The definition of a good PA can be very different depending on who your asking. To me, the most simple definition of a good PA is someone who is willing and able to do what no one else on a set wants to do. This can include anything from going to the pharmacy and mysteriously purchasing 6 different types of anti itch cream for Ja-Rule to escorting Tia Carrera to a nice sushi restaurant before driving her back to the hotel. (Both of which I have done.) I remember my first PA gig vividly. I was paid $50 dollars for an 18-hour, 1-day shoot for some random Canadian lifestyle show filming in Miami Beach. For most of the day I did nothing but guard, aka fire-watch, an empty truck with no shade from the blistering sun. When the night came, things got a bit more interesting. The club that we were filming at had for some reason placed astro turf over the floors of the entire club. The producer had made a deal with the club owner that in exchange for letting us film there, we would remove the astro turf from the entire club at the end of the night. So there I was at 11pm in the middle of South Beach on a Friday night, loading pound after pound of astro turf and dirt into the bed of someones pickup truck. After the overflowing pick uptruck is loaded, the producer reveals that he has no idea what to do with the astro turf. So me and a few other badly paid PA’s decide to do something illegal, find a random dumpster on a back street, unload the astro turf and drive away like a bat out of hell. After we finally wrapped, I remember thinking to myself on the ride home: “Is this really what I spent the last 3 years of my life preparing for?” And the answer, of course, is yes.
For the better part of the last 8 years I have worked as a PA. Film & television sets, reality shows, photo shoots & infomercials - I pretty much have seen it all. Being a PA can be very different depending on what type of set you are on. On a film shoot it’s a lot easier to focus on one task. Usually everyone is working towards one goal, so once you have your orders you’re probably not going to do much else. On reality shows, there are usually a bunch of things being made at the same time, and there is always a sense that anything can happen, so it’s necessary to be on your toes and ready at all times. Photo shoots are great because you’re dealing with minimal elements and people, they pay well and you get to meet a lot of lovely models. Infomercials are cheap, boring and a pain in the ass to work on. Unless you desperately need the money, I would stay away from those.
Day to day I strive to be a filmmaker but my favorite type of set to work on is a Reality TV set. Depending on the type of show you can learn so much day to day. I worked for 2 years on TLC’s In A Fix & I learned invaluable lessons about home improvement and all of the small things that make a home work. On a couple of seasons of Top Chef I learned everything I could about great food, restaurants, appliances & industrial size kitchens. Three seasons of Miami Ink showed me the world of tattoos and tattoo artist from a unique perspective. Sure, there are a lot annoying people and things to deal with such as appearance releases, janitorial amounts of cleaning & ecstasy addicted directors who seem to have a death wish, but having some extra knowledge at the end of the day makes it all worthwhile. Of course, there are the reality shows where you learn useless things too. On a season of Making the Band I learned all of the reasons everyone in America should despise P Diddy, and that’s all I’m going to say about that. Since I’ve moved up in the food chain, I am pretty much out of the PA game. I will always be grateful for the lessons I’ve learned, the great people I’ve worked for and all the knowledge I’ve acquired.
