Lights. Camera. “Can I get a PA to the PO?”

“Nora can I see you in the PO?”

“Can you do a trash sweep of the house?”

“Stand ins, we need you on stage”

Twelve hours later. Standing, sitting, driving. Smiling so much my face hurts. Trying desperately to remember everyone's name.

Being a production assistant is weird. Weird in all the best ways though. You are such a small piece of such a huge puzzle. You do work that is easy and rarely that complicated. However, you’re important. Some shows need a few PA’s and some need dozens. It depends on the production value and the budget.

It’s an interesting experience being in school studying TV, while also being able to work in the field.

Throughout my time in college, I’ve both written and produced short films. With that being said, I am higher up on the chain of command.

Whereas in the real world, I have been anything from a stand in to a production assistant to a talent wrangler. In the real world, I am at the bottom of the food chain, working hard and doing my best to work my way up the ladder.

It’s funny, what perspective can do to you. It’s weird how small the world feels when you’re in school working on your 10-minute short film with a crew of no more than 30 people, compared to being a PA on a crew of 100+ people.

As I type this, I am sitting inside the control room on this show I am day-playing on. It’s 9:26pm and I’ve been here since 10am. Over the course of the day I have sat and read my book on feminism. I escorted talent to the restrooms four times. I smiled at dozens of strangers passing by in the hallway. I opened and closed social media apps too many times in order to make time pass faster. I managed to spill coffee on my sweater. I have been back and forth to crafty more times than I can count. The day moved relatively quickly and that’s probably due to the fact that I have done my best to keep busy. I met wonderful people and hopefully made enough of an impression on those I talked to, to maybe be hired by them again in the future.

Almost 12 hours have passed since I got here and about 20 minutes ago another PA asked if I wanted to come sit in the control room and watch what was going down. (That being how I ended up sitting in the control room). I worried I’d be in the way but he said not at all. I came inside and am currently sitting in a directors chair at the back corner of the room.

There are 20+ monitors in front of me and 20 or so people sitting in matching spinning office chairs. They’re all wearing headsets and the director is giving several camera cues a minute. It’s funny because the director keeps using terms that I’m learning in school and I keep thinking to myself, “Hey I know what that means!”

It’s so cold in this room, I’m wearing a sweater but I’m shivering. I could leave at any moment but I don’t want to. I don't know the positions of half of these people. I’m assuming they’re producers, creatives, and network execs. I barely know what the show is about but I’m in awe. They all have a job. They all have a purpose. They’re all here to do something to make this show run as smoothly as possible.

I am doing absolutely nothing in this moment as I sit here, yet I feel a part of something. A part of something bigger than me. I realize I'm close to tears. I'm sure at this points it's the lack of sleep talking but nonetheless.

It’s weird. I know none of us are performing brain surgery. We’re all here just doing our part in making a TV show but it still feels important. Technically speaking we're not saving lives but it still feels like it means something. 

I don’t know if it makes sense to say what I’m about to say but I’m going to say it anyway because I’m tired and running on very little sleep and not enough caffeine...but I think I’m in love.

I’m in love with this industry. It’s so flawed and imperfect but I’m still so in love. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing but I want to be on set. I want to watch people smile because they’re happy with what they’re doing. I want to listen to people crack jokes over headset to lighten the mood. I want to watch as shows go from drawings on a storyboard to shows people love on television. I love being a student that produces and writes short films and also a production assistant/talent wrangler that empties out trash cans, stalks fridges with La Croix, walks Talent to and from set, gets lunch orders, and Greeks more water bottles than one can count.

Perspective is weird and can really change how you look at things but it does a real good job at keeping you humble.

Being a PA is interesting. The hours can be strange. People can be weird when you tell them you’re working on a show, emptying trash cans and buying groceries. Sometimes being a PA means sitting in a dark but dimly lit hallway reading and writing because you're on standby.

I like being a part of the magic. I like feeling like maybe just maybe while I might not be at the top (yet), I’m important in the mechanics of it all.

Earlier in the day, as I sat in one of the two chairs outside the control room, that I'd been sitting in for the last 12 hours, staring at a sign that says “Fire Lane” I can't help but smile. I hear the sounds of audience members clapping in the background as they film last minute audience reaction shots. While I can’t see the magic happening less than 15 feet away from me, I can feel it. People smiling and laughing and dreams coming true. An escape and distraction from personal hardships and all the hate that is occurring in the world outside Stage 27's walls. This. This is why they call it magic. Magic in the ability to escape from the world and fall into whatever show is being made and all its possibilities.

That and being complimented on your cool ass see-through fanny pack countless times is always a plus!