Being A Production Assistant Comic Strip

The Life of a Production Assistant

Being a Production Assistant really puts it all into perspective.



Interesting side note. After reading this one of my co-workers suggested that a really good young people Health Insurance to get would be Tonik Health Insurance. It is apparently very affordable, through Blue Cross Blue Shield, and is geared towards 20 somethings so the rates are lower for 20 somes and increase as you get towards 30. They cover well for Vision, Dental, and Health, not, unfortunately for babies, but if you keep it in your pants you should be fine.

Actors and Casting

I felt like it was time to touch on this topic a bit. I have tried to accumulate knowledge about my field behind the camera, but I have also been asking questions about those in front of the camera as well. So lets get started.

Casting:
Alright, I asked a few questions from casting about what they look for when a resume or head shot etc. is sent in. Now a head shot arrives at our door and I am the first one to get it. A PA. Now I look at it, and if you don't have the presence of mind to have legible handwriting, or have it addressed to the right person then it gets tossed. So Rule 1: Don't be a dumbass. So, onto step 2. Once it gets out of my hands I give it to casting. Now casting receives hundreds and hundreds of these a day. Also if they are not from a MANAGER or AGENT into the TRASH! And these are NOT what they use for casting, primarily. Casting will usually use one of several online systems they are members where the head shots are submitted by agents electronically for the show. There are usually a thousand or so a show. So Casting will go through these online ones with first pick choice, then the ones in the mail. Additionally they like to pick from stock people, ones they know from previous shows, episodes, or from other casting buddies who recommend them as good workers. On the plus side it helps perpetuate work for those who are in, for those who are not in, it makes the wall higher.
So now they are looking at YOUR head shot. Step 1, how do you look? Toss or keep. Step 1.5 (I say this because it is equally important) where were you TRAINED. Yes, trained. Schooling is one thing, professional TRAINING is another. For my show they like to see that you went to this accredited training location, or that training professional. Names and places count here. Like a comedian coming from Groundlings Acting School or the Acme Theater will be considered more heavily than someone with a simple Theater College Degree from Virginia Tech (that'd be me ;) self sucker-punch, ouch!) So, like I said, they look at your training. Step 2.0 They look at your work history. They see if you have worked on multi camera or single camera before (multi camera means a 3 walled on studio stage set with 4-5 cameras, and a single camera means 1-2 cameras in a 4 walled set or on location), they look at what you have been on for popularity, they look at all of it. And we continue. Step 3: Audition. They will bring in the few they like and audition the lot of them, some in some out. They will want someone who makes the part too. So they will be choosy. Step 4: Audition #2. Now this is your callbacks. You will actually be auditioning for the network executives to make sure you fall under what they believe to be their "Network Image". And once you pass that you have the part. TA DA!
You get payed $350 a day for every day you work if you are 5 lines or under, not bad. If you are an extra you get paid between $50 and $100 depending on your guild affiliation. But then again, you only work a couple days. The average income for the Screen Actors Guild of America is, and yes, I laughed at this, $650 dollars..... a... year. Yikes! This all came from the people in casting too so I'm not making it up. One of them advised, save up for a long time before coming out to LA if you want to be an actor, then triple that nest egg before you even think of coming out. It is harsh out here. But those are the numbers I have gotten. Oh, how much to the big people make? Starting show, 8-10K an episode. If the show is picked up 30-40k an episode. Plus residuals, plus any other stuff commercials merchandise etc. But keep in mind most shows run about 13 episodes. Most pilots if picked up only run a couple episodes before canceling. Very Very few are picked up and run more than one season, and it is a rare show that runs 26 episodes a season. Also most, almost all, pilots are done by the networks, so hopping on a pilot is the exact same audition scenario. And like I said, you need an Agent or Manager to get your foot in the door. Managers are easier to get cause ANYONE can be a Manager. They mainly just need a logo. Agents have fees, so they are a little more elite.
Okay, my brain is spent. Have fun, and let me know if you have a question.

Indentured Servant and the 5 year plan.

