Your about to start a new project and chances are there will be at least one PA that is rather green or maybe has never even been on a set before. This is mostly the case in the non-union world. So its the first day of production you don’t have time to train them what do you do? Well take one step back. What if you were able to train them before the film started?
Here are some easy ways you can train PAs before your next film.
1. Recommend they attend Quixote PA Boot Camp. I highly recommend this Boot Camp to anyone that wants to be a PA in the film industry. The people that come from this workshop come out well equipped.
“Quixote’s P.A. Bootcamp is designed as a real-world, practical job training program. If you are going to your first day of work as a P.A wouldn’t it be better to know what is going on all around you? Our goal is to prepare you thoroughly and completely for the job of Production Assistant, which is your first step into the entertainment business as it has been for many highly successful producers, executives, directors and others currently working in the industry.” – From their website
2. Recommend a good book. I recently created an ebook that is specifically for Production Assistants in LA. Check out the book on Amazon HERE.
3. Meet with your PAs before the show. I don’t recommend this on every project, however if its a lengthy feature or a project of 3 weeks or greater than this may be worth the meeting. Typically in the meeting I am able to assess who has what experience, and do an abbreviated training that includes set etiquette and expectations for the week.
4. Do on the job training. If you have a PA who doesn’t know how to do something make it clear that it is okay to ask for help and either you as the AD or another PA will show him or her how.
5. Consider online training. A friend of mine recently crated a really cool video training curriculum for PAs specifically. You can check out the course HERE.
