How to Get a Job as a Production Assistant
I’ve gotten a few inquiries asking about getting that first film set or television job as a production assistant, so here’s an attempt to help! There are several paths into the film business, but speaking from my own experience, this is what I would recommend to someone just starting out in the film or television business with their sights set on that first production assistant job. Don’t Ask for a Production Assistant Job. Work for Free. It’s tough to convince people they should hire you as a production assistant and pay you when you don’t have any credits to your name just yet. If you’ve never worked on a real set (film school doesn’t count), offer to work for free. Money talks in this business, and they’ve got nothing to lose by giving you a chance. That will be the fastest way to get you on a set. From there, you can work your butt off and prove yourself while making contacts that will eventually hire you. I know it’s painful to think of “working for free”, so instead…consider it your audition to the film world. You may feel like you’re insignificant and your good deeds are going unnoticed, but I promise, producers and ADs are always on the hunt for the next great worker. Common sense, following orders, and having a good attitude will get you a LONG way in this business. Cold Call Production Companies. When I started out, I only ever gotten one production assistant job blindly by emailing a production company, and they ended up screwing me because they “released” me via email the day before the shoot. Talk to people first, then email them as a follow-up. When you cold call, ask if you can come by and introduce yourself. Be approachable and confident, but don’t brag about your film school accomplishments as if they’re comparable to the real film industry. Call the Local Film Commission. Are there any big film projects in town? Call your local film commission (or office of Economic Development) for leads. Explain you’re a student/recent graduate seeking experience. Ask for the name of the production company, and if they know of any contacts. When you cold call the production, use the name of the person you spoke with at the film commission. Your phone call to the production should be something along these lines: “Hello Brad, I got your name from Susan Carlton over at the film commission. I’m a recent graduate looking to get into film production. I was wondering if you needed any extra hands on your project?” Ask about any low-budget independent movies, as they can be a great way to...
So, You Want to be a Television Executive? Get to Los Angeles. Now.
I’ve been stationed in Los Angeles for three months now, the longest I’ve been away from Nashville since first moving there in the fall of 2005. Coming here has been a great opportunity professionally, and it has also managed to quench that eternal desire of wanderlust…somewhat. (I’m still pricing tickets to Kiev and Southeast Asia on my off-hours. But I digress.) I’m a big fan of mid-level television/film markets. It’s been my bread and butter for five years, while also providing a rich quality of life in addition to an affordable lifestyle — plus giving me ample stories to last a lifetime. However, now that I’m temporarily located in the mecca of the film and television industry, it’s been impossible not to wonder how much further up the ladder I would be if only I’d moved out here five years ago. But as I’ve said before, I knew basing myself out of LA wasn’t at all what I wanted. The same may not be true for you. If you’re new to this career in television and film, what is it you hope to achieve? Do you want to… Be an executive producer for a highly successful television series? Write an Oscar-nominated screenplay? DP the next hit AMC series? Get in to the DGA and become a 1st AD? If you said yes to any of the above, while you may be able to eventually achieve these goals from anywhere USA, you’ll get your foot in the door a LOT! faster if you move to Los Angeles immediately. I was a PA for three years before I moved up to a position I could’ve gotten within a year had I been based in LA. There’s a lot of work out here; enough opportunity for both the talented and the terrible. If you’re an ambitious, smart, and competent production assistant with clear direction of what department you’d like to pursue, you’re going to get promoted very quickly. If you’re a terrible production assistant, well, luckily for you (and unfortunately for the rest of us), there’s enough work out here that will keep you from ever getting completely blacklisted. (Not that anyone would ever deliberately be a bad production assistant, right?!) All that said, I also don’t want to mislead you into thinking just the act of moving to LA will immediately lead to getting jobs in the business. As always, tenacity and networking are the trick to landing that first gig. Once you get in the loop and prove yourself, you’ll be set. But remember…you don’t have to move to LA. I have several work comrades in the Nashville area that are living proofyou can make a living...
