Yesterday I PA’d (Production Assistant) on my first bigger budget music video out here. Worked and even directed more than a few smaller videos, but this was $50,000 and up -whole other ballgame. The music video was for an artist named Matt Pokora, a european pop cat who’s shoot proved to be a great first time working on set in this town since my move. Got to do it all - everything from unloading a truck to giving the actors performance instructions, even got to be an extra. And why not? We all moved here to be writers and filmmakers, but anyone will tell you that you gotta know all the positions before you can lead the game. I asked dozens of questions, tried to smooth talk my way into more work, and kissed a few people’s asses just enough to be remembered. I watched the director all day, and left set after a 14 hour shoot thinking to myself, “I could do his job, easy.” I have directed a ton of theater, coordinated plenty of teams, festivals, concerts, shoots -  all I need now are the relationships, some experience in this industry, and the vocabulary. 

Truth: it is tough to swallow all of your previous work experience and operate under people who’s jobs you’ve had and worked to get far beyond in a similar field. In the end, seems like in LA your work experience in the entertainment world doesn’t matter if you didn’t get it IN LA. People believe in this system, this way of doing things, and you have to prove yourself in the arena they know. My impatience is my worst enemy right now, I am always looking for loopholes in the ladder up the chain of command so I can skip some steps. Yesterday I only got to hold the camera monitor while they set up a shot, which was torture - I want to see it when its rolling! ACTION. 

Truth: While I could do the task of directing, I don’t fully understand the responsibilities of everyone on set yet - the amount of prep the camera operators have to do, the D.I.T. hustle, the PA routine, the project manager and coordinator, everyone in Glam, in Art, in Grip. So many cogs, and a good director has empathy for his crew, understands the pressure they are under and allows them to do their job. When you are on a budget, have time constraints, and have a client to please, the last thing you want is a crew working for you that doesn’t care about the success of the shoot because you don’t respect them. 

So I got up at 5am with my fellow Getbacker Nate, and we worked whatever job they needed until 7pm.  Some of it was fun, some was far from glamorous. We did the bottom job that nobody respects but everybody needs. I clutched my walkie talkie and waited for tasks, and daydreamed about how it will feel when it is our shoot, our budget, our vision.