Joshua A. Friedman is the author of GETTING IT DONE: THE ULTIMATE PRODUCTION ASSISTANT GUIDE. He's been a Freelance Producer and DGA Assistant Director with over ten years of experience behind the scenes in film. He has worked on movies such as HANCOCK, THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123, and the upcoming films A SIMPLE FAVOR and WARNING SHOT, which is set for release this Friday, September 14TH. His past projects include THE EYES, THE PEPPER PROJECT, and the upcoming film, SHADOW GIRL. Josh started his career as Production Assistant on “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” and continues to work passionately. His company Crew Me Up! is sponsoring the upcoming StudioFest film festival September 21-23 in Phoenicia, NY, he is speaking at the University of Maryland September 26th, and teaching a five-week production course at the Raindance Film School in New York in October. We spoke recently on the critical role of Production Assistants, the New Mobile App Crew Me Up!, and his trajectory in the film business which shows no signs of slowing down.
You can order Getting It Done: The Ultimate Production Assistant Guide from Michael Wiese Productions.
Also check out the new Film Labor App Crew Me Up! Visit our Website or Download From the Link below!
Dave Watson: Congratulations on a great book. You were a Production Assistant and then…
Joshua A. Friedman: Thank you. Yes, I started back in 2007 on the set of Law & Order: Criminal Intent; worked my 600 Days as a Production Assistant, and joined the Director’s Guild as an Assistant Director on the show Person of Interest back in 2011. I’ve started producing independent projects over the last few years.
DW: What are you producing?
JF: I currently have a Top Secret project in Development. I can’t say anything else now, but I’m looking forward to sharing this story with an audience. I also came across a story directed & starring Thomas Ian Nicholas from American Pie fame that has me jazzed enough to look for financing! In the meantime, I’m focusing my energies on Post production for a short film The Duck starring Luis Guzman & Kevin Corrigan and directed by W.B. Zullo. I also just got back from LA for the Premier of Warning Shot, which I Co-Produced with Producers Spero Stamboulis, Aimee Ng, Geronimo Frias. The film stars Tammy Blanchard, James Earl Jones, and David Spade. We are very excited for it to hit theaters and Video on Demand September 14th!
DW: You’ve got the consummate straight man in James Earl Jones and funny man in David Spade.
JF: Spoiler alert: Spade plays the straight man…but that’s all I can say.
DW: You know, he’s appeared to have had a dark side to him all these years.
JF: Yea, He’s fantastic to work with, extremely professional and incredibly talented on camera and in between takes. The reviews from the premier are lauding his performance and I hope it opens up a whole world of roles for him! His scenes with Tammy were tough for me to watch as she does an incredible job of ripping your heart out as a distraught mother. There’s actually a moment in the trailer where she’s tied to a chair screaming “Take Me!” that just gives me chills. I remember being on set filming that day and I actually had to break the crew or 10 because I was so emotionally twisted from her performance. You can find the trailer online. CLIP: Warning Shot Trailer
DW: Your book Getting It Done: The Ultimate Production Assistant Guide seems rooted in social skills a lot of the time, tending to actors and directors’ needs and wants. Would you agree?
JF: I absolutely think that’s a part of the book, but I would say Awareness and Anticipation are very important especially as you start out. When I first started as a P.A., I got some great advice; a key PA named R. Zachary Schildwachter said, “You earn your money with your legs and your lungs, so talk loud and walk fast. Our priority is safety and facilitating communication.”
DW: You talk about the Film hierarchy in your book. Some people seem unaware of the amount of organization and support that it takes to properly manage a set. Your book compares the set to…
JF: ...a military hierarchy. Instructions flow from the top-down. It can be very dangerous and very time-consuming. If you’re not paying attention, things can go wrong very quickly. A lot of what we do is planning, coordinating, and executing.
DW: As an Assistant Director, are you the consummate middle person as the A.D.?
JF: What do you mean?
DW: The director is probably working with the actors and actresses. Were you between, say, all the grips-
JF: Got it. the way a film set works is your producer hires your director and creative types. During prep, your director comes up with the creative vision and talks with the department heads, like the Production Designer or your Director of Photography. Those department heads hire Art Directors or Gaffers, etc. who then hire more crew members who help translate the creative vision into a logistic reality. They plan out, design, and execute the look, feel, and shots that will be used in the movie, which then lets us know what kind of gear and prep time will be needed for things like set builds, crane shots, or driving rigs.
One of our job as assistant directors is to take the script and break it down into it’s individual elements. We pull out individual scenes, characters, and all the detailed information that departments need to know. The goal is to disseminate information so that everyone knows what they are responsible for.
DW: The way you rattled that off, you sound polished. Sounds like a mishmash of top-down organization while being very creative and it sounds like you have to compartmentalize that creativity as well, especially during pre-production. Would you agree?
