Expert: Phil Nemy - 1/2/2004

Question
I would like to be the 1st assistant director on a film, but I don't know where to start.  Should I go to graduate school, or will it be a waste of time and money?  Also, what position should I take in order to move up in the direction I want to go? I hope you can help.  Thank you.

Answer
Mari,

Thanks for writing. I'll see what I can do to answer your questions.

First of all, no education is a waste of time and money. Get a graduate degree from a college or university is a positive thing. However, I am unfamiliar with any graduate degree programs in Assistant Directing. If you can find one, great, but I suspect you won't.

There are two ways to go about starting your career as an Assistant Director. The first is to find work as a Production Assitant working for the Assistand Director Team on a film. You would answer directly to the 2nd Assistant Director or, if the film is large enough to merit the hiring of one, the 2nd 2nd Assistant Director or Third Assistant Director. By working for the A.D. Team, you begin to learn the duties of each of the A.D.'s and assuming that you are smart, a quick study, and have the desire to work incredibly long hours in a low-level position, you will gradually then work your way up the ladder to A.D.

The other way is to apply to the Assistant Director's Training Progam. You are required to fill out an application and assuming you do this correctly, you are then invited to take a written test, similar in some ways to an SAT Test, with the test taking one full day. If you make the top 10% of the test scores, you are then invited to participate in an interview phase in which you meet with UPM and A.D. members of the Director's Guild of America who will ask you a battery of questions to see how you think and get to know you a little better. From these interviews, anywhere from 5 to 20 individuals are chosen to enter the three-year AD Training Program. Part of the training is classwork and part of it, most of it, is being assigned as a DGA Trainee on film and television productions. When you graduate from the program, you are offered membership in the Director's Guild as a 2nd 2nd Assistant Director and you can now begin your career in film and TV working towards 1st AD status.

For more information about these approaches and for information on how to get an application for the program, check out my book GET A REEL JOB which is avaialbe at Amazon.com or through my website at www.reeljob.net.

Good luck!

Phil