What’s a “PA”? Inside Production Assistant Jobs

First, what aren’t they? A ‘PA’, is the Swiss army knife of any production entity. Driver, shopper, office manager, note taker, note deliverer, and food procurer. So much food procuring, happening around all of the coffee ordering and procuring. Plus, making the coffee for the office kitchen that isn’t as good as the coffee they have to run out to get.

Okay, enough about coffee. For now.

The “Production Assistant”, or PA (standing neither for Pennsylvania or Port Authority) is in charge of assisting the production by doing anything and everything they’re asked to do.

Usually that’s within legal limits, but many former PAs have that one story (or two…). The PA is constantly at the ready to fulfill the requests of the Production Coordinator, Line Producer, UPM, AD(s), Showrunner, writers, producers, as well as APOCs, Script Coordinators and Writers Assistants.

If that sounds like “pretty much everyone“, well, it’s because it is. The PA is the bottom of the set/production/office hierarchy scale, only potentially being able to boss around an intern (if they aren’t snatched up by another department before the PA can get their hooks in).

Want to stand out from the other Production Assistants? Then make Scriptation part of your daily process. Instead of writing coffee orders on paper, do it in the app!

Why carry around a piece of paper that can get lost, spilled on, or taken by a bird (I’ve seen things)? It’s a scientific fact, it’s harder for a bird to carry away an iPad than a piece of paper. Trust me.

Yes, using Scriptation will make your job a little easier, but what goes into that PA job, specifically? Production Assistants jobs are like snowflakes; completely and utterly unpredictable (when was the last ‘accurate’ weather report you heard?). A PA could also do the same things at the same time for weeks on end, with no acknowledgment of their amazing work happening until the one day they’re late with a Co-EPs BBQ Chicken Salad.

Thankless? Not entirely. The thing about the Production Assistant job is even if someone hasn’t done it themselves, pretty much everyone knows it’s the job with the least thanks. The PA experience is best understood through the old saying from Captain Ron: “You do your job. You do it well, you get a better job… sort of like an incentive, deal.”

So we’ve discussed how not-fun the job is; but what is the PA job? For the safest, cleanest, brief-ish collection of the Production Assistant Job, read on:

To purchase or consume? Both are important to any PA work day, but if you need to don’t do java, or love tea, it doesn’t have to be a Venti Iced Coffee no sweetener light Oat Milk to get you to wrap. Not for you, at least, but for a tired set, office, or writers’ room, coffee is key.

But there’s coffee being brewed already, why does anyone have to run for a different, more expensive coffee? Because it’s an incentive (thanks again, Captain Ron). A treat. A break from the monotonous existence of film making. Since we can’t all drop what we’re doing and grab a Chai Latte, someone has to go get them for us.

That someone? The PA. Important enough to send out for stuff, not important enough to need to be around that we miss them for the time they’re out on a run.

“A RUN” – Anytime the PA leaves the main work location and goes to get anything that’s needed, but not available, at said location. Lunch, lights, and yes, coffee, are all things that can be obtained by a PA during a run.

While “Production Secretary” is a job–

“PRODUCTION SECRETARY“ – Administrative dynamo who handles all things Production Office, assisting the Production Coordinator, Line Producer and UPM (if not the same person) in keeping things running. Smoothly or otherwise.

–it is not necessarily referring to the person who people first encounter when entering a production office. That desk is usually operated by one or multiple PAs, another job description in their ever expanding role to production. The production office PA greets, meets, answers phones and signs for packages, all between those aforementioned runs. This is why a well-staffed production will have multiple PAs, so someone is always around to welcome in the Sparkletts rep.

For the Writers’ Office, the Writers’ PA is the gatekeeper to the hallowed writers’ room, doing their best to ward off distractions from the writers who are often currently hard at work distracting themselves with plenty of other videos, stories, or events happening within view of the biggest window.

More on the Writers’ PA later, but first:

Production Assistants get stuff, sure. They direct traffic in the entrance of the offices, absolutely. They also do whatever is needed by the production, whenever it is needed.

That includes making copies of production documents (made so much easier with a digital distro for productions using Scriptation!), distro’ing said documents, collating said documents, and ultimately, recycling and/or shredding said documents (go paperless, folks).

Office PAs change the water. They fill the fridge. They shop for the stuff that goes in the fridge. They manage petty cash, scan receipts, and get told they’re spending too much by accounting. They also assist accounting.

“PETTY CASH” – If you haven’t seen DON’T TELL MOM THE BABYSITTER’S DEAD, petty cash is money assigned to someone to fulfill requests for the office so they don’t have to pay out of their own pocket for miscellaneous expenses. Traditionally, groceries for the office are this type of expense; coffee runs are not. It all comes down to the budget, which is larger for studio projects and non-existent for independent ones.

