What does a showrunner’s assistant do?
In addition to a name that sounds like a children’s book hero, Jonny Sommers has a job many readers want — or at least, think they want: the assistant to a successful and busy TV showrunner.
I met him through Larry Andries, who is also writer/showrunner (but not Jonny’s boss). It was at a birthday party at a speakeasy in Koreatown, complete with a password at the door. So don’t forget that mixing and mingling is a crucial part of the industry.
When I found out what Jonny did, I asked him to write a first-person account for the blog. And here it is.
My name is Jonny Sommers and I’m a 25-year old nascent screenwriter. I’ve been living in Los Angeles for a little over three years. For the past year and a half, I’ve been employed as a showrunner’s assistant on a network hour drama show.
The job is akin to any other assistant gig in Hollywood. Difference is, your boss is running a corporation called a “TV show” and it employs hundreds of people. It’s the showrunner’s job to run the corporation smoothly, to make the best television possible. It’s your job make sure your boss can do their job well. This means:
- managing their schedule
- rolling calls (keeping a thorough call log and forwarding any calls to their cell)
- setting up travel
- coordinating their day
- making sure they are where they need to be and are as informed as possible
- reading scripts and writing coverage (providing a story synopsis and comments)
- taking notes on calls
- getting coffee
- getting gas for their car
- sending gifts
- setting up dinners
- getting that salad from that one place they love
- listening to them vent their frustrations
- being a gatekeeper and sometimes, their confidant.
There’s a large learning curve to the job. When I was new, I made more than my fair share of mistakes.
You cannot forget that word “assistant” in your title. Though you have access to every aspect of your boss’ life, you’re not an executive. Your thoughts, your feelings, and your opinions aren’t particularly important. Maybe one day your boss and you will forge some professional relationship and you’ll become more than an assistant. Until then, be quiet, listen, and make sure your boss looks good.
Your boss can ask you anything at any time and they don’t want to wait for an answer. Maybe it’s the name of an actor’s agent, or the shooting start time, or casting director’s cell number. You need to have all of this information ready.
The job requires long hours. You could be there late into the night. If you’re a clock-watcher, you’re doomed. I don’t mind the long hours because each moment is a chance to learn. It’s not that I have to stay until 2 AM because they’re still shooting, it’s that I get to stay.
Being flexible means your life plans take second place to the job. You will disappoint people because you will often have to blow off the 7:30 movie you planned or explain to your significant other that you’re working late, again.
Gatekeeping and Trust
With the hundreds of people associated with a network show, your boss is a wanted person. Everybody wants a piece of his or her time. Whatever issue they want to talk about, to that person, it’s the most important thing in the world.
It is your job to prioritize their day and protect their time so they can deal with more pressing matters. You’ll need to have a solid working knowledge of Hollywood and its players. Beyond knowing the names of cast, crew and executives on the show, you need to know who’s currently important in Hollywood. Is that person who just left word (industry term for leaving a message) a big movie producer or some no-name agent making unsolicited calls?
The relationship between showrunner and assistant requires trust. Since you are listening in on many of their calls, you’ll have experience with how the entertainment industry works. This also means that you’re privy to very confidential information. Subsequently, people on the show will try to buddy up with you to glean information.
A few years back, a young woman, brand new to Hollywood, somehow landed an assistant position at a major agency. At the end of her first week, she sent her hometown friends a breathlessly gushy e-mail about all the important people she’s met, and the juicy conversations she’s overheard. Unfortunately, she accidentally sent the e-mail to her the entire agency. She was fired on the spot.
The Good
For any open showrunner assistant gig, there might be 200+ applicants. It is the job that most assistants would kill for. Tourists pay fifty bucks a person to get a tour of where you work. You’re surrounded by celebrities. If you freeze your DVR, you might see your name in the end credits. You get to go to various parties and drinks with other assistants. You get free show presents such as sweatshirts, DVDs, screening tickets and so on. Plus, the pay isn’t that bad.
