300 Days Down

More than a year has passed since my last post and to say my life has changed would be a monumental understatement.

A little over a year ago, on April 23, 2021, I began my journey toward being a Production Assistant (PA) in the Assistant Director (AD) department. Since then, I have already hit 300 days working in the AD department. HALF of the way to collecting the required 600 days to become a 2nd 2nd AD.

300 days of hard work, long days and nights, and genuine fun with some of the best coworkers and friends I could ask for.

January - April 22, 2021, was spent finishing Archive 81 as a VFX PA. This was my first full-time, fully completed show in the industry and is an experience I will not soon forget. I learned so much to the point I still look at blue screens and am astonished there are only five tracking markers and not 25, and still laugh when someone calls an HDRI and HDMI (don't ask me for a definition though Ariel.)

Because the VFX department is not a union and is not directly connected to the AD department, I am unable to count the days I worked on this project, toward my 600 days. Despite this, I am forever grateful that I got the chance to work in a department outside of my comfort zone, and would certainly not be where I am today if I had not had the opportunity to work with this team.

On April 23, 2021, I stepped foot onto my first professional set as a Production Assistant in the AD department outside of school. I spent the night "locking it up" (making sure no cars or people enter the frame while we roll.) It was long and cold but absolutely rewarding. I worked with Sarah Thornton, the Key PA, who was kind enough to become a mentor to me and bring me onto American Rust Season One for the remainder of the show.

American Rust Season One was a masterclass in PAing. I spent the first three weeks as a part-time lockup PA and quickly became a full-time additional PA. Then came the end of June and I was offered the position of Background (BG) PA since ours was leaving. Eric Schwartzmiller, our original BG PA, took me under his wing and taught me a lot about checking BG in, vouchers, and charting how the BG moved through the scene. When he left, in my first two weeks I managed 100 BG prisoners every day. It was hard work, but I'm grateful for the lessons I learned. The very last week, Sarah left to prep their next show and I became the interim Key PA. It was a great trial run for my next show where I was hired to be the Key PA.

Cha Cha Real Smooth started a short five days after we wrapped American Rust Season One. Sarah and I were working together again, only this time Sarah was the 2nd 2nd AD and I was the Key PA. I am so thankful to have been given the opportunity to work as a Key PA so soon into my career and to have had my mentor working on the same job with me in case I had any questions. This movie was filmed in 23 days, much shorter than my two previous projects, but it was still a lot of work and definitely long hours. I learned a lot about myself and the industry. And had my first (and hopefully last) trip to the ER because I wasn't taking care of myself - something I have since tried to be more diligent about. We had a really tight-knit crew since it was an indie project and thankfully was filled with most of the same crew that I had worked with previously.

Cha Cha wrapped on September 11 and my next job, Rustin, wasn't set to start filming until the last week of September so I was able to work on a commercial and dayplay on another production in Pittsburgh. I met new ADs that I hadn't worked with before and met a few new PAs as well. As always, I was thankful to work but also glad to take a few days to relax and catch up on sleep before my next full-time gig.

Rustin was by far my favorite project to work on in Pittsburgh. It was the first job I got to travel for, my first time working as a 1st Team Cast PA, and is such an important story that I'm glad to have been a part of it. Rustin was a beast itself in that we had several COVID scares and delays all throughout production, we traveled to Washington DC (and some had to travel back for a second time), and we had such a large cast. With an average of 15 cast members on set every day (and our biggest days having 23 cast members) I leaned heavily on our other 1st Team PA Tiffany Spriggs and Basecamp PA Paulina Charlebois to learn how to best do my position. They both had worked as 1st Team before and were extremely helpful. Our cast was amazing to work with and I'm so excited to see the movie when it's released.

After Rustin, I got a short holiday break, during which I got a text asking if I was available for the last month of a movie. Production on The Pale Blue Eye would resume on January 10th and last until February 15th. This was the first time I ever worked as a Basecamp PA. I believe the only reason I was able to do the job effectively was that I learned so much from Paulina and watching her run Basecamp on Rustin. I learned a lot of paperwork that will be useful as a 2nd 2nd AD should I ever decide to turn my book in and was able to stay warm thanks to being in the trailer most of the day. I was not envious of my friends on set staying outside in the cold the entire winter.

After The Pale Blue Eye wrapped, I was exhausted. After one year of work in production (in different capacities) and two winters, I took a much-needed break and my first-ever solo vacation. Production had slowed down in Pittsburgh with only one show still working and not in need of any PAs, I decided to devote a month to relaxing and revising some of my scripts.

