So, you want to be in the movies…
Admit it. As a movie fan, you want to be in the movies! If you’re like me, you can’t get enough of the behind the scenes interviews or documentaries. You might ask yourself, “How did Quentin Tarantino do that?” or “Did you see Keira Knightley in that scene?” Have you ever thought, “I want to work on a film set!” I’m here to tell you that you can!
What you might not realize is that many film and video professionals like directors, actors, producers, and cameramen got their start by being a film Production Assistant. Being a Production Assistant is the only entry level position on the set of every film or video. And the best part? A high school education is all you need to get started! Some film production assistants get their jobs by ‘knowing’ someone in the business. Others actively search for opportunities to get into the business by taking classes. Though there are no formal or professional film production assistant skills required PAs are expected to make a contribution right from the first moment they step on to a set and there has been virtually no training on how to do that… until now.
Many film and video professionals like directors, actors, producers, and cameramen got their start by being a Production Assistant
Entertainment Is Big Business
But, let’s take a step back and talk about the entertainment business. Every single movie or video or even live shows (think music concerts) have to be “produced.” That means someone hires a director, producer, camera crew, lighting, talent, and many others. Some of these productions can hire upwards of a few hundred people. In that mix of hires, there are always Production Assistants.
Typical Field Production Crew: In Douglas Arizaon to film a Border Entry Station. Chris Salvador, Director.
What Is A Production Assistant?
Film Production Assistant jobs are the behind the scenes help to the directors, producers, talent and virtually every area of a set, including makeup and craft services (crafty). On a large set, there can be a few dozen production assistants. Why? Because every single production hires professional people with expensive skill sets. These people need to be able to do their job without worrying about having coffee and water or having a car polished before shooting a car chase scene. They are not going to stop and do it; there is a Production Assistant for that.
Goliath Set Production including several Production Assistants on January 26, 2020.
Another example, imagine there is a street scene on a corner of a major city and the cameraman needs people to stop walking through the middle of the shoot. He doesn’t put down the camera and do it; that is the responsibility of one of the production assistants. The crew of any shoot is too specialized and costly to have to spend their time grabbing lunches, finding tape, loading equipment in and out of trucks, standing with reflectors, or looking for crates to set equipment on. These are all jobs of the Production Assistant.
PA’s are key to making a set operate without delays or chaos.
Being a Production Assistant is seldom boring because making films and videos is often filled with the unexpected. That means, things can change, and they can change fast. I’ve been in the film and video industry for over 25 years. I got my start as a production assistant and I’ve had so many different jobs over the years, that I’ve lost count. However, the one constant in every single job, is that the unexpected always happens. One time on a job here in San Francisco with America’s Most Wanted, we lost the location the day before the shoot. In the morning when the crew arrived to the new location we found, there was no parking for them because production didn’t have time to pull the permits. Then the producer had her purse stolen when she put it down for just a moment while she was dealing with the hungover Assistant Director—he had just scraped someone’s car as he was parking the production van. Talk about the unexpected happening! That morning started as a wild ride that didn’t end until 2am the following morning.
Billy Bob Thorton on Goliath Shoot 1-26-2020
