One Subject Per Email
The One Subject Email You probably noticed people are busy. Like, all the time. Even when they have a moment to relax, they’ll probably spend that moment whipping out their cell phone and checking Reddit. I’m not criticizing or praising this trend. It’s simply the way life is now. You need to deal with this […]
How To Randomize A Crowd
Most of the time, you’re not going to deal with more than a handful of extras in any one scene. That’s because extras are people, too, and people cost a lot of money. Still, every once in a while, you’ll get a crowd scene. The problem with a crowd of extras is that, at a […]
What Did You Do Wrong?
Not even a week into the new season, and there’s already drama behind-the-scenes on my show. Sigh. I was hanging out in the wardrobe cage, as I am often wont to do. Partially it’s because wardrobe is a department I know next-to-nothing about, and partially because I’m fascinated by the sheer number of outfits required […]
Do Foreigners Have To Start Over?
Raúl writes in: I’m an immigrant with a background in film production (TV Commercials). I worked in the films department of a leading advertizing agency for five years before going on to become a producer for a TV Commercial production company. So here I am in Los Angeles, looking for jobs. My question to you […]
What’s a Green Bed?
An outdated term you may still run into now and again.
What A New PA Needs
Film school is done and the new TV season is upon us, so a lot of recent graduates are writing me emails about what they need to have on set or in the office. Truth is, there’s not a lot that PAs need which the production doesn’t just provide. Especially if you’re an office PA, […]
Managing Background Actors
If you follow me on Twitter, you might have heard some of my frustrations with background actors on a small shoot I was helping out on. First of all, bear in mind that I definitely did not say any of these things on set. That would be even less professional than the extras{{1}} I was […]
What Is Multicam?
Last week, I answered a question about film school that contained within it a big error– Is there much overlap in the skills and techniques used in multiple camera television productions and those used in single camera television productions? I am wondering if the skills taught in these classes, as well as experience working on […]
What Classes Should I Take?
Natasha writes in: I’ve been enjoying your blog and I wondered if I could ask you for some advice. I am an aspiring writer living in LA, ideally hoping to write for hour long television dramas. I am currently considering taking classes in television production. I figured it would be a good idea to learn […]
You’ll Never Get It Right
A long Twitter exchange last week reminded me of a great, probably apocryphal story{{1}}– A famous director was being driven home from Paramount after a long day’s shooting. As they inched along Melrose, the director pointed at a burger joint on the corner and said, “I hate that place.” The driver asked why. The director […]
Keep Copies of Everything
Andi followed up on yesterday’s post: Total bummer though about the mileage. I’ll definitely be claiming it on my taxes however. Should I still keep tracking my mileage on a mileage form in case I’m audited? Absolutely! In fact, make copies of everything you fill out around the office– mileage reports, petty cash receipts, petty […]
Are You Getting Mileage?
Andi writes in: I’m an Office PA working on a low budget feature film in LA. I’ve typically worked on bigger features that have their own rented production vehicles for me to drive. Must be nice. I’ve worked on massive budget television series, and always had to drive my own car. Film has a different […]