Pam commented on yesterday’s post:
Eli Roth was a production assistant who made connections and found success as a writer/director/producer. Bill Hader was a production assistant who went on to be a regular on SNL. The list goes on… it all seems so easy.
First of all, let’s not use Eli Roth
Everyone has to start somewhere, and it doesn’t get much more start-y than being a production assistant. Plenty of people have worked their way up from PA to department head or even director.
But even more people land somewhere short of that. Whether you’re working on an indie with a dozen people or a studio feature with a crew of hundreds, there can be only one director.
Every single person who has climbed that ladder was hard-working, talented, and, yes, a little lucky. She was someone people wanted to work with, someone they wanted to follow.
Have you ever had difficulty landing a gig as a PA? Imagine how much harder it is to be hired as the director.
Now, I’m not saying you should give up on your dream. If you want to be a director (or writer or producer or whatever), go for it. But don’t let the outliers fool you into thinking it’s easy.{{2}}
[[1]]Nothing against him personally; I just really hate his movies.[[1]]
[[2]]For the record, I’m pretty sure Pam was being facetious; but there are people who honestly believe what she wrote.[[2]]
One Response
I agree. I have had this thought several times. My thinking is a boss wont want to hire a Boss so if you market yourself as a boss before you get that high (Producer, Director, etc) you are going to get less job offers. Does anyone agree or disagree?