So, for those of you who don't know me, which I would assume would be most anyone who's reading this page, I am a aspiring mogul in the motion picture industry. On the way there, I'm starting at the beginning, a very sad place to start, but like any other industry, one must pay their dues. And at the bottom that means the "Do(s) this and Do(s)" that for very little if anything at all. Now many of my friends ask me why I'm staying in my home town, and not head to Seattle, or Portland, or more confusing to most L.A. Well as I have said to them, I'll say here, Sure I want to work there, but I WILL NEVER LIVE THERE!!! I lived there briefly as a child, and when my family moved away, it was so much for the better.
Now, as to relating this to the title of this post, working at the bottom, specifically as a PA(Production Assistant), and most recently as a trial by fire Key PA on the reshoot of a major motion picture that came to town, I learned the hard way just how badly per diem can burn. Contractually, as a PA, or Key PA, or any other kind of contract worker on a picture, you work until the day is done as dictated in a contract. Well, in my case I work until the work is done, not the day. Here's the punch line, this day can be anywhere from just a couple of hours, to, oh say, up to 18 or more.
With this the case, one can often find themselves technically working for much less than minimum wage when on the bottom of the rung. And for those interns working for free, well, school work and shooting, I have the utmost respect for them. As the Key PA, I am in charge of to other PA's, either paid or interned, and wow, what hard workers both are. I guess this post is more of a thanks to those that helped me out by working so hard on this project, and less of a rant about how rough it can be at the bottom, but all those I am working for now, and all those I hope to work with in the future, will have been through the same ordeal many times over, and as such I guess we all form a type of solidarity, whether we admit it or not. If we didn't love it, we wouldn't be together doing it.
So here's to the PA's, who I'm sure I'll be talking about in the near future, venting my frustrations, my pondering's, and my adulations, for this is truly like a dream, especially when you've been working more than 76 hours in 4 days.
With this the case, one can often find themselves technically working for much less than minimum wage when on the bottom of the rung. And for those interns working for free, well, school work and shooting, I have the utmost respect for them. As the Key PA, I am in charge of to other PA's, either paid or interned, and wow, what hard workers both are. I guess this post is more of a thanks to those that helped me out by working so hard on this project, and less of a rant about how rough it can be at the bottom, but all those I am working for now, and all those I hope to work with in the future, will have been through the same ordeal many times over, and as such I guess we all form a type of solidarity, whether we admit it or not. If we didn't love it, we wouldn't be together doing it.
So here's to the PA's, who I'm sure I'll be talking about in the near future, venting my frustrations, my pondering's, and my adulations, for this is truly like a dream, especially when you've been working more than 76 hours in 4 days.
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