Fuck Jay Leno
‘s show. From what I’ve heard, he’s a nice guy. Also, he supported the writers’ strike, and now the guild is screwing with him (which is totally unfair). He may be the most middle-of-the-road comedian in history, but he’s still a lot funnier than most of the guys in the office who hate him. Despite […]
Mistakes Will be Made
Yesterday, Shawn commented on a grammatical mistake I made (now corrected): “Kids my age so comfortable and lazy that we can’t even muster the energy to leave the house, much less protest.” Or even do a simple grammar check. It’s true, I made a mistake, and it’s true that I often mock others for similar […]
Holding Back
Many people seem to be under the misapprehension that we in the office like to hold on to things. Several times a day, I get calls asking if a prelim callsheet has been published, or if a package has arrived, or if the latest draft of the script is out. You know what? No. If […]
It’s Rather Easy Being Green, Actually
In recent months, there’s been much discussion of shows “going green.” Don’t believe a word of it. I heard on some entertainment show or other that a particular show-that-shall-remain-nameless is reducing paper by giving all of the actors Kindles. I happen to know a guy on said show. When I told him about the story, […]
There’s Always Someone Below You
I went on a run today, to pick up something for the Big Awesome Show I work for. I went to the will-call window, and the guy’s eyes lit up. “You’re a PA on Big Awesome Show? How did you land that job?” I couldn’t really say. It was just a combination of experience, networking, […]
Casting Called Out
I asked an AD to look over my resume, and make some suggestions. He pointed to two listings for “Casting PA,” both on game shows. “Get rid of these” “Why?” “No one respects the casting department. They don’t do any work. It makes you look lazy.” Wow. The thing is, I knew he kinda had […]
More About Honorifics
Yesterday’s post generated a surprising number of comments, considering I didn’t once mock the PA Bootcamp. Readers proposed several theories regarding the Sir/Mr. dichotomy, but here’s one I didn’t think about until late last night– it’s all Walt Disney’s fault. Back in film school, our stage manager (and my old boss), Herb, was a retired […]
What Time of Year Do Shows Hire?
Linda asks: If a television production is nearly done shooting for the season, would this be considered a poor time to contact the production office to inquire about open positions for a production assistant? If so, when is the appropriate time to contact a television production office? Most shows are nearly done by now, if […]
Perspective
Yesterday’s post produced some interesting comments. Capn Cookie said that, while Bale’s outburst was uncalled for, the DP was still kind of a dick. Which called to mind an incident that happened on set only a few weeks ago. As you probably know, it’s standard procedure to turn your cell phone to vibrate when on […]
Poking the Frog
Every once in a while, the hype surrounding 30 Rock overwhelms me, and I decide to give it another chance. This is always a mistake. I can count on my hand the number of times I laughed at the show (“Did a Korean person die?”). I tend to turn it off after the teaser, when […]
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 […]
Life Cycle of a Show (Act III)
Step Nine: The News You might think that there is a fixed schedule, by which you can determine when your time on a show will be up. You would be wrong. Even when you can see the ratings drop week by week, the producers put on a happy face. “They’re giving us time to find […]