The Truth about Being a Production Assistant: How Much Money Will I Make?
We all work to earn a living. For most of us that go into the film industry, we have career goals beyond that of simply paying our bills. Either we have those dreams, or we’re just stupid — otherwise, we would’ve found an easier avenue! For the entry-level world of production assistants, the pay is meager compared to the union wages of your fellow crew members. But, as you will find, a lot of it will depend on what time of project you work on. Day Rate vs Weekly Rate For short-term gigs, PAs receive a day rate, with no overtime. For long-term jobs, you will still typically get a day rate, with overtime only kicking in after 14 hours. Occasionally, PAs get weekly rates, and you will get one set amount of money per week, regardless of whether you work a humane 60 hours or an inhumane 91. Music Video Rates for Production Assistants There’s no set rule to music video rates; it will depend on how cheap the production company is that you’re working for. In the beginning, I made $200/day (with no overtime) on music videos, but the majority of music video shoots only lasted a day. Maybe there was a prep day, but usually not. As I worked for more and more companies, the going rate was typically $150-$200 per day, with a few laughable productions offering a meager $125. Towards the end of my PA tenure when I was acting more as a 2nd AD, a few kind-hearted companies offered me $225 per day. Reality TV Rates for Production Assistants I haven’t PA’ed on too many of these, but on the few that I did, the rate stood between $125-$150 per day, $150 per day only coming after serious negotiation. Movies/Scripted Television Rates for Production Assistants One would think that movies with 20 million dollar budgets would find it within their hearts and wallets to offer their production assistants more than just bread crumbs, but that is NEVER the case. Unless you’re working on an indie movie for your friends, I found that the bigger the budget, the smaller my paycheck. On Country Strong, the rate was $130/14 hours. I was raking in about $500/week after taxes, after putting in 70 hour weeks. That breaks down to less than $10/hour. On one television pilot, I was again on the horrible $130/14 hour pay scale, and we worked 91 hours in one week. After taxes were taken out, my paycheck didn’t even total $1,000. I cried. Commercial Rates for Production Assistants COMMERCIALS ARE KING. They are the cash cow of this business, especially for production assistants. Most pay...
On Production Assistants That Are “Usually Producers/Directors”
The Setting It was a fast-paced, high-profile commercial shoot; one of those .com companies that fly in entire teams of people from Los Angeles and New York. As a result, you’re usually working alongside the most talented producers, ADs, and crew members in town. While your days are filled with long hours and taking an obscene amount of Starbucks orders, it is a great opportunity to showcase your work ethic, get noticed, and get hired for future gigs. The Main Character: The Deluded Production Assistant For these large projects, you need an army of production assistants, and maybe you try out a few new people. I was working alongside a girl who’d obviously never PA’ed a day in her life. She was bewildered easily, and wasn’t grasping that 90% of a PA’s job is anticipation. About halfway through the second day of filming, this PA did have enough sense to tell that the production team was getting frustrated with her. During some down time on the shoot, the girl clarified to the commercial’s producer, Brittany, why she was having a hard time living up to the PA standard. “I don’t usually PA,” the girl explained. Brittany nodded knowingly, but in sympathy. Like any good producer, she wanted this girl to be in the department where she felt most comfortable. “That’s fine. What do you normally do?” “I usually produce,” the girl said, without missing a beat. Brittany blinked in surprise, and almost laughed out loud. The girl didn’t know the back end of a grip truck from a honeywagon, and she wouldn’t know a sandbag if she tripped over it. “Uh…okay. What have you produced?” “Well, I just did a music video, at Watkins,” she bragged. WATKINS! THE FILM SCHOOL. AND SHE WAS SERIOUS. Apologies for the use of caps, but I had to convey how absolutely absurd that is. I don’t mean to belittle experiences gained by going to film school, but film school projects do not equate to real world projects, period. I never saw that girl on a film set again. The Antithesis There’s a flipside to this Watkins music video story: The director of that student music video. He’s a good work comrade of mine, and we got into the business at the same time and PA’ed together for a couple of years. He is a film snob, and has seen every movie ever made and is quick to offer his professional opinion… but it’s because he’s passionate and he knows his stuff. The difference is, even though he was more than capable and was often frustrated by the menial tasks – he did his time as a production assistant. And never in the two years...
