I have been getting a lot of questions lately about how your PA resume should look. Should it just list the title of the production, your position, production company and dates you worked on it? Or should it be more descriptive and explain everything you did?
Honestly, I don’t really know the true answer. So I am throwing this question out to everyone out there, how should a resume for a production assistant look?
When I find out more I’ll post it here.
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In the world of production there are two main PA jobs that you can score. Of course there are others depending on how big the production is, however, the two main PA positions you will apply for are a Set PA or an Office PA.
I bet you are thinking, well a PA job is a PA job right? I mean what really is the difference? Well there are some pretty big differences between the two.
Set PA
As a set PA you are mainly working on the production set. You are essentially the gopher that everyone comes to with their problems and needs. If equipment needs to be picked up they send the Set PA. If there is 100 gallons of fake blood that need to be cleaned up after a scene is shot guess who is grabbing the mop? On set you will be thrust into the production with a sink or swim mindset and trust me you better learn to swim quick. The good thing about being a set PA is that you get the opportunity to be apart of a lot of different aspects of the production. Here is where you get to learn every job and then start to figure out for yourself what you really want to do. If you stay a set PA you will most likely eventually end up working in the camera, lighting, or grip departments.
Office PA
As an office PA you are mainly working in the production office. Here you work directly under the production coordinator and the production manager. You will also most likely get to work with the executive producers, the associate producers, the line producer and sometimes the director. As an office PA your tasks mainly include making copies, helping with expense reports, doing runs to and from set, and anything else anyone needs. The good thing about being an office PA is that you are basically a coordinator in training. The great thing is that you get to learn from everyone in the office which will most likely lead you to a coordinator, manager or producer position.
Which one is for you?
Well that is honestly up for you to decide. Normally you start as a set PA and then move up to an office PA, but like most of the positions in Hollywood there are no official work tracks so you could land you first PA job as either one. From experience I’d suggest trying to get both positions on different projects. That way you can see what you like and don’t about each position and begin to plan your official take over of Hollywood.
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In Hollywood there is a magical job list that everyone talks about, the UTA Job List. On this list there are highly sought after positions in the entertainment industry. So how do you score this amazing list? Well technically you don’t..unless you know someone who gets it.
Originally the list was created internally at United Talent Agency, for people looking for new assistant positions. The list was only sent by email and only those that knew the creators of the list actually recieved it. Today the list has expanded and includes more than agency positions.  There are many people that say they get the list and will repost it online, which can be good and bad. This is good because you can easily find the list and apply for these jobs.  The bad is now more people are getting the list so these open positions do not stay open for very long.
Another thing to note is that the jobs that are posted on the list are not usually production jobs. They are mainly assistant positions for producers, directors, executive and even sometimes celebrities. So if you are starting out in this wonderful industry and want to go the assistant route then this list is the best place for you to start. Keep in mind though your job may end up being more of a dog sitter than an actual assistant.
If you’d like a copy of the list email me at rachelmmarks@gmail.com and I will send it to you.
Happy job hunting!
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So I am currently working on a new reality show in A about a “Celebrity” and how amazing her life is. Now I put celebrity in quotes because I honestly don’t think that many people care about this woman but nether the less she has a reality show and I do not.
On set this week we had to do interviews. This is pretty normal for reality shoots because the interview usually helps the story move along kind of like narration in a movie. Now on a normal reality show set without “celebrities” you can usually tell them when to be ready for interviews and what not. This was so not the case for our interview day.
My call time was 7 am, which is pretty darn early in my book.   All of the pa’s are to meet at the production office and then drive 15 passenger vans to pick up the crew at the crew parking lot. As a side note seeing me drive a 15-pass van is just hysterical because lets be honest I can barely see over the steering wheel.  Anyway, since LA traffic is god awful we get to crew parking around 8am which is close to the D-listers house that we are shooting at. At this same time this said D-lister is supposed to be in her makeup chair getting her face put on.
