| Monday, November 27, 2006 |
| THE HOLLYWOOD CASTE SYSTEM |
This past week I worked on the CBS show "NCIS". It was only for a couple of days as I filled in for a Writer's PA that was out of town. (PA = production assistant) I got the gig through Chris Molnar, who works in post-production.
I got coffee (1% of the time), got lunch (1%), made copies (1%), distributed copies (1%), and sat around waiting in case they needed me to do anything else (96%). They couldn't give me anything major to do because I was new, which makes me wonder if it was worth it for them to hire me for three days. I guess every lord needs a serf.
I can't tell if this is the most efficient business in the world, or the most inefficient. There are so many people working here that each employee has a very specific job category. The writers write, then pass the script off to the script coordinator who checks it over and then passes it to us PAs who make and distribute the copies. If this were any other industry, in any other city, the writers would write, check, and distribute, right? A waitress might not cook the meal, but she does deliver the order to the cook and serve the finished product herself.
Does this separation of powers allow for smoother operation since each person has only a specific set of tasks to accomplish in their own social bracket? I don't know. But the system certainly is different. I guess that's what you get from an industry built by very particular and powerful people who can afford to pay someone else to do their menial work.
At least I got some work done on a screenplay and caught up on my emails and blog entries while I was sitting around. In fact, I'm writing this as I sit at my desk in the PA office.
--CJW |
posted by CJW @ 11/27/2006 12:07:00 PM   |
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