All in the Life of an AD

A dear friend remarked that being an assistant director basically means I'm a coffee runner. That's actually the production assistant's job, or maybe the director's assistant's job (which is completely different from an assistant director), but not mine. The assistant director, or AD, is the director's second in command. All the departments, like grip and electric, sound, and wardrobe, filter up to me. I answer their questions rather than everyone bugging the director. As Zack (the director of In His Steps) said earlier, I'm here to protect his sanity. 

I also take care of most of the paperwork. All the departments give me their logs and lists that they've made during the day's filming. I have to make sure everything is filed and organized properly in our football, which is not actually a football. It's a big red filing case. That's just what filing cases are called in film. Besides keeping track of the rest of the miscellaneous forms, I also have my own paperwork to do. I make sure the crew cast have signed the various forms needed for filming, and I make the daily call sheets and sides. The call sheets let the cast and crew know what time they need to report for filming. The sides are tiny scripts containing only what we're filming that day. 

On set, my job is to keep things moving. We only have so much prep time, which means it's crucial that  we stay on time and get everything ready to go. Because of this, some (or maybe most) assistant directors get the reputation of being mean. Apparently I'm one of the nicer ADs! I also wrangle the actors, making sure they have costumes on and makeup done. When the director is ready to call action, they better be where they need to be!

All in all, I love being an AD. It's hard work with lots of late hours, but it's incredibly rewarding... and also a ton of fun! 

(Credit for above photo: Natalie Lawrence)