Do you ever have one of those days where you look around and think, “What the fuck am I still doing here?” I’m having a day like that today.
People always like to tell you, “You have to pay your dues.” But they never tell you how long you have to pay your dues for.
I’ve been a PA for several years. Granted, it took a little while to find my path– I was a personal assistant, I tested video games, I even worked my way up the camera department before I realized I really needed to be in the office to make it as a writer.
Still, I’ve been running sides, brewing coffee, sticking labels, and generally performing tasks that a simpleton could do for the majority of my career (such as it is).
“This is not why I went to film school,” is a common lament among PAs. What I want to know is, when will I get to do what I did go to film school for?
4 Responses
that’s the same reason i originally got out of production. took the longest time for my girlfriend to understand it. “so there’s no career path to writer or director?” nope. you just have to start doing it and make someone notice.
Oh, and BTW,
I realize your query was probably rhetorical and you really don’t need me advising you on squat.
For what it’s worth, when I was getting started, this is some advice I got:
Working as a loader can be a rung on the ladder toward being a D.P. Driving the Art Director around can be a rung on the ladder toward being an Art Director. Being an Office or Set P.A. is a rung on the ladder toward being…an Office or Set P.A.
If you want to write…Write! Continue your P.A. work, ’cause…well, you’ve got to eat after all. But the head writer isn’t going to run into the office any day soon yelling that he needs a P.A. to help punch up next week’s episode.