Hollywood: Land of a Thousand Promises
A few years ago, I directed a web series that got a little bit of heat with an amazing sizzle reel. We got a producer attached, and the sizzle reel found its way to Kevin Reilly, and he said, “This made me laugh out loud, and very few things make me laugh out loud.” I […]
Good Enough
On my first show, I was copying blue crew lists, and the corner of page two kept curling in the copier, resulting in a tiny black smudge appeared on everybody’s crew lists. The secretary flipped through a handful of them, then gave them all back to me. “Do them again,” he said. “Figure out a […]
The Black Swan Interns
Last week, the New York Times reported: Two men who worked on the hit movie “Black Swan” have mounted an unusual challenge to the film industry’s widely accepted practice of unpaid internships by filing a lawsuit on Wednesday asserting that the production company had violated minimum wage and overtime laws by hiring dozens of such […]
Zero Experience
Katie writes: I am wondering what my resume should look like if I have absolutely ZERO experience in the entertainment/PA world. My background is in fashion, I have worked only in theatrical works (some stage managing). I really don’t want my resume to sink my ship. I’m a great ass-kisser and do-good-er, but can’t put […]
Look Out For Your Fellow PA II
Like I said earlier this week, it’s up to us PAs to look out for each other. Here’s another example: PAs. along with everyone else in this business, work long hours, 60 a week at minimum. Unlike most other departments, though, the office works in shifts. Generally speaking, a PA and either the coordinator or […]
Look Out For Your Fellow PA
PAs should look out for each other. After all, no one else is. The first, most important thing you can do for your fellow PAs is to make sure they are fed. “Why is this a problem?” you might ask. There’s always food around a TV show. True, there’s always snacks in the kitchen, but […]
School vs. PA
Heather writes: I’m in a dilemma about trying to find the money to go to film school or just getting off my tush, going to New Orleans and applying for a PA job. I was accepted to a film school but I can’t seem to find the money to pay for it. I know that […]
The Difference Between the UTA Joblist and the Coordinators’ 411
On Monday’s post, where I wrote about the need to apply for jobs quickly: Literally hundreds of people will apply to this same job. The coordinator will only look at the resumes until she finds five or six qualified PAs that she’d want to interview personally. Because so many people are out of work, that […]
Ringback Tone? Seriously?!
Dear unnamed crew member on the unnamed movie I’m working on, Have you noticed that when you answer your cell phone, people are mysteriously rude to you? Even if it’s someone who’s having an otherwise pleasant day and has no reason to utterly despise you – have you noticed that they sort of hate you? […]
Bad Times
In the last few weeks, I’ve received several emails like this: I was laid off back in July, the 22nd to be exact. I have been out here for 3 years and have worked at 3 networks. One job in which I was a Story Assistant for a show on Nickelodeon(Irrelevant I know). Here I stand […]
Question Regarding Set PAs
E writes: For the past couple of months, I just went through a whirl wind tunnel of day playing scripted shows and some features, and just landed my first full time additional set PA job. I’m green, but at least I know enough to know that I’m green. With that being said, do you have […]
I Did That
I was walking through the set the other day with the art department PA. The script called for a scene in a hair salon, but for some reason, the location manager couldn’t find a real salon that fit our needs. (Something to do the cost of shutting down a salon for an entire day.) So, […]