A production assistant, also known as a PA, is a job title used in filmmaking and television for a person responsible for various aspects of a production. The job of a PA can vary greatly depending on the budget and specific requirements of a production as well as whether or not the production is unionized.
Production assistants on films are sometimes attached to individual actors or filmmakers.
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Television and Feature Film
In unionized television and feature film, production assistants are usually divided into two categories: "office PAs" or "set PAs". Other variations exist depending on a show's structure.
Office PAs usually spend most hours in the respective show's production office handling such tasks as phones, deliveries, script copies, lunch pick-ups, and related tasks in coordination with the production manager and production coordinator.
Set PAs work on the physical set of the production, whether on location or on a sound stage. They report to the assistant director (AD) department and key set PA if one is so designated. Duties include echoing (calling out) "rolls" and "cuts", locking up (making sure nothing interferes with a take), wrangling talent and background, facilitating communication between departments, distributing paperwork and radios, and related tasks as mandated by the ADs. Set PAs usually work 12- to 16-hour days with the possibility at the end of a shoot to work more than 20 hours a single day and are regularly the "first to arrive and the last to leave".
Duties can interchange, such as an "office PA" working on location if an extra hand is needed, or a "set PA" working in the office on hiatus weeks when the physical production is shut down.
Pay varies widely depending on the type of television show or film production. Standard rates in film typically range from 112-150 dollars for 12 hours plus overtime. On a television show, pay ranges from 8 dollars an hour with overtime, to flat fees of 500-650 dollars a week, including or excluding possible overtime. Benefits are conferred depending on where a PA is employed. Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers, Touchstone Television, CBS, and NBC all offer benefits to PAs.
Commercials
Commercial Set PAs share the same responsibilities as their Television and Feature Film counterparts (see "Set PAs" above),but also inherit additional responsibilities traditionally encompassed by other departments in the television and feature film structure. These responsibilities range from providing both critical and mundane production support equipment such as dollies, cranes, director's chairs and pop-up tents to standing in for talent and even filling in for other departments who might be shortstaffed. A commercial set PA is often viewed as being more apt to tackling the tough role of working as an Assistant Director due to their varied experience within departments giving them greater perspective. It is not atypical for a commercial set PA to be seen handling trash one minute, and the next minute assisting the electricians or grips with a set-up. A select group of commercial set PAs are given the responsibility of driving and managing the production and camera cube trucks. This responsibility is often given to the more senior PAs because it provides several extra days of pay.
Set PAs in commercials are more commonly hired by the production coordinator and/or production manager as opposed to an AD or key set PA. However, many commercial ADs will
Standard rate for a commercial PA in the Los Angeles area is a flat rate of 200 dollars per day. On February 1st, 2008, benefits for qualifying freelance PAs became available through the Producer's Health Benefits Plan[1].
Union vs. Non-Union
No union currently exists for production assistants, but the affiliation of a production with a union (or unions) can affect the job responsibilities of a PA. Less unionized shows have more positions that can be serviced by non-union personnel; consequently, PAs on such productions may take on a greater variety of non-traditional duties. Examples of this would be a PA setting a light bounce (grip department) or driving a passenger van (teamster/transportation department). In Canada, the position of both the set and office production assistant is unionized under the DGC (Director's Guild of Canada).
Tools
Efficient relaying of information is a critical job function and a radio (walkie-talkie) is heavily utilized on set to communicate between the AD staff as well as all other departments. In addition a PA might also carry an assortment of pens and markers, a multi-task tool, an aluminum clipboard box (or "tin"), aspirin, gloves, and a surveillance headset.
References
External links
- How To Get Your First PA Job
- A Few Things I Learned From My First Experience As A Television Production Assistant (A first-hand account of one PA's experiences and lessons learned on the job)
- The Production Assistant's Pocket Handbook Popular how-to written by a PA for PAs. Used by professors at several film programs. Available as a PDF or handbook.
- The Anonymous Production Assistant A daily blog written by a working production assistant.
- Cash B's How To Become a PA A guide to all things related to a PA.
- How to get fired from your PA position. Unwelcome behavior can cost dearly.
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