JF: Absolutely. I work as a DGA Second Assistant Director. A lot of what we do is supporting someone else’s creative vision through logistical organization. I communicate with department heads, manage the prep schedule and coordinate actor fittings and rehearsals to name a few responsibilities. There’s a lot of creativity in making a schedule work. The First Assistant Director has a little more leeway in that he/she gets to lead the meetings with department heads and sit down with the director and DP while they shot list and do some of the creative work.
DW: That’s a lot to balance, for everyone involved. What do you do when you’re not producing, writing, or ADing?
JF: I actually have a brand new endeavor that I’m very excited about. It’s a mobile hiring app for the film industry called Crew Me Up.
DW: Talk about Crew Me Up.
JF: It’s what I’m most excited about right now. It’s unlike anything that’s out there right now.
The problem in our industry (laughs) is that we have to hire ten people, with twelve hours notice, 4 of whom have to have specific skills such as experience with background actors or experience with the routine of daily paperwork. To hire these people we have to make a hundred phone calls. Now while I’m on the phone (A Big no-no on set since it means I’m paying less attention to my surroundings), I’m also working with actors, department heads, and as a producer, negotiating contracts and putting out unexpected “fires.” That’s a lot of wasted time.
What we’ve done is create a system where you build a detailed profile with links to your IMDB, resume, or, website. We offer the unique option of posting for gigs as well as hiring directly and instantly. References can be checked through profiles, you can message potential hires or send information, and if you have friends who you hire regularly you can add them to your favorites list and see if their available instantly! One of my favorite features is the interactive calendar which allows me to click on the date of a job and view anyone I have hired for that day…I can connect with them and track all of my employees. Inversely if I get hired through the app all of the job information is available through my calendar as well. It’s a really cool system that I wish I’d had when I started.
DW: It almost sounds like LinkedIn but specifically for the film industry.
JF: Correct. It’s less social and more for connecting and building a film community. We’re also disrupting the market by offering a new system of hiring. Instead of creating a post and blindly fishing for responses. Crew Me Up users can connect directly and instantly using our unique Direct Hire feature!
DW: Yours sounds very collaborative and cumulative. What’s next for you?
JF: Currently We’re offering a free three-month trial for new users. This grants unlimited hires for both crew and employers. After the 3 month period anyone will continue to have access to searches and will be able to use 5 actions per month before we ask you to subscribe. If you want to hire more than 5 people or get hired more than 5 times, you’ll have to subscribe after the three free months. Our Yearly rates range from $100 - $200 for the service, basically $10 - $20 per month, but if you get one job through the app, your entire year subscription is paid for!
DW: Does this extend to actors, producers and directors as well?
JF: Actors it does not because within them there are subjective elements I don’t feel would work, but directors, writers, producers, any crew position, any below the line stuff involved.
DW: Is it locked into a niche or will it expand?
JF: It’s got the possibility on expanding into any freelance industry but right now I want to focus on my passion.
DW: What’s next?
JF: I just got back from LA for the Premier of Warning Shot. I was lucky enough to get a tour of the Paramount lot and take meeting in the same office where they filmed Sunset Blvd! From here I’m developing that secret project I mentioned and looking for financing for a few other projects. I’m also developing Getting It Done as a full production course….Very excited about the future possibilities…This will be my marvel phase one!
DW: One of my favorite cities. Go to the Sushi Bar on Robson Street. Lastly, What’s your favorite cinematic or literary moment? One that inspires you still to this day. It can be a scene, emotion, character or thematic moment.
JF: When I first started on Law & Order, I didn’t have any clue what I was doing. I listened and tried to pick things up, but there’s a way of answering the walkie while you’re on the move to get something done that is a learned habit. Either I would answer first, and respond too late, or I would do the thing quickly and not respond so my Assistant directors didn’t know that someone had accomplished the task. I spent my first 2 weeks on set locking up crafty. After those two weeks I had heard the routine… “Pictures up…here we go…settle… quiet on set…and roll camera… set… great… and…” many many times, and I could anticipate what was coming and what was needed. We had finished a stand-in rehearsal and I knew that the actors would be needed next and so I positioned myself near the dressing room so when they called, I was the first to answer and knock on the door, and it just all clicked. And in myself I felt that I was part of the flow. I’ve since trained many Production Assistant both on set and through the book and my favorite moment to experience is that one where a PA goes from trying to figure out the machine to being part of it and there’s this glint of accomplishment and satisfaction that I truly appreciate.
DW: Name one of your favorite movie moments.
JF: There’s one I keep coming back to and it’s one of the worst movies ever made. It’s Hudson Hawk starring Bruce Willis.
DW: What an answer. You’re a true original.
