sort of things did you have on your resume when you started applying for PA jobs? PAing my be the bottom rung of the ladder, but unless you know somebody, your first day on set will not be paid. Before I ever applied for a real PA job, I […]
What Did You Do Wrong?
Not even a week into the new season, and there’s already drama behind-the-scenes on my show. Sigh. I was hanging out in the wardrobe cage, as I am often wont to do. Partially it’s because wardrobe is a department I know next-to-nothing about, and partially because I’m fascinated by the sheer number of outfits required […]
What A New PA Needs
Film school is done and the new TV season is upon us, so a lot of recent graduates are writing me emails about what they need to have on set or in the office. Truth is, there’s not a lot that PAs need which the production doesn’t just provide. Especially if you’re an office PA, […]
Managing Background Actors
If you follow me on Twitter, you might have heard some of my frustrations with background actors on a small shoot I was helping out on. First of all, bear in mind that I definitely did not say any of these things on set. That would be even less professional than the extras{{1}} I was […]
Keep Copies of Everything
Andi followed up on yesterday’s post: Total bummer though about the mileage. I’ll definitely be claiming it on my taxes however. Should I still keep tracking my mileage on a mileage form in case I’m audited? Absolutely! In fact, make copies of everything you fill out around the office– mileage reports, petty cash receipts, petty […]