I had to start this blog after I came up with this concept.
Working in LA is like being an indentured servant, but with none of the exercise. Cause it is true. So horribly true. Now for this blog I would like to explore the concept of the five year plan and how it applies to you.
So you just got to LA and you managed to land a gig as a PA on a show. Congratulations. You are now working for $8/hr with MANDATORY 4 hour overtime at time and a half a day. So lets do the math.... $8x8hrs =$64 + ($12x4 overtime) = $112 a day. Minus taxes at lets say 25% (though it is probably closer to %33) and your day pay is $84 in pocket. Now don't forget you have NO benifits, so if you want to be able to run into traffic you have to BUY YOUR OWN, and that usually runs around 200 a month or so with fun people like Cobra. Now you might be saying "those hours really suck, but I'll be sneaky and take a sick day here and there or a vacation day too." But wait, what was that? In addition to no benefits you get NO SICK DAYS, and NO VACATION DAYS. This means you work, and you don't stop, and you DON'T PLAY IN TRAFFIC.
Crummy right?
Now, like I said, this is the 5 year blog. So lets five year this bitch.
Right now out of the gate you have a salary of $550 a week. This means in laymens terms you are earning about a 27k salary. And this has no benefits too. I can't stress that enough, though you will understand the first time you crack a tooth and have to pay for it out of pocket. (Doctor tooth says $500 minimum) Now it is kind of random how long it will take you to progress beyond being a PA, it could take a year (HA!) or it could take much, much longer. I asked around and it seems the average time to be a Production Office PA is about a year and a half to 2 years. Then what? Then you would try to move, yes this is the strange part, to a different PA job. More specifically you would try to move to a Writing PA job or Set PA or Post PA. This is basically the next level. You can get a job as an assistant in the office but that is often moving laterally to your goal, whereas to get to your goal you often have to move along a series of jobs that don't pay well. But I am getting away from myself. Lets say you are moving towards your goal, and you want to be a writer like myself. So next step is Writers PA. So now you are a writers PA for 2 years and earn the same you were earning as an Office PA. Now keep in mind this is all circumstantial. I know someone who is the assistant to the head writers in a secretarial capacity that would desire to take the pay cut to become a Writers PA simply because it puts them on their desired path. So you are earning the 27K again for the next two years. Let's say that you then make it to Writers Assistant. Now an assistant makes $12/hr for 60 hours a week with no overtime. Additionally, no benefits. Now keep in mind some places do give benefits, but if they do, there goes another chunk of your paycheck cause keepin healthy is expensive! But at 12$/hr for 60 hours a week is a salary of $720 a week, then 37K a year. Now in this job you might also have the opportunity to write some episodes every now and then and earn some real residuals. So lets say 10K and episode which is a rough round up number for this blog. So around 47K salary cause you will prob. only get one episode a season maybe. And you would then be a writer's assistant for who knows how long. One of the writers told me that it is almost bad to be a good writers assistant cause people would want to keep you as a writers assistant, hence no moving on to writer. So in five years, if you are lucky, you might become a writers assistant and be making, if you are lucky and are writing a show, a salary around 37K + 10k residuals. You may think not bad, right? But... oh, drat, did I forget to mention. You are NOT earning a 47k or a 27k salary. That was a projection for if you worked a full year, but in television you only work 10 of 12 months. Or much much less depending on the show. And if you work less, you need to find another job, or a pilot to jump on to keep the bills paid. But for this oversize we will be optimistic and say you worked a full 10 months. So your total income as a PA was actually (10/12)x27k = 22.5K and a little closer to 40K after residuals as a writers assistant. And you are now finding work over the summer. You are constantly and consistently searching for work.

So, in summary.
Year 1: Making 22.5K as a Production PA, maybe a little on a side job if you can land one.
Year 2: Maybe you got a small raise so lets say 25K and you manage to get a halfway decent job during those summer months.
Year 3: Congratulations you are now a Writers PA and make 25K and land yet another good summer gig on a pilot show.
Year 4: Pilot show wasn't picked up, but you are still a writers PA, so another 25K.
Year 5: One of your contacts finally paid off and you are a Writers Assistant. And you were even allowed to write an episode. Maybe if you look hard and network you will land an agent. You are now hauling it in at 30K and residuals up to 10K. (note residuals for this oversize are a one time thing. You are paid for the episode, and paid when it airs)

So what do you think? Not much money. And don't forget you are working, AT WORK, for the WHOLE DAY! You have 12-14 hour days. They might get a bit better as you go up in the world, but they could easily get worse as you go to certain shows. And also keep in mind these numbers I give you are from a low paying show, one of the lowest. But they don't detract from the fact that you are working 60 hour weeks for this salary, vs 40 hour weeks in ANY OTHER JOB for the same and more money. My last job I could have done all the work for a week in about an hour, and I got paid more, and worked 35 hours a week. And it was no brainer work. And by comparison to the work a PA does, that job had be using my brain! The only saving grace here is that I am a self appointed IT expert so fix everyone's computers. But again I get off track.

