What’s Important in Your Resume
Marcel writes in: In the area I live a lot of potential film work has recently popped up the local film registry. With that I am reformatting my resume to make it more appealing. I have done a significant amount of videography student projects that mostly involve athletics or seminars along with some work in […]
You Control the Information
Brianna writes in: I’ve been hesitant to take anything reality-based work that I am offered. An acquaintance (who is now an AD after earning his PA days) told me that no one will hire a PA on a scripted show if they only have reality on their resume because they’re two different worlds. My entire […]
Does a Theater Degree Count Against Me
Jimmy writes in: I have a bachelors and a masters in theatre. I never intended to break into the entertainment industry as a Production Assistant, but I now have decided that that is where I want to start. I trained to be an actor, and I am finding that it may be more difficult than […]
Don’t Be a Flake
One of the most important qualities in a PA is reliability. Your boss, whether an AD or production coordinator or whatever, wants to know that when she gives you a task, you will get it done. Your job is, naturally, to do it, as efficiently and effectively as possible. Which seems simple, but shit happens, […]
Changing Careers
Peter writes in: After three years in law enforcement, I’ve decided on a career change. With the long-term goal of going into talent representation, what type of positions should I be applying for? The standard assistant/receptionist positions? Or, should I be seeking out some type of internship? I’ve cold called a handful of agencies, is […]
Will Working on a Christian Movie Hurt My Career?
Will writes in: I’ve had a decent PA career in Atlanta, working on several movies and TV series. But I’m moving to Los Angeles soon, because I really want to write. One of the movies I worked on was an explicitly Christian film. I have no idea if this credit might work against me once […]
Use Your Boredom
Kelly asks: I was in film school and started this internship at a film production company here in Hollywood. I learned a lot, but just as I was ready to leave they hired me for 6 months to run their office while they went on location for their next production. So now I’m alone in […]
How to Run a Production Meeting
Dax asks: I’ve experienced several different production meetings. Two seem to be the most common. The first AD reads through the script in scene order and then through the one liner in schedule order. if this is correct? If so, should the AD just read the slug lines for each scene and then summarize the […]
The Match Game
This is another one of those things I keep seeing when I help people with their resume and cover letter: the name on your resume needs to match the name on your email address. This is especially true of Gmail accounts, since it’s probably the most common email out there, both for individuals and for […]
Errors and Omissions
There were quite a few good comments this week; in case you missed them, I thought I’d point them out. Regarding internships and college credit, WireMonkey said: I found this strange but I interviewed at a few significant companies for internship positions. I always casually dropped that I could earn college credit for the reasons […]
You Can Help Bring Crew Call Back
The first season of Crew Call was pretty great. We got advice from producer Ryan Murphy, heard hilarious stories from prop master Jim Falkenstein, and learned how to get a job as a writer’s assistant from Stuart Friedel. If you want more below-the-line interviews, we can use your help. The first and most direct way, […]
Who’s On Set?
Callsheets are, for the most part, self-explanatory. It gives you information like the call time, location address, and things of that sort. But a reader recently asked what the “status” column in the cast section meant, and I realized maybe it’s not all as self-explanatory as I thought. The cast section of the callsheet generally […]