You’re in proximity to brilliant writers, directors, actors and other industry professionals. When my boss was hiring a writing staff for his show, I was able to get a first-hand look at how he, the studio, and the network, selected the staff. Those lessons will be beneficial when I’m going out for a job as a staff writer, which is my next career goal.
Not all showrunner’s assistants want to write. Some want to direct, produce, or work as a studio executive. Whatever your aspirations might be, this job can help you get there but it doesn’t guarantee that you will. If you don’t make the most of the opportunity, it can pass you by. This job, no matter how cool it is, should be a springboard and not an ultimate destination.
The Bad
There are some weeks when I’m just praying for it to be Friday. Beyond the long hours, the job is extremely fast-paced and very stressful. There are times I feel as though I’m drowning in work and my “To Do List” is growing infinitely.
Sometimes, what your boss is asking for may seem impossible. A friend of mine received a phone call at three in the morning. His boss was in New York City and wanted a private plane to fly him back to Los Angeles at 8 AM. That gave my friend two hours to locate a plane, a pilot, and get his boss on the plane. Somehow he got it done. When his boss arrived to work, my friend was treated with no fanfare. What he did was difficult and impressive but that’s the job. Your boss doesn’t need to thank you, or acknowledge a job well done. This is what you signed up for. If you’re a person that needs constant praise, this job may not be for you.
One executive I know described the assistant-showrunner relation this way: “You’re sort of like my fridge. I just expect it to work.”
From the second my boss walks in the door, to the moment work is done (not when he leaves because your responsibilities will keep you in the office long after your boss leaves) you have to be ‘on’ constantly.
Have you ever been to the circus and saw a juggler juggling fifteen sharp knives? Well, sometimes my job feels that way. Most days start off with my boss rattling off things we need to get done. “Jonny, did we call this person?” “Jonny, are we shooting on the location next Thursday?” “Jonny, can you get my car washed?” “Jonny, did you schedule that meeting?” “Jonny, did you read the pages that came out last night?”
Do your job, wear a smile, and don’t whine. When I first moved to LA, a friend who is a successful writer on a famous show offered me some advice. I asked, “What makes a good assistant?” He answered, “Just shut the fuck up and do your job.” It’s some of the best advice I’ve ever received.
Oh, and you should write, too
The most challenging part of the job happens when the day is over. After a fourteen-hour day of phone calls, endless questions, boring reading, and double-checking schedules, you’re fried. Here comes the second part of the job -– the part where you go home and practice your craft.
There is no such thing as a career assistant in Hollywood and no one is going to promote you to staff writer because you’re really good at rolling calls. You need to be really good at writing. Writing is the only credential that matters.
When you finally get home, you are in complete control of your career destiny. At the end of these long days, writing is the last thing you want to do. Motivating yourself to write in the wee hours, and knowing that you need to get up early to do it all over again, is really difficult. However if you’re serious about making the leap from a Hollywood assistant to a Hollywood writer, you’ll find the time.
It can be tempting to want to share your work with your boss, but there’s an appropriate way and an inappropriate way of advancing your career. The first few months is not time to ask for your boss to read your script. The absolute worst thing you could do is go behind your their back and ask one of their colleagues for a read of your script. The dynamic is akin to any relationship that takes time and trust. Use common sense before you call in any favors. The safe route would be to wait until boss offers to read your script.
Speaking of script, I should really get back to this spec script I’m writing.
Articles
June 9th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Wow, what a comprehensive (at least it seems like to me) and enlightening overview of the position. And humorous too!
The more I learn about it, the more Hollywood sounds like one of the most draining, discouraging places to try to start a career. And trust me, trying to be a novelist is bad enough.
Best of luck to Jonny, and thanks for sharing!
June 9th, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Jonny. Thank you for taking the time to write this! Awesome insight!
