New Beginnings…
I’m usually the last person to need motivation, when it comes to work. I love what I do, but that doesn’t mean I have a hard time getting out of bed at 2:30am for a 4:30 call that’s an hour’s drive away. Some days you just feel like you’re stuck in a rut. A perpetuation […]
The Remember Letter
The film industry is notorious for its transience. Finding steady work is like finding the fountain of youth: chasing a mirage. Back in the golden days of Hollywood, crew were devoted to a studio. They signed a contract to just work on Warner pictures or MGM pictures and films were cranked out assembly-line-like as they […]
That’s All, Folks
Some of you may have noticed it’s been a while since my last post. Then again, some of you may not have, considering the 500 or so readers I still get every day. (Weird.) There’s a lot of reasons for this, including that awkward feeling you get when you haven’t posted in a while, that […]
PA Rate
A reader who didn’t sign her email and has an incomprehensible list of letters and numbers for an address (at netscape.net, of all domain names) asks: I’m currently working as an Office PA on a […] film which I have been told is trying to keep things cheap, and was a little shocked that I […]
I Have This Conversation, Like, Five Times a Day
I really enjoy the Xtranormal videos production people have been posting on YouTube. In an effort to expand my media empire, I thought I’d create my own, about what it’s like answering the phone in a production office:
At the Sound of the Beep
Turns out, there was something I forgot to mention about phone etiquette in yesterday’s post. If a caller asks for someone who’s not there or unavailable, the first thing you do is offer alternatives– “Can I help you with something?” or “The coordinator’s not here, but the APOC is.” I worked on one show where […]
Phoning It In
As an office PA, if you’re not driving somewhere, you’re probably answering the phone. What surprises me is how many office PAs aren’t doing it right. Here’s a little refresher for those of you who think “Yeah?” is a perfectly acceptable salutation. When answering the phone, the correct greeting is, “[Show Title], this is [Your […]
How to Drive in Los Angeles Part 4: The Dream Master
Ausmax recently commented: I recently moved to LA myself. My question on this whole left turn is why aren’t there more left turn arrows? I can’t figure it out. If an intersection is busy enough to need a left turn lane, then it is busy enough to need a left turn arrow. I really think […]
Neither a Borrower Nor a Lender Be
This post is really for all my non-PA readers. And by “non-PAs,” I mean “old people.” As an office PA, people often ask to use my computer to look something up, check their email, whatever. And, I admit, I’m probably not doing anything important, or even work related. With a sample size verging on the […]
Objectives
Michael asks: Do you think that having “Objective: Seeking work as a Staff Set PA/Office PA or as an Additional PA/Dayplayer” on your resume is too broad of an objective? So far I have done some work as a Set PA on a couple major networks shows, but nothing as a office PA (I have […]
Making Friends
Jurebro commented on last week’s post: You mention that it’s hard to have a girlfriend while a PA because of the hours. Is it generally difficult to maintain relationships of any sort outside of work? I am interested in moving to Los Angeles to try to get my foot in the door, but I have […]
You Have It. Use it.
I can’t tell you how many times a day people call the office and ask to be connected to some other department. Or a department head rings because he can’t remember his own department’s extension. Or someone on set calls to be connected to someone else… who is also on set. I always want to […]