RUST: Take 2

January 31, 2020, I interviewed for a Set Dec PA position for a show called Rust that was going to star Jeff Daniels and premiere on Showtime. I left my part-time job that night, went home, and decided that I would be quitting my two jobs and starting a new job on Tuesday, a job finally in the film industry after a year out of school.

That Monday night, I moved out of my house and down to Churchill and began working with the lovely Dominique Carino and Rebecca Brown.

Then, a month and a half later, Covid shut the world down, and that included all of the productions currently working. We were one day away from beginning production.

Over a year went by, and the day after my last day on Archive 81, I returned to my first professional job in the industry, this time in the AD department.

April 23, 2021, I began working as an Additional Set PA on season one of what will now be called American Rust. 11 days later I was hired as a full-time Additional Set PA. One month and a half later, I was made the Staff Background PA. And the latter half of this week, as the show was ending, I acted as the Staff Key PA (after our previous Key Sarah moved to another job).

To say I’ve had an interesting time working on Rust would be a severe understatement.

It was a rapid succession with different responsibilities under each title, but I’ve had a number of doors open because I became staff on this show.

In four short months, I have learned so much about what it takes to be a production assistant and to work in the AD department. Each day I gained a much deeper appreciation for the crew and other departments on set.

I met incredible people, many of whom became mentors as well as great friends.

Four months sounds like such a short time, but when you spend 60-70 hours a week with the same people, it feels like a lifetime. I will miss this show and this group more than I expected. Some of this crew will be sticking around Pittsburgh to work on other projects but a lot of them are headed home to other states and some are even getting to travel to other countries for work.

As for what’s next, this Wednesday I will begin working as the key PA on my next project, under the wonderful Sarah Thornton, who will be the 2nd 2nd. Sarah was the Key PA and my mentor on Rust and I am so excited to work with them again!

It will be a lot of hard work, but nothing I can’t handle, and I am beyond excited for this next job.

The next two days, I’ll be prepping for this next job and catching up on my sleep.

I’ve also started talking to a few people about making a project of our own soon, something that would be incredible to do as it’s been far too long since I’ve directed.

As always, I appreciate you following along with me and my story!