As March rolled around and was near finishing, I did begin to wonder and worry about when my next job would be. No other production was coming to Pittsburgh until May and I was going stir-crazy. By some miracle, I got a phone call from a 2nd AD in New York, who had gotten my information from my 2nd 2nd AD on American Rust, Ryan Klutch. I did my first group interview (5 ADs!) and heard back a few hours later; "do you wanna come play in New York for the summer?" Little did I know that accepting that job, Poker Face Season One, would change my life so much.

March 30th, 2022 I got an email with a start date (Friday, April 8th) and my housing information.

Klutch called me a few minutes later asking if I was interested in working Monday in New York City on the last few days of a movie. I agreed on a whim and ended up being the Key PA. In the span of 72 hours, I moved out of my apartment in Pittsburgh, packed my car, said goodbye to my friends and family, and took off to New York.

"Trial by fire" would be the easiest way to sum up the experience. I'm not convinced I didn't black out during the two days I worked; prepping with the ADs and director and producer, a covid scare, trying to set lockups in Manhattan and shift paparazzi and fans out of the shot. It was exciting having so much responsibility and new ADs to impress. I met a lot of new PAs too who I got the chance to work with again on Poker Face.

After I left Brooklyn, I drove upstate to Newburgh, NY, and moved into my hotel room. I was hired as the 1st Team helper PA. Poker Face Season One planned to shoot 10 episodes and hired two 1st Team PAs, one to work on set (me) and my friend John Ferraro to work in Basecamp.

I had one prep day on April 8th for costume fittings, and we began shooting Monday, April 11th. I won't lie and say it was easy. The first two episodes we shot (Episode 1 and Episode 9) were extremely busy and packed full days.

In the beginning, it seemed as though the summer was going to last forever. But when production in New York finished at the end of August, I remember looking back and wondering how it had ended so soon. The professional connections I made and the friends I met are something I'll always be grateful for. I was of course homesick in some moments, but I had forgotten in the month I had been out of work in Pittsburgh, just how much I loved being on set and meeting new people.

We had a fantastic cast and working with an entirely new crew gave me a great learning opportunity and helped me to further build my network. Outside of work, we became a family who hung out on the weekends; going to karaoke and trivia nights, hanging on the hotel's patio, swimming in the local lake or someone's pool, or hopping on a boat for the day.

In July I was asked if I could accompany two of the ADs to New Mexico to shoot Episode 2. Only some of the crew was going but the ADs valued me as part of their team and the lead actress also relied heavily on me.

We wrapped the New York unit of the show on August 27th at 5 am. I packed my car and left New York at noon and landed in Pittsburgh at 8 pm. Unpacking New York and packing for New Mexico happened in about four hours and at 4 am Sunday morning, I boarded a flight for New Mexico.

Two weeks in New Mexico with a mostly new crew, battling heat, and exhaustion from working all summer, and then three days split between Nevada and Arizona. And then filming was done. September had come and gone so quickly. Five and a half months had come and gone so quickly.

I flew back to Pittsburgh with three job offers in three different states. I ultimately decided to accept a job in Los Angeles, CA that would last five months beginning in January 2023.

After sleeping, catching up with friends, working a few days in Pittsburgh to see more friends, and a few trips to my campground, I hunkered down and started looking for apartments in Los Angeles. Trying to find an apartment rivaled the exhaustion I felt from working.

Finally, on December 1st my roommates and I signed a lease. We were able to move in on December 9th. My mom and I did what we learned to do best and packed up my life in 24 hours and left early December 3rd to drive cross-country.

Pittsburgh > West Virginia > Ohio > Kentucky > a night in Nashville, TN > Arkansas > Oklahoma > Texas > New Mexico (a quick pit stop to show my mom a filming location for Poker Face Episode 2) > Arizona > Las Vegas, NV > and finally Los Angeles, CA

Saturday to Thursday we drove. My landlord was gracious enough to let me move in early and by some miracle from the shipping gods, all of my packages arrived intact. Thursday to Sunday my mom and I spent shopping, unpacking, building, and dancing around my new apartment.

I did work one commercial the week after I moved out here, in the costume department. My appreciation only grew for the costumers and seeing everything they have to handle in Basecamp (let alone what they're usually handling on set.)

Now, while I'm sitting in my near furniture-less apartment, I wait for my roommates to move in and try and take a breath.

I have a little under a month until my next job starts. During this, I have my usual goals to revise my scripts, read, watch movies and tv shows I've ignored for months, and catch up on sleep.

The common words of this blog entry are grateful, thankful, and whirlwind.

Getting to work almost 2 full years in my chosen field. Being so busy that somehow I've already hit 300 days, which is certainly something I only dreamed of. Getting to travel for work to five states (three days also spent in Connecticut at a hotel/casino for shooting Poker Face), and whatever Washington D.C. is considered, and explore different areas of the country I never would've dreamed of.

I grew a lot personally and professionally this year and in my 300 days. And I cannot wait to see what comes next.