Working My Way Up

As most people do in this industry, I started as a production assistant at a company called Tapestry International. I have worked as a freelance production assistant for Full Stealth Films and Brave New Films. While at Tapestry, I also briefly worked as a post-production assistant. I believe that production assistants are the hardest working members of a production team. Their jobs are always difficult and they rarely see the recognition that their superiors receive, but working as a production assistant is one of the best ways to get in with a company and grow your potential. That’s how my career got started, and it gave me the chance to quickly rise to bigger and better challenges.

My first tasks as a production assistant mostly involved office work: shipping assets, gathering rights information, transcribing scripts, and organizing a tape library. As time went by, I started going on shoots where I found myself helping our directors or photography, assisting our field producer, and doing the occasional food run.

After a couple months at that, I switched to working as a post-production assistant. In that role I created tape dubs, laid in voice over tracks, and assisted the night editors with their to-do lists. I enjoyed working in post-production and have kept up my editing skills on independent projects. This position also gave me a keen insight into the post-production process, which has been a great help as a producer. This experience helps me to communicate well with editors, and I can even do some light editing work when needed. More importantly, I have a much better perspective on coordinating the post-production process because of this work experience.

I still enjoy working as a production assistant on occasion as a way of networking and getting to know what people are working on. I would definitely consider a full-time position as a production assistant if it gave me the chance to work on a project I am passionate about.