Are You a Victim of the PA Paradox?

"It’s not easy being a production assistant (PA).

You’re constantly pulled in dozens of different directions and expected to adapt quickly to any number of tasks assigned to you. In the course of one day, a PA may play the parts of barista, set security, rat wrangler, cup holder, or a combination of them all.

PA’s undoubtedly have the most unenviable position on the set: they are expected to be able to do everything asked of them while being treated as if they lack the knowledge to do any of it at all.

Further, they have to toe a fine line between respecting a crew’s space and not being too enthusiastic while also taking initiative to help crew and the production work harder and faster.

This is what I call “The PA Paradox.”

The PA paradox arises when crew complain about the lack of effort from a production assistant one moment and then chide the same production assistant for being too eager later in the day. It’s a lose-lose situation for the PA.

Not all crews or crew members enable the PA paradox — some even acknowledge the transient nature of their expectations of the PA — but enough do that it can be an intimidating factor for those who have never PA’ed before. The solution ends up being varied from set to set and crew member to crew member. Some crew would rather go an entire shoot without the help of a PA, even if they could use it. Other crew, meanwhile, will exploit a PA so heavily that the PA ends up doing more of their work than they do."

Read the full article