Daniel Scarpati Went From Production Assistant To Owning His Own Production Company and He Wrote a Book about All of it!
Full Of Passion For Film And Video, Mr. Scarpati Has Worked In “The Biz” Since Middle School.
I first met Daniel when he contacted me a few years ago as we launched our course on how to be a successful Production Assistant. He had written a book on his adventures in the film industry called "Gofers" about when he was a PA (Production Assistant) in New York City.
I've read the book, and it's full of real stories about real film projects. I was immediately impressed with his writing skills and his people skills.
Unvarnished and with raw truth, Daniel tells us some incredible stories of his time as a film PA in the city that never sleeps and some great advice on what it takes to make it in the film industry.
He started where I started in the film business, at the bottom, and then he climbed up fast. Here is the interview where Daniel talks about what it takes to make it in the Big Apple.
Daniel Scarpati Interview Part I
Robin: So Daniel, did you always want to be in the film business?
Daniel: I started by watching movies like pretty much everyone else. I think we all watched images before any of us wanted to be in this industry. I feel like that's the common denominator. So I started when I was a kid watching movies, and the one that did it for me was Jurassic Park by Steven Spielberg.
We all have that movie or TV show or video content that made us want to do it. I started making videos in my backyard. Then in middle school, I hosted a public TV show in the broadcasting department that was in our school basement. It just went from there, acting in high school in front of the camera, working in high school behind the camera, and in college working on sets. I always wanted to work on a film and television production, whether in front of, or behind the camera.
Robin: And you have had some acting experience, is that correct?
Daniel: That is true. I've done quite a bit of stage acting in Community Theater, starting in high school and then at a little community theater. And of course, I still make my goofy YouTube Videos from time to time to keep creatively active. So I have no problem being in front of the camera.
Robin: So let's talk a bit about your first time working in this business. You became a PA in 2015, correct?
Daniel: Technically, earlier than that. In 2015, I graduated college, and I started working as a PA full time, but I was PA-ing in the summers during college.
Robin: Let's talk a little bit about that. That's kind of important. You don't have to wait till you graduate to get into the business?
Daniel: A thousand percent; you just hit the ground running as soon as you can. A lot of people have different ways to start, but I found ways to start by doing gigs over the summer during my summer breaks. I started taking out free Craigslist ads and posting online friends via Facebook who needed people on their sets. I found any way I could to get active. So you don't have to wait until you graduate.
Robin: A lot of people are questioning how important it is to get a four-year degree in this business. I don't have a degree, and I had a great career. Degrees are expensive, and kids are not excited about going into debt. What would you say to that?
Daniel: I get this question a lot too. I'm sure you've gotten it through your whole career. I get it all the time. When I share that I wrote a book about it, people tell me they're getting this degree or that degree. Personally, my degree has never served me any kind of special purpose in this industry. I do have a dual BA in film production and TV-Radio from my Alma Mater, CUNY Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College. And I'll say I was a little extra blessed to get into Macaulay honors college, which was a tuition-free scholarship that the college offers. So I, thankfully, was able to graduate without debt.
That being said, no one has ever asked me about my degree. It's always been on my resume, but I've never received any questions from Assistant Directors, Production Managers, or Producers; nobody ever asks about that. It's always there in the background, but it's never been necessary. And I've met many people who have had zero training prior to working in the field. So I don't believe the degree is necessary. If you want to do it, I say, "Go for it." But don't get caught in the trap thinking, "I must spend X amount of money to get that piece of paper because I need it to succeed."
Robin: What was your very first day on a set like? Can you go back in your mind to the very first day? Was it a volunteer job? Were you nervous? Was it big? Was it small? What was that day?
Daniel: I remember it being a job that I found through Craigslist. No pay. They needed a lighting assistant, really it was a gaffer, and there was no pay. They said we just need somebody good with lights. I'd been on my little home studio sets before, and theirs was just a small, independent film. I remember stepping on that set and being deeply excited because I finally found my way onto a set. I saw the gear in one corner, I saw a director and the actors, and I said, "Okay, this is really happening. This is serious." It didn't matter to me that it wasn't, you know, some crazy Hollywood blockbuster film. It was the fact that I was there, on a set. The excitement was high, and I have a very bright future ahead of me is what I had in my head, "This is great, this is the start of it all." And then, very quickly, I realized I needed to get pretty good at some of the technical things. I needed to learn my way around a set and understand the lingo. There were things I wasn't understanding, so my excitement very quickly channeled into, "It's time to get the job done."
Robin: It's a many-layered experience, and seasoned crew members will tell you that it's more round than linear. There are linear paths, but you have to know all the different departments. What are you doing now?
