I’ve spent my fair share of time in production offices. From sea to shining sea. Well… from Brentwood to Burbank. And in all of those offices, I’ve experienced the same emotion on my first day: Nervousness.
There’s no good reason for me to be anxious. Relatively little is expected of a PA on their first day. The higher-ups are generally understanding if you’re slow to answer the phone or have to double-check what people’s names are again. I’ve been in the office for an hour-and-a-half. Here’s what I’ve been asked to do so far:
- Re-stock the spoons and sodas in the kitchen.
- Walk to AT&T and buy a cell phone battery.
I’m sitting here – in MY OWN OFFICE, I might add – wishing I hadn’t been tossing and turning last night, nervous of what today would bring. Wishing I hadn’t woken up a half-dozen times this morning, panicked that I had slept through my alarm. Wishing I hadn’t left my house thirty-five minutes early to drive eight minutes to this office.
There is one thing I forgot to do last night. And again this morning: BRING MY PASSPORT TO WORK. I have managed to forget this on every show I have ever worked on. Need that passport (or any combination of documents that proves your identity) for your I-9.
7 Responses
I think this happens to all of us. Even after 35 years in the biz, I still get the toss-and-turn, check-the-clock jitters the night before starting a new job, especially if the call is an early one.
I’m not so sure about Adam’s flash drive idea, though. Granted, it would be a real time saver, but if you happen to lose that flash drive, all your identity information is right there for the world to find. Yes, we put all that info on paper for the production company’s files — and I’ve heard too many stories about those paper files being tossed into dumpsters rather that being properly shredded after wrap — but digital information seems a lot more vulnerable to wide dissemination and misuse. Maybe I’m being paranoid, but the convenience of using a flash drive for W-4s and I-9s could come at a high price…
The worst part is waking up drenched in sweat…
i got tired of filling out w-4 & I-9s every gig, along with Demo Meals Packets.
also scan those w-4 and I-9s so how dont have to keep filling them out on every gig.
I feel like an idiot for not thinking of this long ago.
own a flash drive? use it… scan your documents on to the flash drive and you will have it with you at all times. Or you can email them to yourself.