After picking up the crew myself and other pa’s drive to house and start to unload gear into the interview room. 9am rolls around and we are supposed to begin interviews…
And the waiting game begins..
11 am rolls around and we finally get the D-Lister into the interview room. Yes you read that correctly.. 11am. Apparently the D-Lister’s husband refused to wake up at his call time so the entire production had to wait for him.
Seeing as it is an interview day and there is not much to do during them as a pa, I got to sneak a peak at the monitors to see how the interviews were going. Now I have never before felt bad for an executive producer, but while watching the monitors I wanted to go hug him or give him a very strong drink. Not only was this D-lister refusing to say certain things because she thought they sounded stupid, she constantly complaied about having to do the interview. Her ranting and complaining lasted for three hours.
At around 7pm we finally wrapped production, when we were originally supposed to be wrapped at 2pm. And thus are the extreme joys of shooting a reality show about someone who believes that they are above everyone else.
Seriously, does anyone besides my mom watch these shows?
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It is time for me to finally put on my big girl shoes and step out of my comfort zone of South Florida and step into the shark tank of an industry that is Los Angeles.
So what has taken me so long you ask? Well the honest truth is that I was scared. I have heard of so many stories of bright eye and bushy tailed film school graduates making the big move right out of college only to end up moving back home with their parents 6 months later. I did not want to end up moving back home to Indiana, so instead of following the rest of my film school alumni I opted to stay in Florida and try to build up my resume and to most importantly grow up.
Deciding to stay in Florida was probably the best decision I have ever made. When I graduated college I had a very jaded view of the industry and I honestly had no idea where to begin to find work.  After graduation I pretty much sat in my room dumbfounded on what I should do next. From pressure by my parents to find a job I quickly scrambled to find the first steady thing that I could which was a job at a small talent agency. Now working at a talent agency is a very special experience, and I would only recommend it to people that are seriously interested in talent management who have extremely thick skin. Talent agencies are cut throat, and there are a lot of people under you that are more than willing to fling you in front of a bus to get your job.
After only lasting at the agency for nine months I quit and moved on to something else. At this point I knew I wanted to work in production, however, I didn’t really know how to accomplish that. I decided that working at a small production company would be the best fit for me. I searched for months to find that no one was hiring. Finally as my bank account slowly started to fall into smaller and smaller digits I got a job as a receptionist/office assistant at a small production company. I took the job with hopes of being promoted quickly from after they saw what an amazing person I was. After months of being frustrated by answering phones and ordering office supplies I finally got the chance to prove myself and help out with a commercial shoot.  I was suddenly flung into a whirlwind of productions where I got the chance to coordinate and assist in editing.
Then when this whole economic crisis hit business started to slowly fade. Our company took a little bit of a hit and things were not looking so good for my future there.  I eventually left the company and decided it was time for me to try freelancing. Through networking with people I already knew in the industry I landed the job as a casting associate for “Is She Really Going Out With Him?” on MTV.
After getting my foot in the door I have been fortunate to be a pa on several reality shows that have shot down here in Florida.
Over the years that I have spent here I have certainly grown up from the shy Midwestern girl from Indiana. Now it is time for bigger and better things out on the West Coast!
Check back often to hear about my new experiences in California!
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So let’s be honest…being a production assistant really isn’t that difficult. That being said it amazes me how many bad production assistants there are out there and how few and far between a good PA is.
In reality being a PA is a lot like getting hazed for a fraternity or sorority in college, minus the forced drinking and paying for your friends part. You are thrust onto a set where you have to prove yourself or you will be kicked out and replaced quicker than you can say “walkie check”. Why then will these PA’s come to set acting like they are too good to be a PA?
I blame it on what I like to call the “But what I really want to do is direct” syndrome. New PA’s are usually fresh out of college or film school with a jaded view of Hollywood. Most of these colleges and universities only teach film students certain parts of the industry.  With classes such as “Directing The Motion Picture” or “Directing Actors 101″ instead of “How To Be A PA”, it’s no wonder why a lot of PA’s think that Dreamworks will be calling them in a matter of months to direct their next summer blockbuster.
