The Role of a Production Assistant: Alex Bell ’17 at Maria de la Muerte Production Team in Columbus, Ohio
Nov 14, 2019
When my last co-op was finally confirmed Spring quarter of 2016 I came across an unforeseen issue.
I actually had no idea what my role as a “production assistant” meant.
Through some connections in Columbus I was able to secure a perfect co-op – working on the set of an independent zombie movie. My official title was “production assistant” (or PA for short) and I found myself frantically Googling the definition, trying to research the roles and expectations. I had to fumble through explanations of a position I didn’t fully understand when people would inevitably ask me about my future co-op job.
When I finally got to the first day on set I had a general idea of what a PA did but still had no clue what my duties actually would be or what an actual film set would be like. Whatever I was preparing myself for was so far off from the reality.
One thing I learned is that small, independent film projects are so much different from any big production one might read about. There were around ten other people there that first day. A quarter of them were the actors and the rest were a mess of camera operators, lighting technicians, PAs, and the directors. It was very small, much smaller than I’d prepared for. I was asked if I had any “special skills” to which I replied that I was just happy to do anything needed. This translated to putting me on the make-up and set dressing crew. I knew a little about these things but I was mostly used to move furniture and clean out spider webs. The tech crew realized that they didn’t have anyone to operate the boom mic and monitor audio levels and so I was pulled out of semi-familiar set design and thrown into the completely foreign world of audio tech.
Even though boom mic operator/audio technician was very far off from the position I was expecting when I first arrived on set, I am very grateful that I got such an essential position to the production. Surprisingly, I’ve learned a lot about writing and storyboarding as well during this time as I have to know the exact camera position and actor position in order to get the mic as close as possible without getting it in the shot. I also am at the center of the film’s production in terms of work. I work directly with the camera operator and lighting technician and very closely with the director/producers. I have to interact with the actors regularly and I’m still helping out with set design when they’re running low on hands inbetween takes.
Production assistant means: a person who exists on a movie set and can do anything needed. One of our PAs runs craft services, assists in set design, lighting, and helps take notes on shots. Another PA’s role is to hover around the camera operator and do anything and everything he might need during and inbetween shots. I’ve helped run smoke machines and carry heavy equipment and even given suggestions on how to shoot a scene or how an actor delivers their lines. I’m not sure how larger productions work but there’s a certain communal beauty about the way a small independent film set functions. Everyone works together and does whatever needs to be done to make a great movie. I have gained more useful skills on this set then I think I ever would holed into a small position on a larger film set and the connections to other small film projects are rich and bountiful. Despite issues with budgeting and time management and the actors having a few too many beers during long nights of filming, this co-op has been one of the most useful and interesting experiences I’ve had as an intern and I’m so glad that I finally figured out what a production assistant does.
The Importance of Community: Bell ’17 at Transgender Resource Center New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Feb 08, 2016I have gotten to a point in my co-op where talking about the Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico has become almost natural. I spend my weeks there, sometimes my free time, and I meet amazing and inspiring people there that help me understand exactly what I want to do with my life.
As an overview, TGRCNM started as a collection of support groups hosted by local LGBT centers in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As interest started gathering, Adrien Lawyer and Zane Stephens decided to open a physical space in which to provide resources and a safe space for the transgender community of New Mexico.
The thing that was so revolutionary about what Lawyer and Stephens were doing was that it was not for the LGBT community, it was not for the HIV positive community, it was not for allies or strangers or partners, this space and its resources were created with the transgender community solely in mind. Not only is the space and resources transgender-specific, but they are also plentiful. TGRCNM offers many different things to its community such as support groups, free food, free HIV testing, free needle exchange, peer counseling, free professional counseling, job and legal help, and the list goes on. The space is run by and for trans people and works to promote transgender rights and happiness in any way it can.
As an intern at TGRCNM, my role is to provide support and help in general. Because my interest in the center is not career-specific, my duties are laid fairly wide open for me whereas my social work student counterparts are limited quite a bit by their degrees.
At the center, I provide peer counseling when needed, I clean the space, notify the directors when things need restocked, I assist in organizing events, I update resource lists, assist guests with questions or specific needs, and generally do whatever is needed of me. I am about to get certified in Harm Reduction (something implemented throughout the state of New Mexico in order to reduce the spread of HIV through needle sharing) and I will be approved to facilitate support groups in the near future as well. The center provides endless support and interest in anything I might be interested in tackling when it comes to the center. I have suggested the idea of a drag workshop geared towards youths out of my own personal interest in drag and the event has garnered interest, and I am assisting in the youth group by aiding in organizing youth-specific events and providing discussion topics for the group to think and talk about.
One of the things I had been anticipating the least about my internship at TGRCNM is the interaction with the homeless population of Albuquerque and New Mexico. Homelessness is a serious issue in Albuquerque and is extremely common among the transgender community here, specifically trans women. The discrimination is rampant and prevents a lot of people from finding jobs or secure housing. In the couple months that I have been here working with this population, my ideas about them have dramatically changed.
I have heard stories of trans women being forced into prostitution just to be able to eat for a night, or turning to drug use or alcohol in an effort to forget how bad their position in life really is. Many of the people that come into the center are HIV positive or at significant risk for it and the fact that we provide free testing, condoms and lube, and needle exchanges is so utterly significant in this community. We are the only place in the state, and surely one of the few places in the whole country, that provides all of these services specifically to transgender people. This population has been so violently oppressed that it is extremely refreshing to see somewhere paying such close attention to this community, and serving it dutifully.
My view of the homeless population has changed dramatically, especially in consideration of the transgender community. So many people that come into the center for a shower or some food are some of the most compassionate and loving people I have ever met. The moment I walked into the center I was accepted and brought into this family as if they had known me all my life. I mourn for the day I have to leave the people I have met here and bonded with so thoroughly. However, even though I will be leaving and I am not able to even articulate how much I will miss this community I will be leaving behind, I am excited at the knowledge I have gained here so far and I know that I will be able to take it and use it to better support my own community back in Ohio. I am excited to use what I have learned to become a better activist for the transgender community. I hope that one day I can even use my newly gained knowledge to open up my own resource center to serve and protect this community that I have come to love and cherish so fiercely.