Daniel: I worked as a PA (Production Assistant) pretty much full time, right up until the beginning of 2019. And it was in 2019 after about six years of first on, then off PA-ing, and in the summers, I did it full time. After four or five years that I said, "You know, I'm ready to take next steps. I'm ready to do more. I believe I'm worth more than minimum wage," which is what I was making as a PA all those years (that's the standard). I felt ready to take the next step. So in 2019, I began working as a Camera Operator. I started working behind the scenes as an Audio-Video Technician. I worked with different YouTube live streamers and content creators. I'm very varied. I'm always spinning plates. So, a lot of times, I'd say 75% of the time behind the scenes, I worked camera, sound, and audio-video in the field and in studios for major networks and for YouTube content creators. I was writing books, talking about books, and writing a screenplay. I was getting ready to, one day, shoot my first feature and make my own YouTube videos.
Robin: How did you go from being a PA to being a DP (Director of Photography)? You know, that's a big jump.
Daniel: It was a combination of being offered different jobs like you were in Locations (Location Scout). I wasn't offered the jobs that I was hoping to be offered when I worked as a PA. I got myself on the Assistant Director track, so I worked on a lot of union-qualifying productions and union-signatory productions. I was on track to join the Directors Guild of America (DGA) as an AD. Then I found out that a lot of my days, the vast majority of my days, weren't going to count toward union membership here on the East Coast. This was very upsetting because when I took those jobs, I thought they would count.
Robin: Why didn't they count?
Daniel: I worked on all different types of productions, single-camera and multi-camera; here's the difference.
Single-camera is really for narrative, television shows, and feature films. The feature film style of shooting is with one camera, even if there's more than one camera. You shoot one side, and you turn around and shoot the other. And then multi-camera is for live TV events, sitcoms, and award shows. Even though I worked on union sets for both single- and multi-camera, I found out that, here on the east coast when I was applying, the DGA did not count any days worked as a PA on multi-camera productions. I worked on CBS's Kevin Can Wait, Murphy Brown, and various award shows--all full union sets. But the DGA wasn't going to count those days toward joining as an Assistant Director because they were single-camera. You needed 600 days working as Set PA to join as an Assistant Director at the time that I was applying. So getting into being an Assistant Director with the DGA was a little complex. I made the decision that I was ready to take the next step. And all the while I was working as a PA, I was always shooting my own videos. So, I started my own production company, Passing Planes Productions. Then on the weekends, I would do business videos for small businesses, some friends of the family who needed video shoots for their local businesses in a documentary style. I worked on a few PBS documentaries and was entrusted by a friend to shoot Enriching Destiny, and that was picked up by Mississippi PBS and then went on to win some awards. I decided that the DGA would not be the path I am going right now. I already had that bulk of work that I was able to say, "Well, I've been doing this the whole time." Let me just start telling people. I'd like to find this work. And as soon as I started saying, "I'd like to be a camera operator, I'd like to be an AC (Assistant Camera)." I do it well. You know, I have DP documentaries." I shared all the work I did, so then I could find that camera work rather quickly.
Robin: So basically, you invested time, energy, and money. That was your real school, was it not?
Daniel: I think that's absolutely right! That is the way that it was. I never stuck with just PA-ing while I was a PA. It took up the majority of my time, but I always made sure that I was doing extra things and learning extra stuff on the backend while focusing on the technical in other places. So that way, at the end of it, I wouldn't have to say, "Well, I have to keep PA-ing because it's all I've done; it's all I know." I knew a lot of other things, and I found a way to successfully translate that into work elsewhere.
Robin: I want to go into your book. I mean, I was looking at it again this morning. This is an incredibly good book, but tell me, why did you start writing a book? Tell me about your "Why." Why did you do this?
Daniel: I wrote Gofers, and I have my torn desk copy here with all the pages falling out because I just reference it so much.
When I was in college, I knew what a Production Assistant was, but I had no idea what they did. And none of the professors that I had explained it or discussed all the different types of production assistants and all the nuances to working a freelance lifestyle, as I'm sure you as a veteran know.
When you start working freelance, you have to know how to handle your own taxes because you're on your own. Even if you have an accountant, you're taking care of your business. You have to be able to fill out W2's throughout the year or W-4's and know all your information, and form an LLC (Limited Liability Company) and why you might want to do that. The idea of working on five different sets, five weekdays during a work-week. I didn't understand all those things that were part of being a PA. And as I learned it, all I realized was there was no great book out there that told it all in a non-textbook form. There are a few other books that I think do it extremely well, but they read like textbooks. And I didn't want to write something that was like a textbook. I said to myself, "Why not treat it like a story because I'm sure my journey is not unique." I know that plenty of people want it to work on a set and find their way to sets, just like yourself and so many others.
