Joe Dunham - Comedy Central PA

            Hello everyone, my name is Joseph Dunham. I am a senior pursuing a double major of media and film studies. For my internship, I am working as a PA on the Comedy Central program, Inside Amy Schumer. My responsibilities as a production assistant range from office work (making calls to other businesses for services required such as paper shredding), to doing stand-ins for mise-en-scene before 1^st team enters, and of course getting coffee for lots of people (which I’m sure you all are familiar with). My primary responsibility though, is within the production department – doing lock ups, runs for equipment (drop-offs and pick-ups), and essentially being the extension of the 2^nd 2^nd AD while on set.
            I’ve learned so much about media production that it practically changed my outlook on the entire industry. For starters, the unions (procedures and initiation) - Within each department there is a union (except for PA’s). This includes the DGA for directors, SAG for screen actors, Teamsters for drivers, and so on. There are procedures on set that must be followed strictly or else certain departments receive compensations, or “penalties”. For example, when it is time to break for lunch, it is the production department’s responsibility to make sure every other department head acknowledges the lunch break; one day, the grip department was notified about 5 minutes after we called lunch, so the union representative was alerted and everyone working in grip got paid X amount of money on top of their paychecks as a production penalty. Also, there are requirements for being accepted into certain unions such as initiation fees. The average workday for productions is anywhere from 12- 15 hours (our longest day was from 6:30 AM till 9:45 PM).
            The internship is what I expected, plus more. I feel so fortunate to have been granted an opportunity like this – to learn all aspects of production and find my place within the industry, to work along side professionals, top notch comedians, and people who are passionate at what they do. It was a competitive hiring process being that there were only 12 PA interns hired. It is an eye-opening experience, learning tricks of the trade and essentially altering my path in production. One lad from the camera department (DIT) told me wisely at a wrap party that “there are some PA’s on set that have been working as a PA for years – don’t do this. Find out what you love, and go for it. It’s that simple.” Although, it can be daunting to know how hard it is to rise through the ranks of the camera department to DP or the directing department, you shouldn't let that deter your ambitions. I have actually reconsidered my position and thought about writing more scripts.
            My approach to this internship has been quite simple – work hard and fast, don’t complain, smile and learn as much as possible by asking questions at the appropriate time. It seems that on every set there is gossip that goes around and it is important not to get tied up in that drama or goof around while on lock up duties; it is unprofessional and a bad look for future opportunities. Unfortunately though, since it is a union gig, it is not as hands on as I would like it to be – but hey, you can’t jump from school projects to DP without putting some work in between.