Focus
Jared commented on yesterday’s post: I generally pick favorites and cater to them. There’s just no way i’m going to make everyone happy, so why try? When lunch is in my hands I cater to my bosses (POC, APOC,) and the ADs wants and needs. Those are the people who hire PAs in the future […]
The Bus Story
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. There’s this PA, right? He just fell off the turnip truck, doesn’t know anything about the Industry, but he seems to be a nice enough guy and a hard worker, so the coordinator hires him. On his first day, his boss sends him out on a run, […]
I Have a Better Idea!
Désirée (síc) commented on Friday’s post: I wonder, do not these pro copy guys some form of woe of silence? Or couldn’t you just have stood by him while he did the job, making sure he didn’t read or made 119 copies? It feels like it must have been much easier for you to miss […]
Overheard in the Production Office
I was filling out my mileage form yesterday, and I wondered how much it was going to be worth. The current rate is 50.5 cents, and that extra half cent threw me off. “Goddamn it, why can’t they just use whole numbers? Decimals just screw me up.” Without looking up, the coordinator said, “Use improper […]
Question for Coordinators
Who decides whether to send a PA or a teamster to pick something up? And why? It seems so arbitrary. Somethings are pretty standard. If it’s too big to fit in a PA mobile like a Civic or a Corolla, the teamsters will pick it up in a truck. If it’s a script delivery, a […]
Say Yes
If you’ve ever taken an improv class, you’ve heard the rule, “Say Yes.” If your partner says, “Man, it sure is cold up here on the moon,” you don’t say, “No, no, this is the old west.” You’d be surprised how many people want to do this. PAs have a similar rule, or at least […]
Oh, Canada!
AQBemp writes: I’m in the UK and just about to finish uni (nothing film related). There is a scheme here where you can get a work permit/visa for Canada for a year once you’ve graduated as long as you get there by January 2010. At the moment I am really considering going to Vancouver. One […]
Office PA Vs. Set PA
What is the difference between the two main types of production assistant?
Who Hires a PA?
Samantha writes: I’m a soon-to-be college grad, and I’m planning on moving out to LA this summer. I was wondering who it is I should be contacting to get a PA position? People have told me numerous positions like the AD and the UPM, but I don’t know who I really should be getting in […]
Self Perception
I ran into someone I knew from another show. We hadn’t seen each other in a while, so we caught up on the usual “How ya doin? What’ve you been working on?” stuff. Then she said an odd thing. She said she always remembered me as the guy who smiled a lot. Me? Really? Don’t […]
Pardon Me While I Complain a Bit
Today, my boss handed me a memo about tomorrow’s table read. Time, location, who’s going to be there, things like that. The memo is dated today, but in the body of the text, it reads, “tomorrow, August 21st.” Apparently, she copy-and-pasted an old memo. Which is good, actually; ctrl-C, Ctrl-V is pretty advanced for someone […]
Why Didn’t You Remind Me That I Reminded You?
Some days, I think my boss is a blithering idiot. (By the way, did you know “blither” means “to blather”? Thanks, dictionary.com!) Other days, I think she’s pants-shittingly crazy. We have a production meeting tomorrow, so my boss wrote up a memo with the time and room number, and had me copy it fifty times […]