First gig - the journey begins

Every great journey begins with one step.

I worked my first job in the industry. It was as a Production Assistant for a music video that was shot in Houston. It was for a small time local rapper named Mayalino. The song was decent enough and the production should be really good, but the experience was the real draw for me.

I think this was a good project for me to start on because it was relatively small but the production value seemed like it will be good. The production company that was working this project is called Full Fledge Entertainment and director/owner who was in charge of the shoot is named Anthony Oyedeji. He is a really cool guy who seemed well prepared and knew what he was doing. I'm excited to see the finished project.

I definitely worked my butt off on this first job. I wanted to leave a good impression. The day started at 8 am and went till 9 pm, and most of the day spent outside in the hot sun. Loading and unloading and setting up equipment for the shoot. Then repeat. This seems like the life of a PA. Setting up and breaking down. Move it around. Set it up and break it down. Pretty hard work. But it was worth it. Anthony said that he would stay in contact with me and will recommend me to other projects. That was my goal for working this project, so I think the day was a success for me. Hopefully this will lead to more work.

I should mention that I had the hook up for this shoot. Anthony is a friend of my step-brother, so through him I got to work on this video.

Speaking of hook up, I think that I am going to have a chance to work on a movie that is filming in Louisiana towards the end of the summer. This hook up is though my step-dad who some how knows the woman, Susan Fowler, who is producing the movie. I have met her a few times and she tells me that I should get work as a PA on the movie. If so, that would be awesome. I think that they have the budget, and are starting to put the cast and key creative crew together now.

Also, another step that I am taking to try and get more work is registering with the Texas Production Directory. This was advised from Susan during one of the times I met her. She said that when out-of-state producers come to Texas, they look for crew in the Texas Production Directory. Maybe this will lead to more work, and thus more experience and that is the goal right now.

Fingers are crossed, the future is starting to look better than bleak....