How to Quit
Michael writes: I am a creative assistant for a feature film director. I like and respect the director, but, because of an array of circumstances, I am seeking employment elsewhere. My question is this: how do I quit without completely ruining the contact and relationship I have with him? Keep in mind it’s not going to be brutally ugly for […]
UTA Joblist on TAPA
I’ve blogged about the joblist before, but for those of you who don’t know, it’s a basically just a list of job openings, compiled by assistants at the United Talent Agency. There are a number of places online to find the UTA Joblist, but lately, they all seem to be updating way too slowly. These […]
Professional Email Address
Scott writes: I was told by someone that a gmail address is “more trusting” in the industry rather than using another free email or your own domains email. What do you think? The most important factor in an email is not what comes after the @ sign, but instead, what comes before. Sure, a Gmail […]
Email Cover Letters
Elysia asks: When a production, indie or major, asks for applicants to send a resume via email should you attach a cover letter as well or write it in the body of the email? Absolutely include a cover letter. Without a cover letter, people will assume you just don’t care about the job, and you’re […]
How Old Is Too Old?
Barbara asks: I had a question about age – I looked through your posts but was not able to find any posts about it – how old is ‘too old’ from what you’ve seen in the work field? Are people willing to hire inexperienced PAs only in their early 20s? I’ve met at least two […]
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 […]
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 […]
Demo Reel
Jordan recently commented on an old post about cover letters: Is it presumptuous to include a demo reel link in a resume if it is relevant? “If it is relevant,” I don’t imagine it would be presumptuous, but I can’t imagine a circumstance when it would be, at least for a production assistant. (Maybe you […]
The Factory Floor
Rachel writes: First off I love your blog! It’s comforting to hear that another PA is dealing with the same stuff I deal with. 🙂 I have been working as a PA for the past year on different reality shows. My resume is obviously OK (or at least decent) otherwise I wouldn’t be getting any work, […]
PA vs. Intern
Haley commented recently: Thanks for your Blog of awesomeness! So, I just got an interview to be an Art Dept. intern on a new Showtime series (yay!), and I had two questions for you. 1) What is the difference between a PA and an Intern on set? Legally, it means you can’t work. No, really. […]
Emailing Strangers
Danielle asks: I recently graduated college, during which I had internships on the corporate side of three different television stations (all headquartered in NYC). Since graduating, I’m looking to move into the production side but don’t have the contact base required, since the stations outsourced to external production houses. Through some serious stalking, I uncovered […]
Missed Opportunity
Should you call in sick to your day job for a gig on set?