Wisdom of the Aged
Whenever I write a woe-is-me post, like Wednesday’s, I get some very thoughtful comments from higher up-types. I recommend you read them. It’s good to be reminded that I don’t know everything. I also received some good advice from our construction coordinator this morning. I was performing a ridiculous task– won’t say what; it’s so […]
Perfection
Following yesterday’s post, I had a few more thoughts on mistakes. I used to be a personal assistant to a producer. He asked me if I ever wanted to be a director, and I said I did. He told me I could never do that job until I could do this job perfectly. This statement […]
Mistakes Will be Made
Yesterday, Shawn commented on a grammatical mistake I made (now corrected): “Kids my age so comfortable and lazy that we can’t even muster the energy to leave the house, much less protest.” Or even do a simple grammar check. It’s true, I made a mistake, and it’s true that I often mock others for similar […]
Holding Back
Many people seem to be under the misapprehension that we in the office like to hold on to things. Several times a day, I get calls asking if a prelim callsheet has been published, or if a package has arrived, or if the latest draft of the script is out. You know what? No. If […]
Something’s Wrong
Every once in a while, when I’m delivering stuff to set, the crew starts rolling before I get off the stage, and I’m stuck until the end of the take (or takes). Yesterday was one of those times. With nothing to better to do, I watched the monitor. After the fourth or fifth “Going again!”, […]
Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed
Even when the crew has a night call, someone has to open up the office during business hours. And, as usual, by “someone,” I mean me. The morning shift on a late call offers very little to do. After turning on the coffee and setting out the bagels (both vitally important to the running of […]
Question for Coordinators
Who decides whether to send a PA or a teamster to pick something up? And why? It seems so arbitrary. Somethings are pretty standard. If it’s too big to fit in a PA mobile like a Civic or a Corolla, the teamsters will pick it up in a truck. If it’s a script delivery, a […]
Just Joking
When you’re carrying something big and heavy around a corner or down some stairs, it’s usually good form to call out a warning, like “Points!”, to make sure you don’t smack someone in the face. It doesn’t really matter if it’s pointy or not; it’s just what you say. Sometimes people try to come up […]
Quick post tonight (it’s late), then a serious one tomorrow. I googled several combinations of my anonymous self, and found some interesting results. I hold the number one spot for both “anonymous production assistant” and “production assistant blog.” I’m right behind anonymousassistant.com in a search for “anonymous assistant.” But if you look up “production assistant,” […]
Dressing for the Part
The show I’m on recently had a flashback to the 70s. (Don’t ask me why. As far as I’m concerned, the only good things to come out of the 1970s were Star Wars, Jaws, and my wife.) Seeing a rack of bell bottoms and wide-collared shirts, I struck up a conversation with the set costumer. […]
Say Yes
If you’ve ever taken an improv class, you’ve heard the rule, “Say Yes.” If your partner says, “Man, it sure is cold up here on the moon,” you don’t say, “No, no, this is the old west.” You’d be surprised how many people want to do this. PAs have a similar rule, or at least […]
Another Way to Network
I was hanging out on the set today, and I overheard a background actress talking with one of the set PAs. At a certain point, she asked “casually” (those are sarcastic air quotes; I actually paused while writing this to wriggle my fingers in the air): “Say, who’s in the office right now? Is [showrunner’s […]