JF: The Scene takes place on the Jersey turnpike as Bruce Willis is on a gurney attached to an ambulance by a bed sheet. A woman in a convertible pulls up next to him and tosses her cigarette but out the window which he catches mid toss before taking a drag. As he throws the smoke away he responds, “Ew, menthol.”
DW: Why is that your favorite cinematic moment? You’re the first to mention that moment and film.
JF: I really don’t know. It’s a pure cinematic moment. Cars, stunts, explosions, fire, absolute chaos…and right in the center of it a simple human moment. That’s set life.
Clip: Hudson Hawk
You can order Getting It Done: The Ultimate Production Assistant Guide from Michael Wiese Productions.
Also check out the new Film Labor App Crew Me Up! Visit our Website or Download From the Link below!
Dave Watson: Congratulations on a great book. You were a Production Assistant and then…
Joshua A. Friedman: Thank you. Yes, I started back in 2007 on the set of Law & Order: Criminal Intent; worked my 600 Days as a Production Assistant, and joined the Director’s Guild as an Assistant Director on the show Person of Interest back in 2011. I’ve started producing independent projects over the last few years.
DW: What are you producing?
JF: I currently have a Top Secret project in Development. I can’t say anything else now, but I’m looking forward to sharing this story with an audience. I also came across a story directed & starring Thomas Ian Nicholas from American Pie fame that has me jazzed enough to look for financing! In the meantime, I’m focusing my energies on Post production for a short film The Duck starring Luis Guzman & Kevin Corrigan and directed by W.B. Zullo. I also just got back from LA for the Premier of Warning Shot, which I Co-Produced with Producers Spero Stamboulis, Aimee Ng, Geronimo Frias. The film stars Tammy Blanchard, James Earl Jones, and David Spade. We are very excited for it to hit theaters and Video on Demand September 14th!
DW: You’ve got the consummate straight man in James Earl Jones and funny man in David Spade.
JF: Spoiler alert: Spade plays the straight man…but that’s all I can say.
DW: You know, he’s appeared to have had a dark side to him all these years.
JF: Yea, He’s fantastic to work with, extremely professional and incredibly talented on camera and in between takes. The reviews from the premier are lauding his performance and I hope it opens up a whole world of roles for him! His scenes with Tammy were tough for me to watch as she does an incredible job of ripping your heart out as a distraught mother. There’s actually a moment in the trailer where she’s tied to a chair screaming “Take Me!” that just gives me chills. I remember being on set filming that day and I actually had to break the crew or 10 because I was so emotionally twisted from her performance. You can find the trailer online. CLIP: Warning Shot Trailer
DW: Your book Getting It Done: The Ultimate Production Assistant Guide seems rooted in social skills a lot of the time, tending to actors and directors’ needs and wants. Would you agree?
JF: I absolutely think that’s a part of the book, but I would say Awareness and Anticipation are very important especially as you start out. When I first started as a P.A., I got some great advice; a key PA named R. Zachary Schildwachter said, “You earn your money with your legs and your lungs, so talk loud and walk fast. Our priority is safety and facilitating communication.”
DW: You talk about the Film hierarchy in your book. Some people seem unaware of the amount of organization and support that it takes to properly manage a set. Your book compares the set to…
JF: ...a military hierarchy. Instructions flow from the top-down. It can be very dangerous and very time-consuming. If you’re not paying attention, things can go wrong very quickly. A lot of what we do is planning, coordinating, and executing.
DW: As an Assistant Director, are you the consummate middle person as the A.D.?
JF: What do you mean?
DW: The director is probably working with the actors and actresses. Were you between, say, all the grips-
JF: Got it. the way a film set works is your producer hires your director and creative types. During prep, your director comes up with the creative vision and talks with the department heads, like the Production Designer or your Director of Photography. Those department heads hire Art Directors or Gaffers, etc. who then hire more crew members who help translate the creative vision into a logistic reality. They plan out, design, and execute the look, feel, and shots that will be used in the movie, which then lets us know what kind of gear and prep time will be needed for things like set builds, crane shots, or driving rigs.
One of our job as assistant directors is to take the script and break it down into it’s individual elements. We pull out individual scenes, characters, and all the detailed information that departments need to know. The goal is to disseminate information so that everyone knows what they are responsible for.
DW: The way you rattled that off, you sound polished. Sounds like a mishmash of top-down organization while being very creative and it sounds like you have to compartmentalize that creativity as well, especially during pre-production. Would you agree?
JF: Absolutely. I work as a DGA Second Assistant Director. A lot of what we do is supporting someone else’s creative vision through logistical organization. I communicate with department heads, manage the prep schedule and coordinate actor fittings and rehearsals to name a few responsibilities. There’s a lot of creativity in making a schedule work. The First Assistant Director has a little more leeway in that he/she gets to lead the meetings with department heads and sit down with the director and DP while they shot list and do some of the creative work.
