The Anonymous Production Assistant

Let Me Get Back to You II

It’s the last week to buy your TAPA T-shirt! Wear it to the next TAPArty. * * * Last week, I wrote a post titled Let Me Get Back to You. Reader Sam (an assistant production supervisor, so you should listen to him){{1}} wrote in– From the title, I thought this article was going to […]

Let Me Get Back To You

close up of man talking on radio transmitter

There’s certain key phrases every PA should know: “Yes.” (Except when the answer is No.) “It won’t happen again.” “It’s Thursday. Yes, payroll checks are coming today.”

Here’s another one to add to your quiver: “I’ll look into that.”

Production Listings

Nash writes in: I have been considering paying for a subscription to the Production Alert service. I just wanted to know if you thought it was worth it for someone looking to get more PA work? I’ve never found a job through listing services like Production Alert or Production Weekly. The Hollywood Reporter apparently realized […]

Sympathy for the Departments

Every morning, the office receives a [glossary]production report[/glossary] in [glossary]the football[/glossary]. And every morning, the production report is wrong. A PR, for those who don’t know, is a bizarro call sheet. Instead of telling you what you’re going to do tomorrow, it tells you what you actually did yesterday. It lists the scenes that were shot, in […]

I Didn’t Know I Didn’t Know

Every boss wants you to be proactive, to take care of things without checking with them every five minutes, to figure things out for yourself. Except, of course, when they don’t. Every once in awhile, I run into a situation like the following: the set PA called and said they needed a stand-by painter on […]

How to Get Coordinator Contact Info (This Title Is Very Misleading)

Jackie writes in: Any advice on how best to get the contact info for a production coordinator of a specific show? Generally, it’s a know-someone-who-knows-someone kind of deal. Think about it. If you have something that a lot of people want (a job to offer), would you publicize your email? Coordinators would get millions of […]

What the Hell Are Purchase Orders?

A PA who shall remain nameless (for soon-to-be-obvious reasons) writes in: I’m PAing for my first big production, and my coordinator just told me that since we don’t have open accounts yet, I should use POs for the stuff we order. She already had taken some time to show me some stuff that needed to […]

Applying for a Job While You Have a Job

Nick writes in: I’m nervous to apply to some shows because the company I work for may do work with said show. Have you ever had a circumstance where you applied to a job where someone was connected with your current job? I haven’t, and I can’t really imagine it happening. Why would the coordinator […]

Your Rate Quote

Rob asks: I’m working on getting a PA position, and the coordinator wants me to give her my last 3 weekly rates. She says it’s studio policy. I’m wondering if this is a normal practice or is this a trap? Am I allowed to stretch the truth a little here, in order to hopefully get […]

Many Departments, One Screw Up

Over at the Hills are Burning blog, AJ has a great post about how you need to take responsibility for your own time card. Basically, the best boy grip on one of her shows told her he doesn’t bother keeping track of in and out times on his department’s time cards, because all of that […]

How to Interview

[Redacted]{{1}} asks: I just got a call to come in for an interview next week on a new show. Over the past decade of my production experience, every significant job I’ve had came from word-of-mouth, friends, people I’ve worked with before, etc. – I’d never even had a resume till recently, and I’ve never actually […]