The Name Game
Last week, I started working in a new production office, which means lots of new show anxiety. New show anxiety means frantically digging through my room, looking for my social security card in order to prove my identity for my I-9, telling myself over and over, “I should really invest in a filing cabinet.” New […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
90% of success
Script Goddess had a fun post last week about filling as an AD on a commercial. This passage in particular caught my attention: Day 3 Exterior House. My first time directing trucks and production vehicles. As I was arriving at the location My key P.A. called in and said he’d be late. How late I […]
Don’t Be a Doormat
Something I neglected to mention in yesterday’s post— There must be, unfortunately, a limit to a PA’s kindness. Certain departments (I’m just gonna come right out and say it’s usually costumes) like to take advantage of friendly production assistants, if you’re not careful. For instance, sometimes mail gets delivered to the production office, rather than the department […]