I was over entertainment studios and the grind culture. At the same time, I felt like, “Frshta, you are lucky to even have a job in the industry.” I wanted to grow and to do more. I started to take off all the stuff from my work wall. All of it. Everyone started to question me and asked if I was leaving. I wasn’t because I had nowhere to go but wanted to manifest a new opportunity. I started emailing all my contacts in the film industry and looking for jobs at places I wanted to work at. I contacted Brad Hall from Entertainment Careers. I asked if we could hop on the phone and if I could ask some questions. Brad gave me some of the best advice I have ever received. I am going to paraphrase it because I don’t remember it all. He said, Frshta, at some point, you are going to have to stop just taking jobs in the industry because then, for the rest of your career, you are going to be stuck as a production assistant…at some point, you have to make a choice of where you want to be and the job you want to have and go for it. He told me I was memorable and that I would be fine. I held onto Brad’s words. He told me what I needed to hear at that exact moment. I was working with people who had been production assistants for years, and they were older than me then. There is nothing wrong with that, but I wanted to do more. I got into the film business to telling stories. I needed to make a change. I felt silly, though. This was my first job in the business, and I was hungry to succeed. I wanted more out of my life and career.

While I tried to refocus and look for new opportunities, I was still committed to my job, and I did it well. At some point, I started to see some of the crew’s disrespect for women. It was mostly a male crew. There were pictures of girls in bikinis. They made comments about the talent. One of the crew members kept getting drunk and drunk, texting the girls. Some of the men on the production side were commenting about the bodies of the talent or their coworkers. I discovered I was getting paid less than the other male associate producers. My senior producer found out and got me a raise. A game show was being produced on the same floor as us, and we noticed how they were getting better treatment than us. It’s crazy how things start looking sour. I was looking at this job through a new lens.

The show was supposed to wrap in December, but I started feeling like the show was going to end sooner. I noticed that we had longer writing days and fewer shooting days. I could feel something stirring. In late September, Ms. Wilson held a meeting to inform everyone that the show would wrap up in a week. The last week was to tie up loose ends and to start writing for the next season, which no one knew when that would be. My coworkers working there previously said a hiatus for entertainment studios meant two years or more. My senior producer asked me how I knew it would end early, and I told her I didn’t. She said you must have known; you took all your stuff down and commented about it ending early. I told her I just took a guess. Everyone was bummed because the holidays were approaching, and their job ended two months earlier.

I was thrilled to be out of there. I was still working as a server on the weekends and excited for the next opportunity.

Cheers,

Frshta