A lot of seasoned industry workers and film schools will tell you that the way into the entertainment industry is to find a PA job. And that's not wrong. But it's missing a whole lot!
Granted, getting a PA job is not easy. So, if you've gotten your foot in the door, you've already made some major strides in the industry. If you haven't gotten your first PA job, check out this post here.
So, now you're working your ass off on a production and you're getting experience. Well, what next? You've done everything you were taught to do already.
The answer depends on what trajectory you want to follow...
Future TV Writers
If TV writing is your goal, then you're going to want to get close to other TV writers, and that means working in a TV writers' office.
So, your goal is going to be a Writers' PA job.
Much like other PA's, you'll be making copies, deliveries, stocking the kitchen, grabbing lunch, grabbing coffees. BUT you'll be doing all of this for the writers.
You'll be right near the writers' room, and on many shows you'll be able to sit in on the writers' room while they're pitching ideas and revising scripts.
There is really no better way to learn about writing and story structure than to see the process happen first-hand. I learned so much from my first few minutes in a writers' room, let alone the first season.
Now, writers' PA jobs aren't exactly easy to come by. So, you'll want to expand your search to any PA job on a TV show and then work your way laterally from inside.
Future Film Screenwriters
Feature screenwriters face a tough climb because there really is no career path for them. There aren't jobs with titles that you can get along the way. You basically either sell a script or you don't.
I didn't pursue feature writing, so I'm speaking from what I've seen from afar. But the most likely way to get yourself into a good position seems to me to be working at an agency or management company. Let me explain...
Managers and agents are still the wheelers and dealers, despite the WGA trying to claw back control a few years ago when all writers fired their agents.
Reps are still at the center of everything. So, for pure sales, there's nobody better to know who can get your stuff out there into the world.
Future Directors
For experience in the directing world, there are really two routes you can go, one a bit more circuitous than the other.
You can certainly look for a set PA job. These jobs are typically what you think of when you think of PA jobs. They are helping out on set, doing any of the million minor tasks that come up during any production.
There is a trajectory here from PA to 2nd 2nd Ad (that's not a typo), to 2nd AD, to 1st AD. Though, it doesn't necessarily jump there to director, at least in TV.
However, a lot of directors are also first and foremost great editors. And a lot of up-and-comers could learn a lot by going the post-production route.
FOR EVERY CURRENT PA / FUTURE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY WORKER
No matter what job you're pursuing, there is one key thing that will help no matter what. And that is your network.
You have to keep meeting people, and making sure that people know what you want to do.
The only people that get what they want are the ones who ask for it. And that couldn't be more true than in the entertainment industry.
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