This weekend was very exposing to the in-depth steps and techniques to being a Production Assistant. My class and I spent 16 hours of learning, racing, practicing and reenacting the procedures of the do's and don'ts of production. Learning how to read a call sheet, organize a kit, and playing different activities to learn the production lingo. Lee, Jody and Chuck all pushed each and everyone of us to our limits and made sure we were all walking out of those two days, well informed and educated in becoming a PA. It's not as easy as anyone think's. Becoming a PA means you are working almost 20 hours a day, you might not be paid and you could loose your position in a second. It means you report and listen to your AD and you are apart of the production process. If you are a newbie you're a day player. If you get asked to come back and help throughout the production then you become a staff PA eventually. A PA always anticipates everything and is one step ahead of everyone. Carrying around a walkie, headset, pens, call sheets, one liners, doods, and sometimes scripts; the PA is ready to help in a quick, timely manner. Knowing production language over the walkie and face to face is important for accurate responses. Being a PA is only the beginning to moving up and throughout the field. Bringing home replicas of scripts, call sheets, one liners, doods and the shooting schedule is something not many people get the chance to study and look at before pursuing the dream. I want to say thank you to Jody, Lee and Chuck for giving us the opportunity to know what it takes to take the next big leap into the production business.
After PA Bootcamp on Sunday we met us with Mel's old friend who attended Tc3, Symon Mink. Sitting next to him at dinner and getting the chance to really dig deep in the life of someone in production. Symon has been in the industry since 29 years old and works as a camera man. Better known as a focus puller. Where he works on the camera with one to two other people. He has worked on the film,
Spider-Man 2 and many other series like
Dead to Me, The Fosters, L-Word and many more. Symon got into depth about personal experiences, life with a significant other and how to balance life and work, his highs and lows and how he got to where he is now.
Symon really influenced me and gave me hope in having faith that in time and with the right connections and opportunity's with some growth, I can go a long way in what I love and feel passion for.
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