Here are some more fun production terms, while we’re learning:

We’ve mentioned the Writers’ PA a few times already, but without listing the most important job they have: keeping the writing staff alive. If it sounds dramatic, well, you’re admitting you’ve never been in a working writers’ room. The Writers’ PA does all the runs needed by the writing staff, whether it be for coffee in the morning, lunch, dinner if they have to stay late, coffee if they have to stay later than late, and provide everything the writers need on top of those vital acquisitions.

If the Writers’ PA wasn’t there, would the writers starve? Of course not. Well… maybe some of the less self-motivated Story Editors– no, they’d just Door Dash.

But the writers can sit in the writers’ room all day (and, yes, most/some nights) because the Writers’ PA is there to get all the things that aren’t there.

They also serve as defacto office manager, kitchen stocker, personal assistant (think dry cleaning, getting cars washed, and reservation acquiring), and, if all that other stuff is done, writers’ assistant-in-training.

If you’re a Writers’ PA, the best way to show you’re ready for that next job is by reading everything. Every story doc that comes out — so you may have an answer ready if a producer ever remembers your name and asks, “Writers’ PA Name… what did you think?”

This video tip may be directed towards actors, but a smart Writers’ PA would also use the Scriptation Read tool to listen to all the story docs coming out of the office they’re managing while out on one of their many daily runs. Multitasking is the Writers’ PA greatest asset!

The best way is to sleep with your pajamas inside-out, and when you wake up in the morning the Production Secretary will call to set up an interview.

But really… you need to be around a Production, a stage, a lot, or a writers’ office, to get these incredibly valuable foot-in-the-door offerings. They fill quickly, as so many people have Hollywood dreams that start with that first terrible, low paying, long hours job. Everyone has a cousin who wants a shot, and the Production Assistant is great for relatives of famouses and producers because there are NO PRE REQUISITES.

To be a PA, all you really need is a driver’s license and a car (runs, remember?), but in the instance of these not being available (or revoked for reasons) a ‘must hire’ is still must-hired.

“MUST HIRE” – Someone who is brought in to interview for a job they already have; because of who they know, what they’ve done (quid pro quo), or what their last name is. Must hires get the gig, and have to combat the stigma that they only got the job because of “X”. Some surpass this expectation, some fall asleep in their car between lunch and dinner.

A PA gets hired for a number of reasons: because they seem reliable; they have go-getter energy; they show up on the right day; they went to the same college as the person interviewing them; the person interviewing doesn’t want to do any more interviews. Or they’re a must hire. Any and all can be true.

It’s another reason the pay is so low — the demand for the position. If you’re not willing to make bare-minimum wage, the head of Universal’s kid’s cousin will!

Yes, the Production Assistant path is a rough one, littered with tests, time restrictions, and traffic. But at the end of the road… it’s a job that will teach you more about yourself than you ever thought.

OK, we can explain that a little better.

If you’ve never had a job in entertainment, the PA job can allow you to learn how things work while not having to be responsible for any big decisions or tasks.

It allows someone who’s never had a job to learn about time management, basic office duties, and working with difficult people.

The PA experience tests you, and if you pass? You get to move up the ladder to the next unforgiving, below-the-line job.

Depends on what the end goal of the Production Assistant is. Here are some of the most common pathways:

OFFICE PA – Moves up to UPM’s assistant, Line Producer’s assistant, or Assistant Production Coordinator (APOC). There’s also “Key PA“, which is like the king/queen of the lower levels. You make a very little more money while being blamed if your underlings fall asleep in their car between lunch and dinner!

PRODUCTION PA – Moves up in the AD (Assistant Director) track. Again, there’s a Key Pa, here called a “Key Set PA“, with similar roles as above. They can also get snagged by any of the on-set departments to work in those specialties, whether it be props, set dec, camera or craft services (or any of the other talented departments on set).

WRITERS’ PA – Writers’ Assistant! Showrunners Assistant! Sometimes even Script Coordinator. Someone once said working your way up in the writers’ office is just moving where you sit and who yells at you. They’re not *completely* off base. A great writers’ PA can make it seem like they’re never there — always off on a run, but keeping things organized and smooth while they are — and after enough time, they’ll get promoted by one of the writers to some other task (usually the writer with the most experience as a Writers’ PA themselves, paying forward from when someone boosted them from the PA realms).

Ask us! Follow @Scriptation on social, and send us your burning questions about the perilous path of the PA. We can offer advice, tips, tricks, and all sorts of invaluable info ahead of your first day.