DW: That’s a lot to balance, for everyone involved. What do you do when you’re not producing, writing, or ADing?
JF: I actually have a brand new endeavor that I’m very excited about. It’s a mobile hiring app for the film industry called Crew Me Up.
DW: Talk about Crew Me Up.
JF: It’s what I’m most excited about right now. It’s unlike anything that’s out there right now.
The problem in our industry (laughs) is that we have to hire ten people, with twelve hours notice, 4 of whom have to have specific skills such as experience with background actors or experience with the routine of daily paperwork. To hire these people we have to make a hundred phone calls. Now while I’m on the phone (A Big no-no on set since it means I’m paying less attention to my surroundings), I’m also working with actors, department heads, and as a producer, negotiating contracts and putting out unexpected “fires.” That’s a lot of wasted time.
What we’ve done is create a system where you build a detailed profile with links to your IMDB, resume, or, website. We offer the unique option of posting for gigs as well as hiring directly and instantly. References can be checked through profiles, you can message potential hires or send information, and if you have friends who you hire regularly you can add them to your favorites list and see if their available instantly! One of my favorite features is the interactive calendar which allows me to click on the date of a job and view anyone I have hired for that day…I can connect with them and track all of my employees. Inversely if I get hired through the app all of the job information is available through my calendar as well. It’s a really cool system that I wish I’d had when I started.
DW: It almost sounds like LinkedIn but specifically for the film industry.
JF: Correct. It’s less social and more for connecting and building a film community. We’re also disrupting the market by offering a new system of hiring. Instead of creating a post and blindly fishing for responses. Crew Me Up users can connect directly and instantly using our unique Direct Hire feature!
DW: Yours sounds very collaborative and cumulative. What’s next for you?
JF: Currently We’re offering a free three-month trial for new users. This grants unlimited hires for both crew and employers. After the 3 month period anyone will continue to have access to searches and will be able to use 5 actions per month before we ask you to subscribe. If you want to hire more than 5 people or get hired more than 5 times, you’ll have to subscribe after the three free months. Our Yearly rates range from $100 - $200 for the service, basically $10 - $20 per month, but if you get one job through the app, your entire year subscription is paid for!
DW: Does this extend to actors, producers and directors as well?
JF: Actors it does not because within them there are subjective elements I don’t feel would work, but directors, writers, producers, any crew position, any below the line stuff involved.
DW: Is it locked into a niche or will it expand?
JF: It’s got the possibility on expanding into any freelance industry but right now I want to focus on my passion.
DW: What’s next?
JF: I just got back from LA for the Premier of Warning Shot. I was lucky enough to get a tour of the Paramount lot and take meeting in the same office where they filmed Sunset Blvd! From here I’m developing that secret project I mentioned and looking for financing for a few other projects. I’m also developing Getting It Done as a full production course….Very excited about the future possibilities…This will be my marvel phase one!
DW: One of my favorite cities. Go to the Sushi Bar on Robson Street. Lastly, What’s your favorite cinematic or literary moment? One that inspires you still to this day. It can be a scene, emotion, character or thematic moment.
JF: When I first started on Law & Order, I didn’t have any clue what I was doing. I listened and tried to pick things up, but there’s a way of answering the walkie while you’re on the move to get something done that is a learned habit. Either I would answer first, and respond too late, or I would do the thing quickly and not respond so my Assistant directors didn’t know that someone had accomplished the task. I spent my first 2 weeks on set locking up crafty. After those two weeks I had heard the routine… “Pictures up…here we go…settle… quiet on set…and roll camera… set… great… and…” many many times, and I could anticipate what was coming and what was needed. We had finished a stand-in rehearsal and I knew that the actors would be needed next and so I positioned myself near the dressing room so when they called, I was the first to answer and knock on the door, and it just all clicked. And in myself I felt that I was part of the flow. I’ve since trained many Production Assistant both on set and through the book and my favorite moment to experience is that one where a PA goes from trying to figure out the machine to being part of it and there’s this glint of accomplishment and satisfaction that I truly appreciate.
DW: Name one of your favorite movie moments.
JF: There’s one I keep coming back to and it’s one of the worst movies ever made. It’s Hudson Hawk starring Bruce Willis.
DW: What an answer. You’re a true original.
JF: The Scene takes place on the Jersey turnpike as Bruce Willis is on a gurney attached to an ambulance by a bed sheet. A woman in a convertible pulls up next to him and tosses her cigarette but out the window which he catches mid toss before taking a drag. As he throws the smoke away he responds, “Ew, menthol.”
DW: Why is that your favorite cinematic moment? You’re the first to mention that moment and film.
JF: I really don’t know. It’s a pure cinematic moment. Cars, stunts, explosions, fire, absolute chaos…and right in the center of it a simple human moment. That’s set life.
Clip: Hudson Hawk
