Floyd- War Stories

The person I interviewed wished to remain anonymous. He is an executive assistant and works in Downtown L.A.


1. In your job, what are some challenges you have to deal with in relating to “production” people (they will likely know exactly what you mean, production refers to producers, location people, coordinators, assistant directors and pa’s). Another way of asking this is to question how a production person can best help facilitate this person’s job.

I don't really deal with production people per se--I work more on the executive side. My job is to manage and convey necessary information to the correct people in an efficient manner. In effect, that is my one simple "challenge" that encompasses a range of skillsets, from phone etiquette to taking care of the needs of A-list clients and management. The solution to this is to convey information CLEARLY, CONCISELY, and QUICKLY. Easier said that done when you're drinking out of the proverbial firehose, information-wise.


2. Can you tell me a war story, or a story of when something went badly wrong, or seemed like it was going to fall apart, but then ended up working out [or didn’t work out].

A contracter running cable for the new office's Local Area Network quit halfway through after screwing up the job and realizing that he was in over his head with no way to fix it. Solution: I learned how to splice Cat5e cable and finished the job for him.

3. Do you have any advice for a person starting out in the business, someone who is about to graduate?

You're going to start as an unpaid intern if you want to work at a Hollywood production company. If you start interning before you graduate, you might have an assistant spot somewhere out there if you made a good impression while interning. Might. How to play your cards right? Best advice I can give on this is to intern like you're getting paid. Your degree goes but so far in Hollywood. They want people who can get the job done. If you get that lucky chance to intern or work in your chosen field, always be seeking out new ways to get things done for your bosses. When given a task, push yourself to get it done correctly and efficiently by learning how to solve problems quickly and self-reliant-ly (i.e. without making more work for the people you're trying to help). That makes you an asset, and this is show BUSINESS.