June 9th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
I’m exhausted just reading this! Sounds like Jonny has more organizational skill in his pinky than I could ever hope to accomplish.
Thanks!
June 9th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Jonny;
Nice overview for sure.
I’m curious, are many of the staff writers that you guys hired people who started out as a showrunner’s assistants? What do find is the background for most television writers?
June 9th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Looks like an horrible job to me! It’s not the hard-work, but the being-treated-like-less-than-shit that I don’t get. I think humans should treat each other as humans, not objects.
But it’s the same in every industry. People forgot who they’re talking to. It’s crazy, and I don’t like it…
June 9th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
Fourteen hours of pure stress and then going home and write? This proves to me that Jonny is a cyborg. Probably a T5 or something along those lines, maybe even more advanced. Just like Matt.
We lazy and under-performing humans are on the verge of extinction.
June 9th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
This is a very nice explanation of why I would never again work as an assistant, nor recommend it to anyone else. Believe me, this industry is dehumanizing enough when you have a good job. There’s no reason to agree to being some “important” person’s bitch. No one is that important. No one. I and many of my peers have proven that you can get ahead without selling your dignity, so don’t let anyone tell you that this is the only path.
June 9th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I couldn’t write when I had a job like Jonnys. I was just wiped out after work. I’ve gone the 9 to 5 route and now have more time in the evening to write my specs. Still have to network like Jonny says but just living in Los Angeles, you meet people all the time. Of course there are times I wish I were working closer to producers, actors and directors, but for me the 9 to 5 job gives me a better daily writing routine. Good luck Jonny, keep us updated.
June 9th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
@S: I don’t think Jonny is implying that his is the only path. He’s just recounting his experience, which happens to be how he hopes to go into full-time screenwriting.
I’m curious know how he got that kind of a job. Is there a job fair or cattle call for showrunner assistants or something? Did have personal contacts, such as through school? What made him choose to work for this particular showrunner?
John: I welcome these kinds of occasional “guest voices” on your blog; they’re quite fascinating. As a mid-career writer trying to transition to screenwriting (as opposed to “just starting out”), I’d love to hear from others at different points along their individual paths…
June 9th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
I sure as hell wouldn’t want that job.
June 9th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Man. I’ve worked on a TV show, and I’ve worked as an entertainment assistant, and I can’t imagine the stress level involved in combining the two (with what sounds like worse hours than either of them).
Do it while you’re young, is all I can add. Once you’re old enough to want things like stable relationships, a middle-class income, and leisure time, jobs like this one will cease to be an option.
Bravo to Jonny and I hope this position launches him to great success very quickly.
June 9th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
This job sounds like a terribly draining position, mentally, physically, and possibly morally. It sounds like there are a lot of great opportunities, but I hate stories of people trying to reach their dreams by working for thankless people while sacrificing so much of their own life. I always want them to stick it to the man and jet off using the talents they obviously have. Who knows though, maybe one day their bosses will be thankful and it will all pay off? The Amish hope so. Best of luck Jonny!
June 9th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Wow Jonny, That is why you can’t answer your phone even so late at night. Best of luck!!!
June 9th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
This sounds like the “Devil Wears Prada” for a male demographic.
June 9th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Clearly, Jonny’s is a hard career path, and my respects to him for that. Hollywood can be particularly ugly because it is a very visible destination, to put it mildly. M is onto something, however, since Jonny’s is clearly more a path to producing than writing per se. Let’s say he really wants to produce, he could clearly get the same experience producing smaller stuff by himself. So he’s either after the contacts, which are very important, or he is a sucker for adrenaline – like a friend producer of mine. I am not dissing contacts, though, these are very important, but it is arguable whether he needs to be so close to the sausage grinder, particularly in L.A. I do hope he focuses extra hard on his writing.
June 9th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
How do your duties differ during the break between seasons of the show?
