1st Team PA (LA & 3rd Area) – 1st Team Helper (NYC)

Your Ultimate Goals: 

  • Don’t Lose Anyone
  • Don’t Have Camera Waiting on You
  • Stay Ahead and Communicate Well

This is a support position, and one of the hardest jobs on set. You will be aiding the Basecamp PA or 1st Team Runner PA in labeling trailers, greeting cast, delivering food, getting contracts signed, and helping get the cast from A to B in time for Camera to film them. Once the cast are on set for their scene, the Basecamp PA/Runner PA will generally hang back in base to catch more actors. You will be the main liaison between Cast, Hair/Makeup/Wardrobe (HMUW), and the 1st AD on set to make sure the cast are where they need to be, are “Last Looked”, are cued when needed, and are comfortable while they stay on set between setups. You’ll have to juggle the happiness of the cast, HMUW, and your ADs, the needs of which are not always in sync. Learn to be a diplomat. Know where the cast is, know your HMUW teams, know the frames, and keep them all informed on what the film company is doing next.

Things You Will Need

  • A 4-color pen
  • A pocket sized notebook
  • Sides
  • A call sheet
  • Strong communication skills
  • The patience of a saint

Below is a general guide for your responsibilities as a 1st Team PA (LA & 3rd Area) or 1st Team Helper PA (NYC). This will vary show to show. You’ll want to check in with your ADs for specifics and items which might not be listed here, or items listed that they don’t need you to do. These also aren’t listed in an order that necessarily must be followed. You’ll learn what to prioritize day to day as you find your way with your new crew. You can find a condensed version of this list on our 1st Team PA (LA & 3rd Area) / 1st Team Helper PA (NYC) checklist to print out and carry with you throughout your day.

The Morning

  • Help the Basecamp / Runner PA label the appropriate campers for cast and place contracts, sides, and a pen in each.
  • Help with breakfast orders. Bring food back in a timely fashion.
  • Help standby for cast. Show them to their rooms, get their breakfast orders.
  • Read your sides. Know the day’s plan.
  • At the direction of the Basecamp / Runner PA, escort cast members to the HMU trailer and report what time they sat.
    • USEFUL TIP 1: When entering a HMU camper, knock from the ground, open the door, announce “Stepping Up”, and then step onto the stairs. This prevents shaking of the camper while there might be delicate makeup work happening inside.
  • Scout the set. At an appropriate time for the Basecamp / Runner PA, head to set early to get a lay of the land. Find out where cast bathrooms are, where their chairs should go in relation to set, where HMUW monitors will be set up, how to get into set, where the cast van should park, etc. You’re 2nd 2nd AD and Key PA will be able to help with the logistics of these. Relay this information to your Basecamp / Runner PA, Props, Camera, HMUW, Transpo as necessary.
    • EXAMPLE: Transpo doesn’t usually need to know where HMUW monitors are going, and so forth.
  • Return to base (if there is time). Verify with your Basecamp/Runner PA that all needed cast have signed their contracts. Contracts cannot delay the ready process in base, but they also cannot be forgotten before an actor is filmed for the first time.

The Filming Day

  • Go to set with cast and HMUW. Help the Basecamp/Runner PA invite all needed cast for rehearsal or picture (If it’s a rehearsal, have a plan with the Basecamp/Runner PA to get the needed actors back to basecamp after rehearsal). By now you’ll know exactly where you’re escorting everyone to, and the layout of set. You’ll remain with this group for as long as any actors are on set. It is your job to not lose anyone, whether they wandered to crafty or snuck out the back for a smoke. You need to know where all cast is at all times. Your fellow PAs should help you “keep eyes“, and don’t be afraid to ask the Key PA if you feel there are too many ways for cast to sneak away and you need help keeping tabs. You’re only one person.
  • Talk with sound about who needs wires. Relay that information to your 2nd 2nd AD and Wardrobe, and help get the necessary crew members together with cast to make it happen.
  • Know the frames and listen to the 1st AD. Watch rehearsals, know the camera setups, who the camera sees, if a cue is needed be prepared to be that person, etc. Communicate necessary information to HMUW and cast, and be ready to answer when an actor (or anyone) asks “What are we doing?”
  • Relay Relay Relay. In this position, you’re the relay for a lot of people. Relay what the 1st AD says about the setups to HMUW/Cast, relay to the 2nd 2nd AD what the movements of cast are, relay to the 1st AD why cast is taking so long to get to their marks, etc. If you don’t know an answer, just say “I’ll find out”. ADs hate dead air, so don’t be the source of it.
    • EXAMPLE: Did the 1st AD just say Camera’s ready? HMUW needs to know that so they can do their last looks before rolling. HMUW also needs to know the frame, and the 1st AD needs to know HMUW needs that last looking time. Be communicative and detailed, but not long winded.
  • Do constant head counts of cast. This will come in handy on really busy days with 10+ cast members. You may need extra PA help on days like that. Check with your ADs if you’re worried.
  • 1 Hour before lunch, confer with your Basecamp / Runner PA on what the lunch plan will be. Don’t forget to feed anyone. Have a van plan for getting HMUW and Cast to/from lunch if necessary.
  • Rinse and repeat the morning routine. Don’t lose anyone.
  • Read the prelim. Check for any snages you can spot ahead of time (An actor brought in too late/early, a missing stand-in, scene description is off. Better to catch these things at lunch time the day before, rather than 5A the day of). Relay any corrections or changes from crew to the 2nd AD or Basecamp/PPW PA.
  • As cast wraps, get them a van to base if needed. Communicate to the Basecamp/Runner PA what’s happening. If there are other cast on set, you do not leave. You are on set from the first cast member to the last cast member.

Company Wrap

  • Have a van plan already in place to get HMUW and the remaining cast back to basecamp. Communicate with the Basecamp / Runner PA what is happening.
  • Help sign cast out
  • Help arrange vans home for cast as needed
  • Clear campers. As trailers become empty, tell the Basecamp/Runner PA first. They’ll alert Wardrobe and Transpo. If the Basecamp / Runner PA is unavailable, you can do this yourself, but send everything through the Basecamp / Runner PA first.
  • Help prelabel any necessary campers for tomorrow.
  • Help collect daily timesheets / timecards from HMUW and hand them in to your 2nd 2nd or PPW PA.

Go home and get some sleep!

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