The Anonymous Production Assistant has been around for eight years. Eight years. That means, if you’re graduating from film school now, this blog has been going since you were in junior high.
In that time, there has been over a thousand blog posts, hundreds of answered questions, two score podcast episodes, a half-dozen TAPAs, and a few pointless internet feuds.
That’s a fairly large back catalogue for the hypothetical PA just starting out. I’ve started to notice a lot of repeated questions appear in my inbox. I don’t really blame them; it’s a pretty big haystack.
The best way to resolve this, I think, is to write a book. A beginner’s guide to Hollywood, starting from film school (or not), through your first job, and ultimately moving on from PAing altogether.
This is a big project; it won’t just be a re-print of old blog posts. Some of it’s dated, and it’s massively disorganized. Instead, the old posts will serve as a foundation that I will build on, re-work, and update with new material.
My current show has been cancelled (sad face), which means now’s a perfect time to take on a project like this. But it also means putting off looking for my next show, which is why I’m asking for your help.
That’s right, I’ve started a Patreon page.
If you’re unfamiliar, Patreon is an on-going crowd funding campaign for writers and artists. Typically, patrons pay by the item (like, for each video produced). But I blog too regularly (several times a week) for that to make sense. Instead, I’ve set up a monthly subscription.
Don’t worry! The blog isn’t going anywhere. It is and will remain free. But if you’re a backer, you’ll receive special perks, like an advance copy of the book, or early access to job notices that appear on the site.
Subscriptions start as low as $1 a month. Surely the 10 to 12 articles you get from TAPA are worth that.
Of course, I understand that my readers are often young and broke. I’ve been there. Like I said, the blog isn’t going anywhere; I don’t want anybody to feel like they have to skip lunch to get their TAPA fix.
To balance that out a little, I’m also putting out a corporate sponsor level.{{1}} tens of thousands of readers visit TAPA every week. It’s a very specific, entertainment industry audience. If that’s your target demographic, why not support TAPA and get the word out about your business?
[[1]]Any sponsored content will be clearly labeled. I’m not The Atlantic.[[1]]
