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Article: Day in The Life: Production Assistant

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Day in The Life: Production Assistant

Name: Nao Tsujimoto
Educational Background: University of Pennsylvania, May 1999
Majors: Japanese Studies, International Relations
Age: 22
Title: Production Assistant (PA)
Company: Steve Rotfeld Productions, Bryn Mawr, PA

"I'm glad that I get to work in such a small company - otherwise I'd probably still be schlepping coffee to the boss and producers."

Nao's Typical Day at Work

8 (ish) COFFEE! The first thing I do when I get in is go straight to the coffee machine to brew a STRONG pot of coffee.

8:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. I work on the AVID system - our computer editing system - on Monday mornings. The one producer that we have comes in at 12 so that I have a chance to work on it. They want me to learn the system and that's the only time I can get onto the machine. It's a lot faster than the offline system.
My daily routine varies depending on what project I'm working on. Right now I'm working on a "sports moments" project. Because our company is so small (there's only one full-fledged producer) I don't just do research, or just do errands like a typical PA. I've already started out on the editing machines. I'm working on 365 one-minute spots, each covering a significant sports moment that happened in the last 100 years. The footage search has been rather interesting. the first 200 were based on "Greatest Sports Legends," a series which was produced by my boss' father. The next 100 were taken from the Universal Newsreels at the National Archives. The rest - I'm still searching. After cutting the footage I have to write accompanying bios that explain the event and why it's a big moment in sports. I basically spend my days writing and editing my moments.

12 p.m. - 2 p.m. After 12 I go into the offline system, cut more moments, eat lunch while I work. I rarely - if ever - take the full hour lunch break that we're allowed.

2 p.m. - 4 p.m. In the afternoon we all fight over the computer. Most of our research is done on the Net, and since I don't know much about sports, I've had to use it a lot to write the sports moments. There's only one computer in the office that has an online connection; there are five people who need to use it. We're working on getting a few more.

4 p.m. - 6 p.m. (or later) When I'm not researching on the computer, I go into the offline editing system to cut more moments, and write more bios for the spots.

CHECKING IN WITH NAO

How long have you been at your present company?
I worked part-time from the end of April through the beginning of July. I took the month of July off, then started up full-time in August. ~ How did you find your current position?
I used Penn's CPPS (Career Services). They have binders in the office that list open positions. Steve Rotfeld Productions was actually looking to fill a marketing position, but because they were a production company in the area, I decided to send in my resume for a production assistant position anyway. The first time I called to see if they had any openings in production, they didn't. Two months later I received a message from them. A PA had just quit and they needed to fill the position.

Did they offer you the job on the spot?
Not right away. I didn't have any prior experience in production so Steve (the president of the company) hired me on a part-time basis to see if I could do the job. Considering that I still had a thesis to write before I could graduate, it worked out well. Also, I didn't want to go full-time right away, I just wanted to have something lined up for the fall.

When did you decide that you wanted to become a producer?
The second semester of senior year I decided that I wanted to go into public broadcasting. I got an internship at WHYY, Philadelphia's public broadcasting station. I went in twice weekly and worked from 9:30 - 4:30 (unpaid). I got to work with one of the top producers there which was really great. He was working on a film, The Philadelphia Diary, which will premier in December. I missed the production of it because I went to work for Steve Rotfeld Productions - though I did the pre-production work. I wasn't given too much responsibility there, but I think that was because I only came in two times a week. It might be a bit boring for some people - it really depend on how much you want to put into it. I would've learned more had I been able to devote more time to it. My senior thesis took precedence over the internship though!

When do you think you'll be promoted to a producer?
At the very least, one more year. I think that's faster than at a big company. And really, with the [sports] moments I'm working on right now - I'm producing them on my own. Even though I don't shoot and direct them, I'm still creating them. But, until I start producing one of our syndicated shows, I won't be a producer.

Do you ever participate in the off-site shoots?
Every so often I get to go on a shoot if it's a local one. Hopefully I'll get to go abroad soon. We work on a pretty tight budget, though, so they don't really have the resources to send a PA on off-site shoots.

Do you have any advice for college students?
First of all, you don't have to major in communications or broadcasting. If you don't, it might be more difficult to get your foot in the door, so it's probably best to find a small local company. They're more willing to teach you and start you off from scratch. They actually like it if you have a different background - they want well-rounded people. If you show genuine interest, that's usually enough.