Movie Madness
Hello everyone!
For those of you who don't know, last summer and this past winter I served on the sets of two different movies. One of the films is actually going to theaters, the other was done with a nonprofit group. Anyway, I was what you would call a "Production Assistant." (or a PA) Believe it or not but there's aloooot of misconceptions about movies, and I know everyone hasn't had the opportunities that I've had, so I decided to type up a mini-questionnaire about it. Today I'll just be answering a few questions about my job, but in the future (when we have a slow week) I'll add on a little bit about the actual filming process and building sets and everything.
I'm not going to name either of the companies (or the films) I worked for, for the sake of privacy, and so I can be extra honest with you guys. ;)
What do Production Assistants do?
Production Assistants are like glorified gophers. We run everywhere and do everything. Mainly we work with the stars and herding them to and from their trailers and dressers and to the sets. We're also responsible for clean up, making runs to stores to buy things, shouting out the assistant director's orders, controlling traffic if we happen to be filming on a street, fulfilling the talents' (aka the movie stars) every desire and need, and more. And yes, I really do mean clean up. At the end of the day we would wipe down bathrooms, clean the talents' trailers, vacuum the floor--sometimes even the set, and so on and so forth. We also do a lot of water runs and snack runs. (So if a producer or the assistant director is thirsty, BAM we are there with a bottle of water.)
Production Assistants DO NOT handle anything like lighting or sound. That is a BIG legal no-no. The different departments handle their equipments' needs. We never ever touch their stuff. EVER.
What was your favorite part about being a Production Assistant?
The food. Yeah sounds kinda weird, but when you're on the set for 12+ hours a day it is required that you are fed. Generally they had a caterer serve breakfast and lunch and, if we worked late enough, dinner. They also had a thing called "Krafty Services." I never got why they called it that. Basically it's a wide variety of food and snacks and beverages that a caterer keeps on hand for us to munch on through out the day. (On the set of a movie you are constantly eating. It's the only way you have enough energy to keep going.)
The food was always excellent.
For the nonprofit produced movie I would say in general I enjoyed the experience a lot more, and I actually really liked the people I worked with. But then I was working with approximately a dozen people. For the other movie I think we had between 45 and 60 crew members, so I didn't get to know anyone besides the other production assistants.
What was your least favorite part?
The hours. I have never worked such horrible hours in all of my life. See there's this actor's union rule that says once an actor steps off the set, they can't return for... I think it's 12 hours. It's either 10 or 12 hours, sorry I can't remember anymore. ANYWAY, that means NOTHING to the crew members. We still have to do clean up and take down (Equipment has to be locked up, the sets need to be shut down) and even then the production assistants have to hand out the schedules for the following day, along with the day's planned script, which takes a while to put together and if you don't do it fast enough you have to try and track everyone down at the hotel and physically pass them out. Plus, thanks to that weird 10 hour rule, we have to film by the actor's timeline. Which means he could stop filming at ten at night and start filming at ten the next morning. BUT, production assistants are at least there for one to two hours after, which puts you at leaving the set at midnight, and then we have to be there TWO hours before it starts, which gets you there at eight. That doesn't include you going home, showering and getting up and getting ready. And that's a nice night. One night in particular I remember crawling into bed at 4 in the morning, only to have to get up and be on set by 8.
And I'll be honest, I can't say working on the movies made me very fond of talents' and movie stars.
OOH! Perfect segway. What was it like to work with famous actors?
It was like whacking my head against a cement wall. Repeatedly.
For the record, the actors for the nonprofit movie were pretty cool. They didn't expect a lot of special treatment (which was SO NICE!) and they weren't pandered to. Some of the actors for the other movie I worked on were pretty cool too, but mostly they were either incredibly self centered and borderline rude. In some ways working in the lighting or sound department you get off pretty nice because while you have to work the same hours as a PA, you cannot be bossed around by the actors.
Seriously, as a PA you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. It is your job to make sure everyone is happy, but Actor A wants a cookie, and if he doesn't get it he is NOT going to be happy, but the second you turn your back he's going to wander off somewhere like a cow, and then you're going to get your butt chewed off for leaving him alone.
I was seriously told by the assistant director to treat all the actors like three year olds. (Aka: NEVER LEAVE THEM ALONE!)
After thinking about the rudeness/self centered ways of some of the actors I met, it did occur to me that it isn't completely their fault. Don't get me wrong, they chose to act like brats, BUT, the producers and directors seriously pander to them and make a big fuss over them.
Why?
Because an actor can walk out on a job whenever they want, and that means you would have to re-film EVERYTHING with a new actor if your old actor really quit. This would cost A LOT of money. So producers and directors play nice with actors in order to keep their investment running smoothly.
But don't let me speak too harshly here. As I mentioned there are also kind and sweet actors. The thing is if the actor is undemanding you're less likely to spend time with them and more likely to be scurrying around for the toxically mean actor, so you don't get to hang with the nice actors anyway.
Okay, that's long enough for today. If you guys have any questions you want me to address in the future feel free to pm me or leave a comment below!