June 9th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Well… The boy can write! :) Thanks Jonny. – Very, very nicely done.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
i don’t think that agency asst story is quite correct. from what i recall, she sent a gushy email about seeing Samuel L Jackson to her friends back home, which got forwarded around and eventually made it back to the agency – which was a problem because SLJ wasn’t a client there at the time. And she didn’t actually get fired, they gave her a severe talking to and let her off the hook.
She got fired the SECOND time she did it.
I’m pretty sure you can google the story, it was on the blogs four or five years ago.
June 9th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
Now you should have your assistant write a first-person account of what it’s like working for John August; big time screenwriter. :)
June 10th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Richard -
Ask and ye shall have likely already received.
http://johnaugust.com/archives/2003/being-a-writers-assistant http://johnaugust.com/archives/2005/what-does-a-writers-assistant-do
-Erik
June 10th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Great piece – truthful and upbeat. I found many of the same things as an assistant, and want to say that none of the people I worked for were thankless or unappreciative of my work. (I don’t think Jonny implied that here; I’m responding to some of the comments.) It’s incredible what a director or showrunner accomplishes in a day – it’s not always that they don’t want to get their own salad, it’s that if they do, something crucial doesn’t get done. Just because the job is sometimes intimate and often challenging doesn’t mean they should thank you every time you perform another task – that’s just the job. Production goes on with such speed and intensity – for everyone on the crew, not just you – that often it’s only when it’s done that people can look around and say, “Thanks for helping to get me through that.” Which, 99.9% of the time, they do.
June 10th, 2009 at 6:45 am
Thanks for this! It’s always nice getting some insight from what at first seems like an unlikely source.
On another note, today marks five years since I discovered this blog! And the expiration of roughly five years of self-mandated study of the craft before putting pen to paper. Or fingers to keyboard. Big thanks to you John for keeping the site going strong all this time. In these five years I’ve amassed a good handful of ideas, but feel I know how to manage them in no small part to your blog.
Thanks again.
June 10th, 2009 at 8:01 am
I would also love to know how someone gets a position like this. I think that if you want to get somewhere in the industry you better be prepared to work your ass off. It’s the people who don’t think they are “batter than a job like that”, at least in the beginning, who are the ones who become successful. Starting out, no one owes you any favors. If you work tirlessly for people, then you can accumlate favors that you can eventually, strategically cash in on. They are also the ones who know what it’s like being there and treat their assistants, once they get there, more like “actual people”. No one says this job is absolutely nessecary to be successful, it is a merely a single avenue that if performed well, could set you up for the career you have in your head. I think it sounds fun. Does that make me a masochist?
June 10th, 2009 at 9:13 am
wow, what a day. how do you ever make time for friends? thanks for sharing. truly amazing
congrats to you super talented person!!!!!
June 10th, 2009 at 10:32 am
Jonny, you wrote a great article. These sorts of jobs make me wonder if, after decades of TV production, the people running the industry could do a better job dividing up the labor. Having people work only 50 to 60 hours a week is not dramatic or glamorous, but it would probably be more effective. Creativity is hard work, but it doesn’t have to hurt.
June 10th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Ashley, One of our staff writers was my boss’ previous assistant. Everyone seemed to have in common that at onetime, everyone was an assistant. Maybe it was at an agency, or for a producer, but everyone started somewhere.
Repo, I am a T5. Thanks for noticing.
DaveedNYC, You are correct. This isn’t the only path to becoming a staff writer, it’s just the one that I chose. I got my job through networking, connections and a lot of luck. A friend of mine gave one my scripts to a manager who responded to it and signed me. My manager also represents my boss and recommended me for the job. Sorry, but there is no job fair. It was more of the right time in the right place and I jumped at the opportunity.
James, Good question. During the hiatus, I get my life back! The job slows down drastically but there still are meetings to set and tasks to be done. My boss will turn his focus to developing and working on the upcoming season.
MaryP, Great insight, Mary. You are exactly correct.
