Wanna Know How Sausage is Made?
My freshman year at film school, I knew at least a half dozen people who dropped out of the program, if not college altogether. Even more changed majors in the years following. After picking films apart for class after class, they found that they just couldn’t enjoy going to the movies anymore, which was probably […]
Set Visits
I was walking a friend from out of state one day, and we saw a line of unmarked, white trucks along the side of the road. My friend said, “It looks like there’s a circus!” Did I mention my friend was from out of town? To an Angelino, those trucks are the surest sign that […]
Job Well Done
Some days, you can be proud of the work you’ve done, knowing that you’ve contributed, in some small way, to the production. Then there are days when you drive two and a half hours to pick up a DVD with a three second vanity card. I don’t understand why it wasn’t just uploaded to a […]
You’re Fired!
I once worked for a guy who told me that he’s never had a job he wasn’t fired from. This was a point of pride for him, as it “proved” he had an entrepreneurial spirit, and he would never be successful until he started his own business. He seemed to be right. He started his […]
10-1
Anybody who works on set and who is slightly immature, by which I mean grips, just giggled at the title. You see, channel 1 is the main production line on the walkies. Anyone could be listening, so you shouldn’t say anything that you don’t want other people to hear. You’re also supposed to follow certain […]
Good Mornin’
You work strange hours when you’re making a TV show (or a movie, for that matter). You’ll come in at 7:00 one day and 10:30 the next. Sometimes you’re there for twelve hours, sometimes sixteen. You just never know. One artifact of this, I believe, is that “morning” is whenever call time is, be it […]
Do You Just Get Dumber As You Get Older, Or What?
It is an immutable fact of nature that everyone is smarter than their boss. Sure, there are exceptions, but not everyone can be Mr. Alley. I remember when Google Maps first unveiled its satellite view. I entered the address where I was working, then called my boss over. “Hey, look. That’s our office!” My boss […]
Late Night Tours
PAs are often in the office (or on the set) before anyone else, and they’re the last ones to leave. It’s fun, because the inmates are in charge of the asylum, at least for a little while. One of my favorite things to do at those times is to walk around the set. It’s a […]
It’s Like Herding Cats. Confused, Obtuse, Narcissistic Cats.
(So, basically, like normal cats.) Dealing with actors is one of the least pleasant tasks of a PA. Just shuttling them from one end of the studio to the other can be a sisyphean task. They want to stop at [glossary slug=’craft-service’]crafty[/glossary], they want to swing by the production office, they have to talk to […]
Not In The Budget?
The agency I once worked for was across the street from a high school. My boss said he liked the location because it reminded him of the old saying, “Hollywood is just high school with money.” (His other favorite saying was, “Farmers farm, plumbers plumb, and agents lie.” I learned more from him than he […]
A Clarification
Yesterday, I said writing is not producing. I didn’t mean that as an insult. When I came to LA to attend film school, I thought the writer was in charge of the filmmaking process. It turns out, I was wrong. People usually laugh at me when I relate that bit of youthful naiveté. Or they […]
Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee, A PA’s Life For Me!
First, Amanda the Aspiring TV Writer has an inspiring post. If you’re interested in writing, you should check it out. In that vein, I’d like to write my own heartwarming blog post. My wife told me that these posts have been really negative. That’s unfortunate, because I really do like my job. It’s certainly better […]