Just in case you haven't figured it out - PA is an abbreviation for Production Assistant. Before I continue blabbering on about what my life has been like of late - I will first attempt to address the questions put forth to me in my blog entry "Ouch" by In3cate and Anonymous (Whom I assume is my eldest brother or as I call him -Tuako).
Basically, at present, I am aspiring to be a Producer.
In3cate: "What does a Producer do?"
Well, a Producer is essentially in charge of the financial aspects of executing a project. For example, now I am working on the new season of Nescafe Kickstart (Season 3). The Producer would have to oversee the overall financing of the show. Technically, we (Popiah Pictures) have been hired by Tv3 to execute this show for Nescafe / Nestle. In order for Popiah to make any kind of money, we must not spend over what we are being paid by Tv3 to do the program. (Obviously.)
Therefore, everything from searching for sponsors for the show, to the hiring of the camera crew, rate that we will pay the host, rental of whatever venue we may use ... etc. To put it in a nutshell, a Producer's mantra would probably be, "Bring down cost! Find lots of sponsors for everything! Tell them we put them on TV - we'll make you famous!" - you get the drift. That's the financial aspect largely covered.
Another essential aspect would be the Time-line - ie when does "Pre-production ie planning" starts, then "production" and finally "Post production". All the little nitty gritty things that goes into each stage of production has to be planned by the Producer with the help of his or her team of course. It's a lot like when I was doing Event Management really. Making phone calls to get dates, debating on pricing and planning out a calendar ... I'm helping out on all of these things now. In my capacity as a PA, I pretty much help with and do everything.
Also the overall conceptualising of a show and how it will be executed - the Producer also has a say in it since all that has to do with money! I have been privy to some of this conceptualisation and execution (for a 3rd project) as well - and this is the aspect I am enjoying most at present.
When I started work at Popiah Pictures, I was working on 3 projects simultaneously (doing all of the above). "A Brand New Christmas" directed by Douglas Lim for RTM was the first project I dealt with and the pre-production and production of that has come to pass. Now they are at Post -Production of which I am not privy to since Douglas is doing that on his own some place else.
The 2nd project is the current project I'm on ie Kickstart. We are now at Production phase - where I am constantly planning for outdoor shoots (trying to secure venues, sponsors, etc) at the office and then going out for shoot for a few days then back to the office again to plan for the next shoot. It's been riveting. Once again, I really feel like I'm working event management. But the end product being a show - which makes it that much more interesting for me.
At the same time, I'm also working on another reality program - for some reason, Popiah seems to be handling lots of these reality shows - and for those of you who have been mamak-ing with me of late, probably know what this 3rd project is. For the rest of you, I'm not sure if I should be flat out mentioning it here just yet. Although, who reads my blog anyway? lol
That being said, it's fun working on the 3rd project because I was pulled into it right at its very humble beginnings. I hope to be able to realy contribute constructively and effectively to make this a great show to watch. You'll probably read about it here in a more straightforward manner sometime in the near future.
Aside from all that, I still teach kickboxing when I can. Days when I don't have shoots - my working hours finish at about 6pm. So, I get to teach 7pm and 8.15pm sessions at TNT. I also still have some "Personal Training" (PT) students whom I arrange to have classes with as and when I am available. I usually do those classes on Sundays.
My schedule is pretty jam packed. But for some reason, it feels manageable. Still have time to come home for meals every once in a while. Still can hang out with my close friends now and again. And I even have time to spend with my girlfriend on most days.
It would be sweet if I could still act in theatre or TV. But unfortunately, I doubt that I'll have the time as long as I'm in this line at this stage of my life. Sigh...
We'll see how things go.
I'm out. Gotta be up at 6. F*ck. :) heh.
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