Andy, There’s no finite path to get this job. The best advice I could offer is to start off working at a major talent agency. You’ll have to work your butt off but in return, you gain experience, knowledge and you’d be the first person to know if a showrunner client needs an assistant. I know of a few people who became a showrunner’s assistant this way. No, you’re not a masochist. Despite all of the negatives, the job is fun! I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t.
June 10th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
The problem is that 90% of the world’s Johny’s get used indefinitely then kicked to the curb. But the guy who sits at home and focuses on his writing gets to keep his dignity AND has the same 10% shot of making it.
You make the call.
June 10th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
@Gregor M.
At least partially, I agree with you. My writing right now is at a level where it probably never could have been when I was sleep-deprived and brain-addled all the time. You need time and brain space to write well, and most assistant jobs leave you with neither.
On the other hand, some people really do have seemingly infinite wells of energy and creativity. I know people who work 50-60 hours a week at their day jobs, spend another 15-20 hours writing, and also network constantly at various parties and meet-ups throughout the week.
But that isn’t me. It’s just not in my DNA. I’m not great at networking (the phony “let’s get to know each other to see what we can do for each other” stuff is draining and uncomfortable); and even when I was a lot younger I didn’t have the stamina to sit down and write seriously after a long day of work. If I make it, it can only be based on the quality of my writing. Which isn’t to say that the entertainment jobs I had were useless — they gave me a great perspective on the industry — but I just didn’t have the personality to take advantage of them in the way people like Jonny seem to.
June 10th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
As I see it, the problem with this story is that in most careers, these sort of grueling “apprenticeship” phases (and they are everywhere – in law, medicine, investment banking, fashion, etc..etc…) are DIRECTLY related to (and in fact, v. important grooming for) the job you are going to be doing for the next 30 years. If you are looking to be a screenwriter, this job’s only function seems to be getting you some contacts, and from what I understand: if your scripts are great – you’ll GET the contacts anyway and if they suck – it won’t matter. So again, I am not really sure what the point of this slavery really is if one wants to be a screenwriter. What I am missing here?
June 10th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Jonny’s account is very accurate, but I want to let Matt know (if it wasn’t obvious from MaryP’s comment) that the world of industry assistants is NOT exclusively male.
I too have friends who have vowed to never be an assistant, and I don’t judge that choice. It’s not for everyone, and honestly, there’s probably something a little fried in my brain that I derive so much pleasure from solving other people’s problems.
It is also NOT a mandatory step for aspiring writers — in my current gig, none of the writers are former assistants. However, I have seen a very green young writer walk into a writers’ room with no idea how TV works, and blunder his way out of a job in under a month, and I am profoundly grateful that I already have enough experience to avoid making that mistake on my first writing job.
I wish industry internships weren’t so hard to come by. I had to hunt all over to find a couple when I was in school, but they prepared me for everything that has come since, plus given me the connections to find work since graduation. Or maybe I’m the exception — I recently met a grad who’d landed a VERY plum internship while he was in school, and he didn’t have the common sense of a brick.
June 10th, 2009 at 10:19 pm
@Alisa
What you may be missing is that in this industry, what you do today is not directly related to the job you’re going to do for the next 30 years in the linear fashion established in other industries. The path of a screenwriter is fundamentally nonlinear, and the rungs up the ladder are undefined. As awful as it can be, being an assistant is a great way to find and grab whatever that next amorphous rung will turn out to be. Being an assistant, while grueling and occasionally humiliating beyond reason, yields the benefit of new contacts in a social business and a view of a process that is valuable later in your career. To me, Jonny’s most astute comment is, “It’s not that I have to stay until 2 AM because they’re still shooting, it’s that I get to stay.”
June 11th, 2009 at 1:13 am
Jonny,
As another 25 year-old writer who’s been in Hollywood for 3 years, it’s great to see somebody doing well and carrying the right attitude (especially about writing when you don’t want to). This was a great read, and I’m glad you took the time to share your story.
