Stuff That I Have Noticed # 14: First Assistant Director*

From the early 1970s until 1990 I had the best, most enjoyable job of my life. (With the possible exception of being a lifeguard during my college years.) Oh I had fun singing and acting but for some mysterious reason they were not as fulfilling as this new job.

*This essay is an expanded and rewritten excerpt from book two of my memoirs, Circumstances Beyond My Control, that can be found here.

I got to work as a First Assistant Director in film. This title is usually abbreviated as AD, 1st AD, or simply “First” (as in first mate on a sailing ship). Most of the employment was in very short movies also known as TV Commercials (over 1,000 of them). But I did a few feature and TV movie shoots as well as a lot of short films for various industrial clients from DeCon rat poison to ABC News.

The title “Assistant Director” is among the most misinterpreted monikers in any industry. Most people outside the biz assume that a title including the word “assistant” is either menial or subordinate. In this case nothing is further from the truth. The 1st AD is directly responsible to the director (Sometimes it goes the other way, too.) and runs the set. He or she also creates the production schedule and tracks progress against it, arranges logistics, prepares daily call sheets and (attempts to) maintain order on the set. The AD also directs background actors (extras) with a lot of help from his “Second”. All shoots employing Directors’ Guild (DGA) directors are required to have a First AD.

Director Ken Licata with his “first” (Moi)

Occasionally in commercials the job was combined with the role of Line Producer, twice the responsibility for the same pay. In fact, because I couldn’t get into the DGA, for the first seven years Line Producer was my only job.

Line producers hire the crew (virtually all of whom are freelancers), rent the stage or secure the location, arrange for rental of the equipment, including props, wardrobe and special effects if needed, and oversee casting. If it’s a distant location the producer arranges for all the travel, lodging and other logistics. Basically the line producer makes it all happen. They provide the director with all the stuff and people he or she needs to put the thing on film and they are also responsible for bringing the job in on, or preferably under, budget. Equally important, in commercials the producer serves as liaison between the ad agency and the production company in matters of budget overages, scheduling and other logistical and political considerations.

The most satisfying and fun aspect of these jobs was the camaraderie and relationships with crew people. Film technicians in general are the most interesting folks with whom I have ever had contact. I used the word “technicians” but that’s really too limiting. Many of them are actual artists and highly skilled craftsmen. (Lots of them are women but “craftspeople” is an inelegant word, is it not?) By the time I’d been in the production world for a couple of years most of my friends were people who work in that challenging and exciting profession.

1st AD on “La Guerre” with local Cops in Illinois

Until, I believe, 1977 or ‘78, the Guild, while not technically closed to new members in all but the Director category, made it damn near impossible for people like me to be accepted for membership as a First AD.

Sometime in the aforementioned years someone sued the Guild for their “Standards of Experience”, which was very difficult to pass and was deemed improper for the union to maintain and as a result of this legal action they were forced to accept qualified people for membership in that category.

Guild membership was important for a number of reasons. As a non-DGA freelance producer there was no fee minimum, no health benefits, no retirement plan, no overtime pay. A Guild AD could charge a rate of over twice what I could charge for doing essentially the same job. So the DGA card was the holy grail.

In ‘78 a few of we freelance producers hired a labor lawyer to help us break through the wall. I don’t recall all the details but after a couple of months we were allowed to apply for membership.

The qualification requirements were extensive. We had to document a minimum of 600 days of work in the capacity of First AD including, I think, at least 400 shooting days. My specific problem was that although I had the days I didn’t have the required documentation. I dug up (and recreated) all my work records, listed the jobs and contacted everyone I’d ever worked for and – without boring you with the nitty-gritty details – eventually documented my complete work history. I also got letters from exec producers and directors and a few Guild ADs with whom I’d worked as a producer extolling my virtues and declaring that I’d be a worthy addition to the ranks of the Guild.

I submitted a file the size of a phone book to the DGA, crossed my fingers and waited. I sweated it for quite a while.

Finally, sometime early in 1979 I was granted provisional membership as a First Assistant Director and David Johnson, of N. Lee Lacy and Associates immediately gave me my first DGA job – at a day rate approximately twice what I’d been getting as a freelance producer. Not long after I got my official DGA membership.

The essence of the function of the First Assistant Director is organizing, scheduling, anticipating potential snags and being prepared for them. In a very general way a big, logistically complex, exterior location shoot is similar to a battle. One plans as best one can and then the uncontrollable takes over and you adjust, adjust and adjust. ADing is crisis management and that’s one of the things that makes it such an interesting and fun job.

Author Ben Bryant on Location Ocho Rios

Many people, including some producers (and, alas, even a few ADs), think of the job as a crew boss or – to use an archaic term – a “ramrod”.

This is incorrect. After the planning and scheduling, when the shoot is under way, the job is primarily that of Communicator in Chief. Often the function is analogous to that of a chef. Usually there are a variety of ingredients that require different preparation periods all of which need to be ready at the same time to go into the oven – get a shot. The timing and management of these tasks and communication with the various departments is a major (both challenging and enjoyable) part of the AD’s job.

It is said that one is good at doing the things one enjoys. I thoroughly enjoyed the organizational, interpersonal and logistical challenges of the AD job and so – without intending to boast – can say that I was very good at it. However, in my enthusiasm and with my alpha dog personality, I could seem a tad dominating and this did not sit well with some directors. They didn’t recognize the fact that I was, indeed, there with the sole purpose of supporting them and therefore felt their preeminence challenged by me. I lost a few clients because of this but the directors I did work with over the years were secure in their expertise and sought it out in their support teams. This made work easier and more enjoyable for all concerned.

I don’t miss the sometimes sixteen or more hours literally on my feet but I do miss the crews and the fun we had. The paychecks were nice, too.

*This essay is an expanded and rewritten excerpt from book two of my memoirs, Circumstances Beyond My Control, that can be found here.