My View On The Way To Set This Morning

What Does The Production Office Do?

I get asked all the time what do I do. I tell them I work in Film & TV in the production office, and clearly there is no real understanding what we do. Lots of time, our own crew doesn't understand what we do. I always compare us to Logistics & Support in the military.

The office is usually made up of a Production Coordinator, APOC (Assistant Production Coordinator), Production Secretary, and an Office Production Assistant. There are variations on this of course. On larger shows and episodic TV there will usually be a Travel Coordinator whose only job is to handle travel and hotels for the cast and guest stars. And yes, it is a full time job.

The Production Coordinator is the boss when it comes to the office. He or she is the one who usually hires the rest of the office staff. The Coordinator is also usually someone who works regularly with the UPM (Unit Production Manager) or Production Supervisor. The coordinator will divide up who is doing what in the office. He or she also is usually brought in early to help find office and stage space.

The APOC (my current job) is second on the list. APOC duties overlap with the coordinators a lot of time. Between the Coordinator and the APOC they order the gear and equipment for the various departments. The two also handle getting contracts ready for actors and working on the Production Report which is a record of everything that happened on a each day of shooting.

The Production Secretary usually handles putting together the Crew List, Vendor List, and Files for a production office. Sometimes they will be the first one in and handle getting copies of all the nightly paperwork to Accounting and to others in the production office.

Production Assistants do all the work you might think they do. They do the runs to and from set and to vendors. They do all the shopping for the office. They handle the massive amount of mail and packages coming into and out of the office. The PA's will also usually handle putting together the sides each night for set in the morning (sides are the scenes that are just working the next next day - it is a way for cast and crew to have what they need script wise without carrying around a whole script all day).

Most of our jobs overlap. Depending on how long the crew has worked together, jobs might be spread out more. The office staff usually comes in to work right after the accounting crew starts. A PA or Production Secretary will usually be on until Accounting is done. I know as a PA and Production Secretary there were times I was the last person to leave the production.

We handle all the paperwork the crew needs to run on and the studio demands from us. All the emails sent out come from the production office. It is a paperwork heavy job, but it is also a job that allows you to learn what it takes to run a show and what each department does and needs.

Work

Sign At Work

Ominous

My Resume/Credits

As always, more can be found at IMDB, but this is a list of my current resume/credits:

Ravenswood - APOC
ABC Family Series - Season 1
2013

Una Vida - Production Coordinator
Independent Feature Film
2013

Second Sight - APOC
CBS Pilot
2013

Remember Sunday - Locations Assistant
Hallmark MOW
2013

Boulevard H - Production Coordinator
Independent Feature Film
2012

White Rabbit - Production Coordinator
Independent Feature Film
2012

Nothing to Fear - APOC
Independent Feature Film
2012

Common Law - Production Secretary
USA TV Series - Season 1
2011 - 2012

Hide - Production Secretary
TNT MOW
2011

Ricochet - Production Secretary
TNT MOW
2011

Memphis Beat - Production Secretary
TNT Series - Season 2
2011

Worst. Prom. Ever. - Office PA
MTV MOW
2010

On The Road - Office PA
Feature Film
2010

Memphis Beat - Production Secretary
TNT Series - Season 1
2010

If God Is Willing And Da Creek Don't Rise - Key Office PA
HBO Documentary
2010

The Mechanic - Production Secretary
Millennium Feature Film
2009

The Expendables - Production Secretary
Millennium Feature Film
2009

Alabama Moon - Office PA
Independent Feature Film
2008

The Final Destination - Production Secretary
New Line Feature Film
2008

Welcome to Academia - APOC
Independent Feature Film
2007

Racing For Time - Office PA
Lifetime MOW
2007

Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Accounting Assistant
Warner Bros/Paramount Feature Film
2006 - 2007

Life Is Not A Fairy Tale - Office PA
Lifetime MOW
2006

The Riches - Office PA
FX TV Pilot
2006

Labou - Production Coordinator
Independent Feature Film
2005 - 2006

Work

Ravenswood Teaser Trailer

Teaser trailer for the show I am working on:

Interesting Placement

How To Be A Good Office Production Assistant

I decided to write this, because I am seeing a lot of the same problems over and over again with people who come in to to work as Office PA's on shows. I am focusing on office PA's since that is what I deal with, and Set PA's have a different life and different things they need to do.

First, you need three things to work as an Office PA:

1. A working, clean car.
2. A working, up to date laptop.
3. A smart phone.

You are going to be doing lots of runs as an Office PA. You will be picking up gear and dropping it off. You will be taking stuff to and from set. You will be picking up people from the airport. You will be driving around Cast and Directors and Producers. All of these people are going to be in your car at some point, so your car needs to be clean and needs to run.

You are in the Production Office. You are going to have to use a computer, and no office gives you one to work with. You are going to be asked to look stuff up constantly. You are going to have to create documents. The more you are trusted and the more experience you get, the more paperwork is going to be handed to you to work on.

Working in the office means you are going to receive emails constantly. You will receive them from the office staff and the distribution list. Your phone needs to be on at all times to receive calls and changes on runs. You will be asked to look things up while driving people around. Your phone should be with you and near you, even when you are off of work.

When you come to work in the office the first time, make sure you bring your own pens and something to write on. I don't trust PA's who say they will remember whatever is told them. I want to see it is written down. And bringing your own supplies shows me you are serious about your work. Production is under no obligation to buy you supplies.

You need to be a self starter. Don't wait to be told what to do. you see something in the office that needs to be done, then get to it whether it is making sure coffee is made or grabbing trash or filing away paperwork. We aren't here to hang out all day on our computer. If you are on a task, think about what you are doing. Also, know how to look busy. There can be big periods of downtime in the office. That doesn't mean you need to be playing games or watching Netflix. I have known producers to cut back an office because they didn't see a reason to have people around when PA's were watching stuff online.

You also have to grow up and mature. A lot of office PA's are green to working in Film and TV. They are fresh out of college. But now you are working, so you need to act like a grown up. You have to be on time. In fact, you should be early for anything you are doing related to work. You need to learn to dress. The production office isn't like being on set. You don't have to be in full dress attire, but you need to drop the shorts and t-shirts and put on jeans and a polo or a button down at least. You are going to be dealing with people of all levels, so look like you are making an effort.

Understand you are a PA. No one cares what you did in college or what you have worked on outside of this show. We only care about your work here and now. Know that the director is a very busy person as are the producers. Know that the actors are not your friends, and they are not going to date you. If you are driving someone around, that is not your time to pitch them your script or try and get gossip from them. If you are driving a director or producer to set or somewhere else, let them initiate conversation.

Office PA work can be boring. I won't lie. But it also allows you to get to know everyone on the crew. You will get to meet everyone, and they are are going to get to know you. If you want to move into another department, being an Office PA is a way for you to get to know the department heads and others who can teach you as well as help you move into whatever department you want to be in. But you still need to show that you want to be there. You need to show you are motivated to work in production. A Production Coordinator or an APOC (Assistant Production Coordinator), can help you out a lot by recommending you or giving you time to go work in another department. But they aren't going to do that for people who they see as unmotivated and don't want to be there and do the job they signed up for.

All of this applies to any kind of show you work on, from no budget indies to major TV shows and big budget studio features.

Waiting on the light to change

Multiplying

The Office