Working As A Film Production Assistant Can Launch Your Career

The Best Kept Secret in Film and Video is that many success stories started By working as a PA on film and Video sets

Where do you want to be next year or the year after? On a film set? Would you love to be working on shooting commercials, videos, films, or sporting events? 

There are a ton of people currently working on film or video crews that got their start as Production Assistants. There are Directors, Assistant Directors, Art Directors, Producers, Cameramen, Lighting Professionals, Actors, and many more who got their start as Production Assistants.

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How Do All These People Get Jobs On Movies And Commercials? They start As A Production Assistant!

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But rather than focus on the big stars and big names, I went looking for a few people whose careers started as PAs right here in the San Francisco Bay Area in California.  Let’s be clear, these are people just like you, who want interesting jobs, who don’t want to sit at a desk all day, who want to work in a business that pays you to travel!  Have you thought, “How do all these people get jobs on movies and commercials?”  They start as a Production Assistant! To learn more, I interviewed three people and here are their stories.

1. Hilton Jamal Day

   Hilton Jamal Day is currently working as an Assistant Director, but he started as a Production Assistant.

He worked as a PA in feature films including Ant Man and the Wasp, Bumblebee, Terminator Genisys, San Andreas, Steve Jobs, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. He has also worked as a PA on several TV series including Fuller House, Chance, Pitch, Sense8, and Looking.

Hilton began Assistant Directing in 2014. Since then has worked on several feature film and television productions as a 2nd 2nd Assistant Director including 55 Steps in 2017. In 2018 he became the Second Assistant Director of Sorry To Bother You, and then 1st Assistant Director in 2019 on The Last Black Man in San Francisco and 5 Minutes from Home with Stephen Curry.  Hilton talks about how he got his start.

“For me I definitely started in the industry wanting to go into post-production.  I never wanted to be on the set.  I started working on set and I don't know where, but I started realizing, ‘oh man this is really, really great’ and it's a lot better for my personality.  I work a lot better on set!”

Hilton went from Production Assistant to Assistant Director in five years.  It’s amazing when you think about it!  And there are so many PA jobs in almost every city.  In a smaller city, you will find local commercials, news, live-streaming events, and interviews just to name a few.  The larger the city, the more opportunities there are. 

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2. Danielle Karstetter

Danielle Karstetter, Producer, was working as a masseuse before becoming a PA

“Getting into this business as a Production Assistant really changed my life. It's what started me off on this career path to be a producer. I'm just so grateful that I had the opportunity!”

She knew someone who was on a video shoot where they were short a production assistant. So, she jumped in at the last minute.  Danielle said, “I Didn't have any experience and I loved it!  I absolutely loved being on set! I loved the excitement. I loved the team environment. Working together with the crew was very exhilarating. From there, I got my next job. From that, I got my next job and then I was offered a full-time position at Swordfish, which is where I am now.  Danielle went from being a part-time production assistant to becoming a full-time producer at Swordfish in the Financial District of San Francisco, CA”

This is exactly how many people in the film and video business get their start!  Yes, a lot of people go to colleges and universities to get their film degrees and manage to distinguish themselves by becoming professionals in the business, but a degree is not required to get your first job on a set!

3. Frances Reyes- Bolinger

Frances Reyes-Bolinger, Producer, Location Professional, graduated with a bachelor’s degree in International Business but has found her passion working in the film and video business. 

She started out as a Production Assistant working as a Locations Assistant back in 2012 and now has an IMBD page full of her credits as an Assistant Locations Manager.  She has worked on The Matrix 4 (coming in 2021),  Beautiful Boy, 13 Reasons Why, The Etruscan Smile, Birth of the Dragon, Summertime, Looking, and Ant-Man.  Whew!  That’s quite a resume she built in just eight years.