So, in full, 5 year plan, you will have progressed slightly in the working world, though you may have surged ahead, it is all based on luck, or you may still be a PA. You also have very few new skills, almost none, unless you consider making a mean cup of coffee a marketable trade outside a Starbucks. I tried to give an AVERAGE idea though based on what I see out here since it is all based almost completely on luck. It really is WHO you know NOT how hard you work. Let me know if you have any questions about stuff, I will continue to try and give updates and info on pay amounts etc. Over and out.

What a SET PA does.

Alright, the Set PA was a doll and allowed me to see her to do list for the ENTIRE WEEK. Whoopee! It doesn't include in and out times, but I might be able to add that later. But check it out. I have deleted any sensitive info but you should be able to get an idea of the tasks and added in my own notes where necessary.

MONDAY

-Unlock all doors

-Label dressing rooms (guest cast)

-Put scripts and start paperwork in guest cast rooms

-Turn on work lights and air conditioning

-Collect daily timesheets (Timesheets = recorded work hours for people)

-Stand-by for talent during production meeting (Prod. Meeting = Important peeps reading script)

-Pass out/collect new actor paperwork (All the guest cast needs to do contracts.)

-Place 2 vouchers in box for stand-ins (Random paperwork task)

-Re-read script during pre-read and table read (Table read = cast reads script)

-Highlight all SFX in script during pre-read and table-read.

-Distro call sheets for next day (Call sheet = who what where when list done each day)

-(Insert random paper task here)

-File callsheet for next day in bin and clipboard

-Check/Make sure to file: Script, Schedules, call sheets, Prod. Reports and voucher skins for the prior week.

-Turn off work lights

-Call office when last actor leaves

-Put ALL walkies back on charger

-Lock up

TUESDAY

-Unlock all doors and trailer rooms

-Label dressing rooms

-Put scripts and start paperwork in guest cast rooms

-Turn on work lights and air conditioning

-Collect daily timesheets

-Put hot bricks in podium (Hell if I know, sometimes you just need a brick)

-Distro script revision (Distro = Distribute. The SAT's would cry if they had tears.)

-Put 2-4 scripts and vouchers in stand-in box

-Pass out/collect new actor paperwork

-Eat breakfast while standing by outside for talent (HAHAHAHA. I find this funny.)

-Help Assistant Director coordinate wardrobe fittings (Note, you are not dressing them.)

-(Insert random paper task here)

-Put 6 chairs in front of each set for run-thru and 3 scripts in Network Executive room during rehearsal after lunch

-Turn air off for run-thru

-Distro call sheets for next day

-File callsheet for next day in bin and clipboard

-Paperclip Central Casting Sheets and return to gate on VanNess

-Turn off work lights

-Call office when last actor leaves

-Put ALL walkies back on charger

-Lock up

*Run power and play sound effects if necessary

WEDNESDAY

-Unlock all doors and trailer rooms

-Put scripts in new guest cast rooms

-Turn on work lights and air conditioning

-Collect daily timesheets

-Pin callsheets and schedule to 3 corkboards

-Put hot bricks in podium (Again with the bricks!)

-Put 2-4 scripts and vouchers in stand-in box

-Distro script revision

-Pass out/collect new actor paperwork

-Walk fire line onstage (Sometimes you just gotta live on the edge!)

-Turn air off for run-thru

-Turn red light switch in sound booth ON for run-thru

- Put 6 chairs in front of each set for run-thru and 3 scripts in Network Executive room during rehearsal after lunch

-Help Assistant Director coordinate wardrobe fittings

-Distro call sheets and Block & Shoots for next day

-Call office when last actor leaves

-Call necessary people with call time for crew on Thurs.

