Overheard in the Production Office
I was filling out my mileage form yesterday, and I wondered how much it was going to be worth. The current rate is 50.5 cents, and that extra half cent threw me off. “Goddamn it, why can’t they just use whole numbers? Decimals just screw me up.” Without looking up, the coordinator said, “Use improper […]
Insults
A friend of mine wrote in response to yesterday’s post: What’s the difference between a grip and a PA? A PA can spell “grip.” Now, I like grips, but I had to laugh at that. It’s strange how making fun of each other is a way of bonding on set. People are constantly busting each […]
Useless
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again– nothing we do in Hollywood matters. We’re not doctors or soldiers or police or fire fighters. No one’s going to die if we make a bad TV show. There are a few individual exceptions. People can get hurt if a grip or an electric or a […]
Friendly Reminder
The other PAs and I got an annoying boss-emails today. You know, the kind that starts with, “Just a reminder…”, and then goes on to re-explain all the basic PA duties that you already do. This kind of note always fills me with a combination of fear and annoyance. Why is he reminding me to […]
Picky Picky
Whether you’re on set or in the office, lunch is always provided (unless you work on a cheap-ass reality show; then all bets are off). Of course, if you’re somewhere else, as I am right now,{{*}} you might miss out on the food. If you’re lucky, someone will remember to set aside a plate for […]
You Outta Be in Pictures
There’s a great big photo hanging in our office of the entire crew, save for two people. The set photographer (obviously), and me. They gathered everybody on stage, but of course, the producer couldn’t leave the office completely unattended. What if somebody called to, you know, ask when episode ten starts shooting? (Agents do this […]
Loose Lips
The other day, Michigan PA commented on a post: I live in MI and will be working on my first major film later this month. My question is, can I psot on my facebook page about my experiences while working on set? Yes and no. Yes, you can say, “My boss is awesome,” or “This […]
Demanding
On the subject of long weekends, yesterday the studio folks decided to play catch up. We had an early call, and imagine my surprise when the phone rang at 7:30. 7:30! This is a TV show. I’ve never heard the phone ring before ten. A Big Studio Exec was on the other end of the […]
Absence Makes the Heart Grow…
Well, not “fonder,” exactly. It makes the heart grow something, anyway. The French have a funny colloquialism: “ponte.” It literally translates as “egg” or something, but it’s used to mean “an extra day off on top of a national holiday.” What does it say about France that they need a word for this? We could […]
Tiers
The Hollywood Juicer wrote about a director on his blog recently: it seemed clear that he considered the camera operators and production support people (ADs, script, and camera coordinator) to be “the crew.” The rest of us – the juicers who sweated atop 12 step ladders re-hanging heavy lamps on a swing set after the […]
Bird in the Hand
A reader asks: I am currently working as a receptionist at a post production house in Hollywood. I took this job not too long ago, assuming that as this place is fairly renowned, it would eventually provide me with the opportunity to move on in the business toward some of my real interests: script development […]
Do Not Disturb
Starting a flame war with wannabetvwriter got me thinking about script coordinators. (Turns out, she’s not a script coordinator, but a writer’s assistant. Oh, well. Just another reason to not read her blog.) While everyone’s job requires a certain amount of concentration, there are certain people who you definitely shouldn’t interrupt– the loader, the script […]