Each month we will showcase a City agency employee or an industry specialist who helps to facilitate production in New York City. Tristan Assent May 1, 2006- Tristan Assent, a production assistant on the New Line film Pride & Glory, got his start in the film industry through the “Made in NY” production assistant (PA) training program developed by the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting and Brooklyn Workforce Innovations. Although Assent graduated from SUNY in May 2005 with a degree in television production, he found it difficult to break into the business. “I had a lot of interviews, but without the experience it was hard to land a job,” Assent said. As a result, he worked as an office temp after graduation, until enrolling in the free, month long “Made in NY” training program for production assistants. The full-time course taught basic PA responsibilities and how to work collaboratively when shooting on location in City communities. It also connected him with internship and employment opportunities. For Assent, the highlight of the program was the opportunity to intern at NYC TV. “Until the internship, I had learned everything in a classroom setting, but the hands on experience allowed me to really see what I had learned,” he said. As a PA on NYC TV’s television show “Backdrop NYC,” he prepared neighborhoods for shoots and assisted in setting up and breaking down production equipment. Assent said he was quickly putting the skills he had learned in the program to use. “The hand signals, gestures and tone of voice I had learned made the job much easier,” he said. “When I asked residents to pause on the street while we got a shot, I would tell them what the production was and who was in it, and assure them that as soon as the shot was over they would be able to pass through. The best thing I learned was the smile factor. As long as you smile, a person will be more eager to talk to you.” These same skills served him well on his first job placement through the program, as a Set PA on Pride & Glory, when the production shot on location in Washington Heights and Harlem. Quick thinking and friendly hand motions helped him to stop a person on a skateboard from rolling downhill right into the director’s shot – and impressed the entire crew. Drawing on his training to be pleasant and to fulfill all requests – no matter how odd – to the best of his ability, Assent quickly gained a reputation on the film as a hard and competent PA. Although the job placement was initially intended to last for two weeks, a month later Assent is still working on Pride & Glory. For Assent, the best part of the training program was knowing that he would be placed in a job where he would have the opportunity to prove himself and to put what he had learned to use. “I don’t think I would have gotten in [to the industry] without this training,” he said. “Understanding the lingo and knowing what a PA is expected to do really gives you that extra edge.” Click here for more information on enrolling in the PA training program or hiring a recent graduate. More Industry Stars design by    The City of New York Mayor's Office of Film Theatre & Broadcasting 1697 Broadway Suite 602, New York, New York 10019.
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