-File callsheet for next day in bin and clipboard

-Make sure timecards are stocked

-(Insert random paper task here)

-Turn off work lights

-Put ALL walkies back on charger

-Lock up

THURSDAY

-Unlock all doors and turn trailers on

-Turn on air conditioning

-Collect daily timesheets

-Pin callsheets and schedule to 3 corkboards

-Put hot bricks in podium (You think that thing would have caught fire by now. Maybe it is like a sauna. Lucky bastards!)

-Walk fire line onstage (This one is a risk runner)

-Put 4 scripts and vouchers in stand-in box

-Distro shooting scripts

-Put Block & Shoot schedule with scripts:

* On each podium and in make-up trailer

*In dressing rooms

*4 in Network Executive Booth

*4 in Stand-in box

-File call sheet and Block & Shoot schedule

-Distro callsheets for next day

-(Insert random paper task here)

-Proof read (Insert random paper task here)

-(Insert random paper task here)

-Call office when last actor leaves & you leave

-(Insert random paper task here)

-Get make-up timesheets from trailer when lock-up

-File call sheet for next day in bin and clipboard

-Turn off work lights

-Put ALL walkies back on charger

-Lock up

*Keep wrist bands on clipboard all day to distro to crew without badges

*Announce over walkie “today’s wristband colors”

*Take 3 schedules & call sheets to Sound Dept

FRIDAY

-Unlock all doors and turn trailers on

-Turn on air conditioning

-Collect daily timesheets

-Pin callsheets and schedule to 3 corkboards

-Put director chair out by trailers for security (We don't want no Directors wandering around all over the place now do we? Who knows what would happen!)

-Put Block & Shoot schedule:

* On each podium and in make-up trailer

*In dressing rooms

*4 in Network Executive Booth

*4 in Stand-in box

-Walk fire line onstage (You are lucky to be alive missy! This is the last time I call the fire dept. to save your reckless ass!)

-Make 3 copies of script

-Pass out daily timesheets for following week (or put in bin)

-Distro call sheets & scripts for next week

- Get daily script sheet from Person

-Tell dept. heads time for Prod. Mtg. on Monday

-Call office when last actor leaves & you leave

-File call sheet for next day in bin and clipboard

-File Block & Shoot schedule

-Paperclip Central Casting Sheets and return to gate

-Get make-up timesheets from trailer when lock-up

-Turn off work lights

-Put new names on dressing room doors

-Put ALL walkies back on charger

-Lock up

(And that is all folks! )

My Day in Television

Alright, as a recap I am a PA (Production Assistant) with the production office for my television show with Disney. Now some may wondering what a PA does. Well, there are four types of PA's to my immediate knowledge. Office PA (me), Post PA (post being editing and such after filming), Writer's PA (this is the guy who sole purpose is to take care of the writers), and Set PA (the person on set, assisting the AD's (Assistant Directors)) Each set of PA's has their own duties and I will try with some effort to describe what they are. And they are, to be everyone's slave. HAha, oh I jest... or do I? Let's start with ye olde' office PA.

