Production Office Assistant
Video Game Equivalent
(Associate Producer)
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
ROLE
Taking initiative
During a film production things can very easily pile up and just as easily fall through the cracks. During the production of Clock I noticed there was often hold ups with picture car rentals, niche prop acquisitions, and department check ins.
I asked my lead if I would be able to take over those tasks, in addition to my standard responsibilities, so that they did not fall by the wayside and become problems for the production later on. I worked to ensure that all the rentals and acquisitions happened on time, and that each department had its needs met to the best of my ability.
Department Check Ins
After taking the initiative to begin doing the department check ups I would check in with each department day by day to make sure that their needs were met and that there were no issues looming on the horizon. These check ins are one of the best ways to spot a roadblock before a production hits it.
An example being one day while checking in the the DIT department and hearing them talk about how the long takes were killing them on render time and data storage. I asked if it was manageably bad or if it was catastrophically bad, to which they responded that by their estimate we would ruin out of storage space by the 2nd week of the 4 week shoot. They said they had already brought the issue up to the camera department but had gotten no response. I elevated the issue to the lead producers who immediately called a meeting and said that unless absolutely necessary takes were not to be longer than 6 minutes to save on storage before it became a problem for the whole production. This also alleviated an immense amount of stress from the DIT department who no longer had to have anxiety about they storage situation or deal with the insane render times of long takes.
Wrapping it all up
The end of every production is just as important as its beginning. Arguably even more so, because at the end of a production is when most of any recoverable money comes back. At the end of a production the Art department will return anything and everything it possibly can, and anything that can’t be returned gets sold.
During the wrap of Clock I was responsible for the returns of the picture cars and the selling of the niche props that I had gotten for the production. I was able to do both in a timely fashion and with only mild annoyance at how difficult it was to sell a float tank on a deadline.
After finishing my wrap out I overheard the art department complaining in the office about how they could not get rid of two high cost items namely a large marble lamp and a neon sign that was incredibly specific to the story of the film. Once again I took the initiative and asked if I could give it a try. With the help of the Production Designer I had buyers for both by the end of the day and was able to get back a slight bit more than what the production had spent for them.