How then do you be a good production assistant? Well there really is no set way, however, there are a few things you should always keep in mind:
Come dressed ready to work
It amazes me how many PA’s I have seen that will show up to set wearing flip flops or a dress, especially when they are hired to be a set PA. If you are working on set you are most likely going to be running around a lot, lifting things, and standing for most of the day. Get a great pair of sneakers and check the weather the night before because you definitely do not want to be stuck standing outside in 90 degree weather in jeans.
Listen to what people tell you to do
Seriously listen. If someone on set asks you to run and get something you better know exactly what you are getting and where to get it. Listen to what they are telling you and repeat it back to them so that you both know that you understood the errand. DO NOT TALK BACK. If they start yelling at you just smile and nod and get out of their way quickly.
Always keep your walkie on
Never ever ever turn off your walkie. If the production coordinator is frantically searching for you for an important errand, or a AD needs you to drive a crew vehicle they will most likely get pretty upset when they try calling you on a walkie and you are no where to be found. If can carry an extra brick (a walkie battery) with you so you will always have a back up.
Be nice to everyone
This one is pretty obvious. If you are mean and talk back to people no one will want you around. You can end up meeting some really great people on set so try and get to know everyone. On a good set the whole crew can start to become like a family which makes working with everyone for 12 hour shifts a lot more enjoyable.
Work hard and it will all pay off in the end. People notice when you are giving 100% to you job, and the will most likely hire you in the future because of that. Keep up the good attitude, listen and do what you are told and you will eventually be out of the PA hazing and on to bigger and better things.
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So it has been a long time since I have actually sat down and attempted to write on my blog, which could mean two things for me. I have either been so swamped with work that I haven’t had a chance to sit, or that I have not had any work and I am doing everything possible to find my next gig. The truth is it has been a little bit of both. It is season in South Florida so I have been kept fairly busy this winter. I have started to step away from casting and get more into what I really want to do which is production.
Now production is wonderful, but I am pretty much the lowest person on the totem pole and the most expendable. I am the ever so valuable (or in some cases invaluable) production assistant. Without the production assistant production vans would not be driven, coffee and water would not be gotten, and most importantly no one would have everything they did wrong to blame on. Don’t get me wrong I have loved some of my new jobs however I am starting to remember what it felt like to pledge a sorority back in college. I have to prove myself worthy in order to be in the club.
Breaking into this “club” is extremely difficult.  You have to have either know someone or have experience to land a gig as a pa on a set, but the only way to know someone or gain experience is to have a job as a pa on set. Essentially the industry is just a big catch 22. How I got started is through casting. A lot of reality television shows use casting recruiters to find participants to be on their show.  As a casting recruiter you will go out to different places in your city and find people the would be great for the show. The trick is you need to find real people that would fit the show, not an actor that wants to break into the industry and would do anything to be on TV.
There are other ways to start out in the industry. You can try the assistant route where you are an assistant to a producer, director, or a high up executive in the industry. In this job you will do a lot of scheduling, read a lot of submitted scripts, and learn a lot about what the person you are assisting does. The benefits of this job is that you do have a normal job so to speak. You will most likely be working normal 9-5 hours and get a steady pay check, but this job will be completely different from working as a pa on set. This job usually leads you to working at a studio or a production company.
I think the most important thing to remember is what your goals are.  Sit down and actually think about what you want to do with your life. If you want to be a producer then I suggest you try to work as a pa on set because you learn everything about production that way. If you want to be an executive at a studio then work as an assistant somewhere and you will eventually learn everything about being a studio exec. Do research. Look into biographies of top producers or directors and see how they accomplished their goals and then try to copy them. Just don’t give up. I know being at the bottom sucks, but once the hazing is all over an done with you will be so happy to be apart of the club.
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