Office PA: Now this may vary from studio to studio, and much more for between television and film, but for now, this is what the Office PA's do where I work.
In the morning, get bagels and fruit for people in the office. This is something you do on your way to work, so it makes you get up extra early, and sucks. It sucks even more if you are supposed to be in to work early. It sucks even MORE if you are supposed to be into work so early that it is before the bagel place opens and you have to go the night before. Yea. That time sucked.
But your usual call time is 8:00AM and that can vary depending on the day. I will detail that more for me when I write out what I do for a week. Also I think the other PA's have it WAAAAY better, but they do have their crappy stuff too.
So you've gotten into work. You turn on all the lights and make the coffee and unlock everyone's door and fluff everyone's pillow (well not quite, but sometimes I wonder....) They you grab a seat and wait for everyone to show up. Your production office bosses should show up soon, they get in near when you do. Everyone else though comes in at all hours (though usually just closer to 9) It is about this time (and this is only specific to working at Disney which buys its employees food) that you start taking food orders. This is an almost all day task as we have 25 people and you have to, and now this is important, get every order exactly right! If you don't, your life becomes hell. Classic LA right there. And people can be PICKY! But I'm used to it cause my wife has a sensitive palate and I've gotten used to seeing her happy. But when you go to pick up the lunches you have to make sure everything is correct. That's right, finger and fish through everyone's food to makes sure this person has no onions, and this person has this odd dressing and that person has an egg on their cup of coffee or whatever. Cause if you don't, and one of them is wrong, you ARE the waiter, and they ALWAYS send it back, and it is a longer jaunt than to the kitchen. Better jump in your car, you have some driving to do.
Alright, and aside from getting lunch, you are just given tasks all day. Simple office tasks really. You copy this, you give this paper to that person. You will "distro" stuff, which is a daily task where you copy call sheets and stuff and give a copy to everyone there is. You will be told to move furniture. You will be send of grocery runs to re-stock the fridge. You will be asked to do a million and one easy as ass tasks and you will be here till 8 at night. That's right. A 12 hour day. And you've worked through lunch. And you don't get overtime cause overtime only comes after 12.5 hours. And the writers leave around 6 or 7 and you stay on working doing whatever simple tasks people give you. And they will give you the simplest of tasks, and you will get a mountain of shit if you don't do everything perfect. If you don't notice a fax that comes in immediately (Shit) if you don't make sure the kitchen is clean (Shit) if you don't make sure trash is off of other people's desks (Shit) if you don't make sure you sign in and out on the call board to say where you are (Shit). And it kinda sucks. And then after everyone is gone, you say goodbye to your boss who actually works longer hours than you, and you lock up the office, turn off the lights and head home to eat dinner at 9 pat your cat on the head and go to bed only to get up the next morning and start it over. And you work a 60 hour week this way for $550 with no health benefits but you get food (huzza). And if you have a wife who likes to "point things out" you make $9 / hr. And you wonder why people are begging on the street all over the place. It's because it PAYS BETTER.
Now it has its up sides as well. I mean you harass people and learn what you can about he buisiness and try to ingratiate yourself to people, make friends, show willing. Show that you will do any shit job so they will ask you to do something more important. But it is a long dusty road that horses and been on since the dawn of time so, that's right, it's covered in shit.
Some good parts of my day though: the people, very friendly and just a pleasure to be around for the most part. It is a good work environment where I don't feel stressed. Though I think I am lucky here as I hear about other jobs where people are stressed because those in charge are crazy. I get fed (Disney only). I get to work in close proximity to everyone and the cast, though my ability to socialize with them has not yet been fully explored.

One thing to definitely keep in mind while reading this though. It is basically me talking about work and it will be different for different jobs. How different I don't know.

Okay, the other PA's I'll add as I get a summary of their day's duties.

But in general the Post PA comes in around 9 and leaves around 6-7 and doesn't have much to do during the day. They help do tasks like get stock footage for exterior of buildings and do tech equipment runs and run the tapes to the color correction labs and so forth.

Set PA's are on set all day, so they come in around 9 or later on days not needed, which can be quite often, and they leave when they are done on set for the day which will be when they are done filming on shoot days or early on non shoot days. They help organize the situation on the stage at all times and they, to my knowledge, never do runs. But they do give out paperwork on set, and make sure everyone is on time where they need to be including actors.

Writers' PA comes in when the writers do around 9 and sits in on writing helping out where possible (I'm not sure what tasks there are here yet). They do some small runs like an Office PA such as Coffee for the writers. The task they have that SUCK are that they have to copy any rewrites on the script and deliver all of them to everyone. Yea, that means drive to the actors houses, and this isn't as glorious as it sounds, some of them are RICH and can afford to live FAR THE FUCK away. And he has to do that after the writers are done writing, so he is there pretty late some nights, but it is offset by coming in pretty late in the morning.

I will get them to summarize their duties and I will post them online for more specification. But again being a PA is akin to being a slave. No respect, and lots of crappy tasks, but you do meet people, you do see things, and you do get to get around. Its like being a servant, a servant with 100% access to everything, but still a servant so "Know your place" Boooo! But we all climb the ladder don't we. Le Sigh.

So now you are here.

Alright, so I'll assume you have arrived safely in LA. There is a lot of knowledge I wish to bestow so I will try and get it done as systematically as possible. First things first. LA and where to live and not get mugged and field dressed by a gang. (Note: Field dressed does not mean put into a dress and placed into a field, though I am sure certain places of LA would look highly on such prospects too.)