Robin: You talk at the very beginning about Brian Dennehy and the story about being on a set and getting in trouble when you shouldn't have gotten in trouble.
Daniel: I was assigned to work with Brian Dennehy. He's the late great now, but I was so excited to work with him when he was still with us. He was coming to set and needed some special assistance. So, I was a one-on-one PA who was to stick with him and make sure he was taken care of throughout the day. If the Assistant Directors didn't know where he was, every single second, it would set them off. Brian Dennehy being the, you know, the fantastic actor that he was, knew what a set was better than I did or half the other people on that set. Anyway, when we arrived at the set, Mr. Dennehy decided to walk straight to this central spot where the cameras were because he wanted to check it out. The man's Brian Dennehy!; he can look at the set if he wants to. We weren't filming, so it's not like, 'oh, be quiet, they're rolling right now." He just took a walk over there. And one of the Assistant Directors said over the walkie to the second AD base camp, "Brian's here on set. What's going on?" I had already told Second AD that I was bringing Brian to set, so he knew we were close. That Second AD, not being on set, not seeing that Brian was just looking around exploded, and was screaming in the earpiece and screaming at me and saying, "How could you let this happen? " It was to a level that was ridiculous because, again, did the Second AD not think that an actor who's a veteran cast member might take a look at what's going on just out of curiosity, to get into the zone? And I was treated as if it was my responsibility, all my fault. And at the time I, probably took it more personally than I should have. I realized now that tensions are always running high, and people just find excuses to yell at you for any reason to get that tension off their chest. It's never really about you.
Robin: So, how do you recover? Like, no matter what you say. To have somebody treat you like that, even when it's wrong, is hard. How do you recover and continue to do your job?
Daniel: I probably took it more personally than I should have. I let it get to me, and I'm thinking, "Oh, I need to do a better job!" I started beating myself up, but I quickly realized that there was still a lot more job left to do. We had just arrived on set, and I would be working with Brian throughout the day. And other actors down the line, it's not like this was the endpoint. Just because I did it wrong once, it wasn't like I'd never get the chance to do it again. I immediately had the chance to try again because I had to keep doing it for another 10 hours or however long it was that day. I just had to reset, and I said to myself, "Okay, I've just been yelled at, he's off now he knows we're here, that Assistant Director knows we're here, the First AD on set knows we're here. Let me just focus on the job at hand." So, I reset my brain, went back to working with Brian, and I've done the same thing ever since. I try to write off whatever happens very quickly. And if there was something I did do wrong, I take that nugget out, and I try to process it and say, "Okay, I did, I definitely did this wrong. I messed up." And if I have a moment with the AD (Assistant Director) later, or whoever it was, I'll apologize. But I'm going to file that and process that and make sure I don't do it again.
Robin: What made you decide on your book?
Daniel: I'll tell you the first little nod that not everybody knows. It's a little weird that it's more of a secret Easter egg of the book, but the book is divided into 16 chapters because that was always my whole work as a PA. We were using Motorola CP 200 walkie-talkies, which have 16 channels. It's kind of the industry standard. I started the book with what I wish they had taught in school. It's all about what you don't know, the first steps. And then the paths you can take on set because those are the main questions that I would always get when speaking to people. Those, to me, seem to be the most important things that were not covered in college and high school when I took courses and learned from people.
Robin: So tell me how important it is to be organized? As a PA?
Daniel: I find that every crewmember, even the unorganized ones, are organized in the sense that they keep track of the jobs they're doing. And it's funny, even the most disorganized, not to rip on Teamsters. Still, just to use them as an example, you find a teamster who's totally unorganized and is eating donuts and not doing anything else on the corner. They're still going to be extremely organized when it comes to pay stubs because they're going to be keeping track of how much they're being paid and that they're being paid on time. Those who are super focused on that could be anybody, but keeping track of paperwork is very important.
If you choose to join one of those labor unions, whether it be the DGA (Directors Guild of America) or IATSE or wherever you're headed, depending on what field you're interested in. Props, camera, electric lighting, acting SAG-AFTRA, you're going to have to prove that you've worked the days you say you do. So right from the beginning, I always tell people, you might think, oh, this was the call sheet for the first day on set. I don't need the call sheet anymore. Let me just throw that away. Hold onto it. At least hold on to a digital copy if you're not going to hold on to a physical copy because there will come a point someday where somebody says, could you show me a call sheet from that day? Or can you give me your first call sheet? So, I know what was the first day you worked? You're going to want to have that on file, ready to bring up. You never know when you'll need it, but you're probably familiar, Robin, with the phrase. "It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it."
