What is a Production Assistant?

Qualities of a great PA: hardworking and dedicated

PAs in all departments should have a great work ethic. This is an opportunity for the PAs to make a positive impression on all the members of the crew.

Production assistants should be the first people on set and essentially the last people to leave. There is no sitting down when you are a production assistant.

Confident communicators

While being a PA is can be challenging with task-based work, great production assistants will bring a sense of confidence to set. This is critical. Senior members of the crew are very busy, and coddling and helping a production assistant is not on their list of tasks for the day.

Great PAs need to take charge of their assigned tasks — even if that means providing instructions for entire departments. While being confident in communicating with sometimes intimidating fellow crew members, an outstanding PA will be friendly and look to form a sense of trust and camaraderie. 

Respectful of roles and responsibilities

Some believe Hollywood functions similarly to the military. You have to earn and work your way up the ladder.

A good PA will refrain from chiming in when it comes to providing feedback on the production to key production leads or other PAs. There is neither gossiping nor offering of creative feedback when they are not directly asked for it.

Always prepared

An excellent PA will show up with an arsenal of tools. On-set PAs know to dress for the weather and the type of shoot, bringing a variety of smart and useful tools, such as a multi-tool.

Also, they always have a pen and paper handy to jot down notes and tasks. 

Securing production locations

This isn’t necessarily in the purview of the PA, but if you’re working on a production and need to secure one-of-a-kind filming locations, Peerspace has your back there, too.

We’re the largest online marketplace for hourly venue rentals, with thousands of production-worthy spaces in cities across the globe. You can easily use our platform to find full-scale professional production studios, offices, lofts, family homes, mansions, art galleries, cafes, you name it.

Plus, many venue’s have hosts who are familiar with the production world and are happy to roll with the punches. They list their spaces on Peerspace to help support the creative community, after all!

To get started, go to Peerspace, enter your location or filming destination, and click search. Explore listings of the venues that catch your eye. You can also narrow down the results using filters for price, size, and features.

Each venue has its own listing that shares its pertinent information as well as photos, upfront pricing, and reviews from past renters. If you have any questions, you can reach out to the host through the listing page and start a conversation. Then, all you have to do is click “book,” and the space is all yours!

What is a production assistant: conclusion

Now that you have a deeper understanding of what a production assistant really does, you should feel confident in hiring the right PA for your next project.

Don’t forget to check out Peerspace for unique production locations wherever you’re filming. You’re sure to find exactly what you need at a price that would delight every member of your crew! Happy shooting!