I think one important thing is to not watch the news. The news will only tell you the bad things, and make you depressed, cause, well, it IS LA. Bad stuff happens, so lets just make sure it doesn't happen to you. Now LA in general is HUGE!!! Do not think it is small. It is about as big as Baltimore and Washington DC put together. So driving places will take a lot longer. People like to say LA traffic sucks, but in my opinion after living in Maryland and in Virginia and commuting into DC both ways like some sort of disillusioned epidermal, I can say that the traffic (if you are smart and know the roads) isn't that bad. Certain roads generally suck, and every highway intersection will cause traffic, but the main thing about LA is the distance.

There are several places to live in the LA area that are both safe, inexpensive, and commuter friendly. First, Burbank. Also known as the Valley. This place is a popular starter location for people coming to LA. People will often speak ill of it, though I don't know why. I think they are just prissy. The think about Burbank is the HEAT. Burbank is in a valley where the temperature builds up, so it will be about 10 degrees hotter than anywhere else will be. Now you may say "Well, gee golly, that isn't so bad Mi omigo." because you are apparently a master of Spanglish. This is wrong, oh so wrong. So would saying "I like to put tacos in the refrigerator." which while not specifically Spanglish, still rings true. I would also like to note at this point that Spanglish, according to blogspot, is apparently a legit word. But the point I am trying to make it this. These are things that are NOT included in LA apartments:
Air Conditioning.
Microwaves.
Dishwashers.
Refrigerators.

That's right kids. No refrigerators. I have often wondered why I haven't seen little old women carrying around refrigerators on their backs from abode to abode, but apparently that is how it works. So when you are looking for a place to live you have to ask about those four things, or you may be in for a surprise when you show up with a whole bunch of frozen cold cuts you are looking to put on ice.

So Burbank has its nice spots. Now Pasadena. This is where I live. Woot etc. It is a very nice place to live and has a hell of a bar strip that, and this is key, has no cover for the bars. LA is a bizatch for charging outrageous covers for bars, but these are very fun, clubs on some streets, down and dirty bars on others, but all within walking distance, safe, and cover free. Pasadena, however, costs a little more, and if you want to live here be careful about where you live. Too far south, will because way too expensive. Anywhere above the 210 will start to become a bit too sketchy. And too far East past Lake Ave will also get you into sketchy areas as well. Granted it is a bit more of a drive to get places than Burbank, but it is still doable. 30 min for me in the morning to get into the guts of Hollywood.

Glendale. Looks nice, and there are prob. some parts that are nice. I, however, have only seen the ghetto of it. And there seems to be a lot of it too. Some parts to the West, nearer the end of Los Feliz road are very nice, but getting back over Interstate 5 going East will get you back into the more seedy areas. If you want to live here I recommend doing your research.

North Hollywood and Studio City. Much like Burbank, and frankly I don't know why they don't group them all together. Again do your research, but the commute from all three will be about the same and the style of residence will be comparable.

Hollywood. Yep Hollywood right in the heart. Too expensive? No, but again do your research, but these locations do go fast. Very fast. So if you find a place consider yourself lucky, and you will pay for the convenience. One thing that is a bit weird though, no trees. Very few trees in general in California. And the traffic will be terrible all the time, but you can walk to any bars you want though. If you live west towards Beverly Hills, mucho expensive. East little more ghetto but affordable. South is a little more ghetto but you can find the right areas.

Marina Del Rey is also good but has the advantage of being close to the water and some of the crazy touristy areas. Prices can be very good and the area is pretty safe, but quality is street to street. Watch the prices here though.

If I hadn't mentioned it before you should definitely check out http://www.lalife.com/. It tells ratings of areas in the LA area and all kinds of information that you can find useful.

Well I'm tired of talking about the places to live. But it is information you need to know. Stay safe, and check information online. Oh, don't live near USC, you may think "Oh it's a college it's safe." and in addition to you mental punctuation being wrong you are very wrong about it being safe. Cause USC is near south central LA. It is not a safe place hell no. UCLA is nice, but costly. Peperdine is in the Malibu area and expeeeeensive. But nice. And.... I'm done.

Welcome to LA. But what exactly IS LA?