Printable Film Guide: Grip Gear Basics
If you’re working on a non-union film or TV set, you’ll probably be asked by someone for an “apple box”, “furni pad”, or “C47” at some point in your life. It can get a little overwhelming in the beginning, so in an attempt to help iron out some of the initial confusion, use this printable chart to help identify on-set items. And this is only the very basics, folks. My head still spins when I hear words tossed around like Mafer Clamp, Buttplug, Quacker… if you’ve ever wandered into a grip truck, there is a TON of stuff in there, and it all has different names – most of which are slang. My grip friends tell me different grip departments speak in different dialects – slang/terminology can vary. Note: Flags come in an a variety of sizes, usually barked out in measurements, the smaller ones being in inches, the larger in feet. 18×24 is a smaller flag, whereas 4×4 is 4-foot-by-4-foot. Also note: Do NOT touch grip gear if you are on a union set! UPDATE: If you would like to learn more about grip gear and its application, the Grip App is a fantastic resource. It’s a full glossary of every piece of grip gear you can imagine; it also shows you how the gear works together and how and where to use it. I wish the app had existed back on that one job when I was as swing! (click for crisper PDF version) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . If you liked this post, subscribe to receive updates and stories about the film industry – or subscribe to my normal feed which includes all of my posts, including my adventures abroad!...
The Demands of a Relationship with Show Business
You’ve been flirting with the idea of being on television and movie sets for awhile. You’d be a perfect fit for each other – after all, you watch a lot of TVs and movies, so helping make them is the soulmate career choice, right? Just like any relationship, the film industry requires a LOT of hard work. It stretches everyone in all departments to their maximum capacity on a daily basis…and I’m not talking about the typical 8 hour day. These are 15, 16, 17, 18 hour days… sometimes more. And every day is a long one, followed by another long one, and so on for several weeks. Working on a movie is the most all-encompassing relationship you’ll ever have. Here are a few of the demands. The Early Morning Call Time If you’re filming outdoors, it’s likely the crew’s call time will be before sunrise in order to allow maximum use of natural light. Location, production, transpo, and AD departments usually arrive at least an hour prior to crew call. If it’s the middle of summer, this could be as early as 4am. (Random fact: My earliest call time ever was 2:30am for a shoot at a military base.) The Overnight Shoot It’s like a sleepover, but with cameras!…. kinda. Sometimes “day for night” is an option (faking nighttime while filming during the daytime), true nighttime exteriors look the best, because, well, it’s REAL. (By the way – here’s the worst “day for night” I’ve ever seen.) Depending on availabilities of actors and locations, night shoots are usually grouped together, which can mean a week of working from 5pm-10am, and it only takes 2 days of this to start feeling like a zombie. These days are physically and emotionally draining, and everyone gets tired and cranky by the end of the week (or maybe it’s just me and I project my crabbiness onto everyone else). The Elements If it’s pouring down rain and the script calls for a sunny exterior, that scene might get pushed, but one of the talents and common traits of people in the film industry is their ability to make it work, regardless of circumstances. (And, while we’re being honest here, the people that have the authority to cancel due to weather are usually dry and warm by the monitor). What usually happens, if not filming at a soundstage, is that the interior location is far too small to house all of the crew, and stuff still has to get done outside. So, it’s 10 degrees and sleeting, and you’re stuck at the end of a driveway, making sure no one drives up during the take and ruins...
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I'm Laryssa, and when I'm not working in film or television, I'm attempting to travel -- or I'm here, providing resources for working in film or travel. Read more Elsewhere on the internets
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