An anonymous reader writes in:
Recently, the 2nd AD kinda said something inappropriate and made me feel uncomfortable. I kinda just told him I wasn’t comfortable with what he said, and we moved on. So I thought.
After that incident, I haven’t really heard anything from him as far as work was concerned. When I contacted him, he was short and not really giving me any information. Just said that he loves having me around and he will see.
I connected with a few of the actors and the director, who all say they would love to keep me on to work, but I also haven’t heard anything from them. I truly understand they are busy, but its been a little over a week and I haven’t heard anything. What do I do? Just assume the worst and try to get on as a PA at another movie or continue trying to contact them?
First of all, a week isn’t that long. You can sometimes go months between jobs.
There’s no reason to think your awkward conversation is what caused the problem. It sounds like you went about it the right way– be direct, but not confrontational. It’s perfectly alright to say something makes you uncomfortable, and most people will respect that.{{1}}
The truth is, you never know what’s going on in other people’s lives, or with the show or company. It could be literally anything, from funding falling through to political must-hires to someone just having a shitty day and not wanting to reply to emails unless they have to. (A PA looking for work is rarely a must-reply.)
That being said, always be looking for another show or movie. If they’re not employing you right now, you need to look. If you find work, let them know you’ll be unavailable unless they tell you otherwise. This will light a fire under their butts, if they really want you back.
If they don’t call you back at that point, well, you have your answer. Again, this doesn’t tell you what their reasoning is; you’ll never truly know what other people are thinking.
[[1]]Not everyone, of course, but learning to deal with assholes is part of being an adult.[[1]]