Well, if you are reading this post you must have some curiosity in moving to the Los Angeles area, and I can only assume this is because you have a dream that you wish to fulfill in the movie or television business. Let me introduce myself. I am Jesse Bogue, I graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree and Theater Arts degree in 2004 from Virginia Tech, worked for a while as an engineer, didn't like it, got a MFA (Masters) in Film and Media from American University in 2008 while working in their Accounts Office to pay for school, and then decided to see if LA was for me. Well is it? I don't know yet. I came out here in the Summer of 2007 and interned with Warner Bros. in the Production Office and I interned with a Management Company called Artists International. Both very amusing internships, but amusing because I could learn and didn't work much. Hence my perspective now has changed that I am working real hours. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Basically upon moving to LA I discovered something crucial. For all my attempt at preparation, talking to people I knew, had met and so forth both researching jobs, and life in general out here I stepped off the plane only to realize I knew absolutely shit about this place. Nadda, zero, zilch. Well, not nothing, but not enough by FAR! So, in short I am creating this blog to record thoughts, experiences, and the general lessons I am learning out here in an effort to create a source of information that will give you the knowledge that you won't know coming out here.

So where to start. Well, when I got out here on July 6th, I had no job. Good place to start. I moved into Old Town Pasadena area. Bit pricey but very very safe and nice. I will actually add a section on areas of LA a little later as well. So I actually puttzed around for awhile getting settled in, getting used to the area. Then I decided to actually get my job.

I started applying to jobs I found on the UTA list first. There are several other resources as well that I will post later. The UTA list is the United Talent Agency list which is the list that is sent around by all the assistants to everyone with all the jobs people don't post online or elsewhere. So I applied to all of those and contacted everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, I knew from out in LA. Now this is important. I got two job interviews very quickly, and two job offers and they were from the people I contacted. And ONLY from them. I never heard back from anyone else and I applied to a lot.

The first job I interviewed for was for a Film Company that primarily did documentaries. They offered me a position that didn't really have a title, but was basically a PA job where I would be working for $500 a week, no benifits, in at 8am leave around 5pm with a decent amount of freetime to work on whatever I wanted to, and my only real obligation was to answer phones. Granted they said I would be doing other stuff too, but I never got the chance to see what the job would have been like.

I ended up taking a job as a Production Office PA (Production Assistant) for the *removed for my jobs sake* show. I figured this would be a good opportunity because it was a main stream show with large popularity, it had a guaranteed work lineup through March of 2009 (I'll explain this in a minute), and I knew one of the people working on it. I actually got this job because when I had interned with "Chuck" (WB show) in 2007 I had met "T", who worked on the show. She had been a good source of information at the time, and she was one of the many contacts I got in touch with when I came to LA. So she actually forwarded me a couple jobs, then contacted me about this one, brought me in for an interview and I got the job. It pays $550 a week with no benefits, feeds you breakfast and lunch (some shows do, some don't but apparently Disney feeds the good, the bad, the ugly and everyones puppy), and as I would later find out, works you like a dog. I have routinely worked from 8 am till 8:30 pm. That's right kids, a 12 hour work day and I work through lunch. And sometimes later too. And guess what, no overtime. The way it works out here is that you work 12 hours before overtime kicks in, with a half hour for lunch. (HA!) But it was a job I felt had good connection prospects and so I am still doing it. Also, as I said above, it was a secure job, meaning strike-proof. With the potential Actors strike on the horizon, many companies are holding off on starting up work, and hiring people. But Disney actually hires their workers from a different guild than the Actors Guild of America. They hire from AFTRA, which has already signed its acting contract, so, Hence, the *removed again because my boss knows how to google* show is strike-proof.

Well, that sums up pretty well how I got here and got my job. Other people tell me that it is surprising I got a job so fast, while others say they are practically handing out PA jobs to people, but to err on the conservative side I would say I am lucky to have gotten this job.

In summary:
You get jobs through people you know! You can get jobs through other means, but it isn't easy. Also, I work LONG HOURS. I'm not sure yet if this will change as we get into our groove, or if it is specific to this show because of my superiors. I have been told the hours on this show are better than others by some people (my boss) and told that they are worse than other shows where they usually worked around 10 hours. I will keep you posted as I discover more.