Joel McHale, host of “The Soup” and nemesis to Ryan Seacrest, is seeking an assistant. In this video from Funny or Die, he interviews three candidates on important issues such as body waxing, heart breaking and the finer points of baseball. Enjoy.
Archive for the 'Guest Post' Category
Heather again. My friend Dan was an assistant in Hollywood and is now a writer and improv comic in New York. He made the most of his assistant job and moved up quickly. Here are some of his tips for your first assistant job in Hollywood.
I wasn’t an assistant for long before I got moved up to the development department where I was a much better fit. But I was for several months an assistant to a fairly well known producer, in Hollywood no less. Here’s my tips.
- Be Lucky. My boss and I never really got along well on a personal level. There was no animosity, he just didn’t like my personality. He was still professional and I did the best work I could, for peanuts. When I moved back to NY and worked for his partner (in development), it was a much better match.
- Schmooze. I got to hang out with some really cool and somewhat famous people. You’re young. They all want to mentor you. You’re not a threat yet and if they help early on, you’ll love them forever. A well known director shaped my view of what writing should be as we ate lunch at the coffee shop in my boss’s hotel, waiting for him. An aspiring actress who’s now a movie star was happy to talk to me, in part because we were the only ones there under 30 (we were both 19). These are good people and as the assistant, you’re not in competition with them yet. Ask questions. Ask them to try new things and for advice. People love giving advice to young people.
- Work damn hard. Produce good work. I work slowly and methodically, which wasn’t always right for the task. But I produce damn fine work and I was moved to a department that was a better fit.
- Presentation matters. I don’t care how good your spreadsheet of my daily activities is, I want it to pop and look nice enough to be in my office. Production values should be as good as can be for everything. Simple is always better.
- Work for peanuts. This is a chance to learn and jumpstart a career, a glorified internship, not a fat cash job. That’s the difference between a secretary and an assistant. Bring your own laptop.
- Always say yes. Can you do this? I can figure it out. That’s how I got to write coverage for the first time and got started on the path to being a writer.
- Flirt. I flirted with a studio head’s female protegé at a premiere and spoke passionately about the project during such time. She put in a good word for our company and they upped our marketing budget. You are a spokesman for your company and should believe in it. As long as you care about the projects, it’s fine to mix it into your personal life.
- Care about the projects. You may have to work your ass off doing this meaningful thing, but it’s a component of releasing this FUCKING AWESOME MOVIE.
Hey guys, Garrett here. So, I’ve shirked my guest post duties once this week — but, in my defense, I was/am/have been sick. I’m fairly certain it isn’t swine flu (mostly … okay maybe less sure). And yes, I’m still at work.
This friday, The N (for those who aren’t aware, home to the Canadian cult-hit Degrassi) premieres their new sitcom The Assistants. The show follows four assistants in Hollywood as they compete for their boss’ approval. If the above photo is any indication this will involve caring for a bonsai, which is no easy feat. Let me tell you.
The official website doesn’t shed too much light on the show, but it DOES include quizzes that tell you how competitive or manipulative you are. Because every good assistant knows, these are the keys to success. Without those traits, we’d probably just yell a lot and fall over. Here, take a look:
Finally, a show that seems to get what being an assistant in Hollywood is REALLY like. Right? … Right?
Bueller?
The first half of the trailer is pretty good, but then it just gets earnest. Let us know what you think.
Heather here. I don’t know about you but I can’t stand doing personal errands for my boss. Hopefully your boss isn’t as unfeeling as this one.
My boss made me get his old briefcase fixed for him. I am really busy with actual work so personal errands really piss me off. I finally got around to boxing it up a few days ago when I read the description. “Old case but my favorite and a dependable road companion. Needs some TLC to bring back to life.” This was just too much.I wanted to go sell it at my favorite vintage store and tell him it got lost in the mail. I am overworked, underpaid and falling apart. When am I going to get my TLC?
- Submitted by Helena, NY
It is always important to put your best foot forward whatever job you have. It doesn’t matter if you are just working for a living or want to move up in your current industry, you should always do your best. If you can make a lasting impression as a helpful employee with something to contribute you might be able to work that to your advantage later on.
Bill McGoldrick has made that transition from executive assistant to VP in just over 10 years. According to the Hollywood Reporter McGoldrick started out as an executive assistant at USA Network in 1998. He advanced as far as he could at USA and then moved to Spike TV where he worked his way up to Senior VP of programming. He is soon returning to USA where he will be senior VP of scripted programming. His former boss at USA always wanted him back on his team.
“Bill is a great friend and a phenomenal creative executive,” said Jeff Wachtel, president, USA original programming, to whom he’ll report. “Bringing him back home to USA is something we’ve been trying to do ever since he left. It’s a move that we feel will make one of the best network development teams in the business even better.”
Showing you have what it takes as an executive assistant can sometimes lead to being an executive. If you are a productive employee that adds value to the team, the job that you hate could turn into the career you’ve always wanted.
- Posted by Heather
Hi all, Heather here. I am also helping out for a few days while Lilit is away. I run an adult daycare center, I mean, office in NYC. I dream of the days when I don’t have to schedule play dates, I mean, meetings and clean up after the children or employees as they like to call themselves. I have contributed some horror stories, but like Garrett this my first time guest blogging. I am working on a fun new blog with my friend Leah that is launching Thursday so look out for my own shameless promotion then.
On Friday night, a friend and I did our best to fuel the economy by going to see The Proposal, starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds.
As Lilit has mentioned before, Reynolds plays the assistant to Bullock’s tough as nails (and maybe a little emotionally damaged) publishing executive. When there’s a mix up involving her visa, she coerces him into marrying her in order to avoid being deported and (SPOILER ALERT) they ultimately fall in love. Like you didn’t see that one coming.
As any good tyrranical boss would, Bullock uses her best tools to get Reynolds to marry her: intimidation and abuse. Until, that is — and here’s where the ranks of assistants who went to see this movie undoubtably went “Hell yes!” — he realizes that the assistant/boss power dynamic has shifted in his favor. This, along with their amazing chemistry, provides fodder for some extremely gratifying interplay when they visit his family for the weekend.
Pete Chiarelli, the film’s screenwriter, worked as an assistant after grad school but didn’t have a terrible experience of his own to draw from:
The idea came from me working in Hollywood, but isn’t autobiographical. Although I did work as an assistant to a woman, she was a very cool boss. However, I did have a lot of friends who worked for horrible bosses, men and women who were completely self-centered and tyrannical. But what struck me is that it paid for these bosses to be this way, it paid off for them professionally. It made sense for them to be an asshole. So, what would happen if you took one of these bosses out of their environment and forced them to act like a real human being?
What if, indeed.
Hey guys,
Garrett here. While Lilit is away I’m going to be helping Ashley with the upkeep of STA. I’m an assistant out in Los Angeles, working for the exec producer of a brand new hit show (shameless plug). I’ve contributed some content before (some links and, just maybe, a horror story about an old boss), but never actually written any posts, so bear with me. I’ll be filling in on Mondays and Wednesdays, bringing y’all some entertainment themed (and hopefully entertaining) items. Enjoy!
–Garr