June 11th, 2009 at 10:57 am
@Grimace:
On the other hand — just to play devil’s advocate here — staying on a set until 2 AM isn’t going to make you a better writer. Writing is going to make you a better writer. If you want to produce and direct, by all means, take as many of those opportunities as you can; but when it comes to writing, nothing takes the place of the actual time spent in front of the computer.
Another important thing to note here is that Jonny’s writing was already good enough to get him signed by a manager before he got this assistant job. In that scenario, accepting the position was a very wise choice. For someone who was a complete novice to writing, it may not have been.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:48 am
I really enjoyed this, but maybe not entirely for the right reasons. I am the assistant to the showrunner of a successful network hour-long drama, and my job is something like this, but minus most of the really bad parts. I would say it really depends on the showrunner. Mine wants to get home early to be with his family, and probably won’t answer his cell after 7:00. He is mellow so the job is mellow. I just want to put this perspective out, because not everyone in Hollywood acts like they are curing cancer 24/7.
That being said, this article reminded me that I am one of the lucky ones. Thanks again.
June 12th, 2009 at 5:03 am
For anyone that asks me what the best way to break in is, I tell them get yourself to LA and get a job as an assistant.
Put up with the long hours and personalities and do a good job and keep writing. In a few years, you will have a large network, comprised mostly of assistants that you dealt with day to day. But the thing is, that after a few years, all those assistants will in turn be execs, agents and producers and all of them will read your stuff because you have a genuine relationship with them.
Hollywood is a business based on relationships. Spending a few years as an assistant it the best way to quickly build them.
June 12th, 2009 at 5:28 am
I agree with Dave. I think anyone who believes that Jonny is just a glutton for punishment is in denial. Amateur writing is about sitting in front of the computer and banging out a script. Professional writing is about the same PLUS a million other things, all of which Jonny is getting expert training. His experience will make him better at so many of the other vital things to a writing career like pitching and politics and so on. Plus he won’t have to kick down doors, his friends and colleagues will gladly open doors for him.
The fact that Jonny’s contributing to the blog of John August already puts him leaps and bounds beyond those of the anonymous sect relegated to just the “comments” section.
June 12th, 2009 at 11:16 am
all of the above details are the reasons why I left Los Angeles. What a pit.
June 12th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Sorry to be cynical but stories like this really make me wonder if people can still deny that the vast majority of the acrtresses in Hollywood had sex for a decent part, at one moment or another and keep a straight face.
June 13th, 2009 at 10:27 am
If you were a good writer — well, if you were a writer at all — you wouldn’t put up with all this bullshit (and this is coming from someone who’s been there, done that) to get a staff job. Take the blinders off!
June 13th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
@R – “Not everyone in Hollywood acts like they are curing cancer 24/7.” Funny. Definitely some gigs are better than others.
I actually enjoyed this job for its own sake, for a while. As a stepping stone to writing, though, for me it was more useful in, as Kate said, learning how to fit into a production and the industry. That’s an asset to any aspiring writer, director, showrunner, or producer – in addition to your brilliant script, of course.
But other than giving me a level of comfort about sticking my foot in the door, it wasn’t about getting contacts who would read and buy my work – it was about having a job to pay for writing. In my world, there’s not much payday attached to the first few scripts. Also, in terms of time well spent – writers do have to live, in order to have something to write about.
Anyway, maybe because I really liked the job and respected most of the people I worked with, even on the days when I felt like a Starbucks gopher with a headset, I still wouldn’t have traded it for anything else on offer.
June 13th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
And at the risk of getting frisky – @Chris – been there, done that? Have you been a showrunner trying to do your job without an assistant? Thank god some of us aren’t too good to be lowly film crew, I guess.
And I just I gotta call bullshit on “If you were a good writer…” It takes all kinds, dude. There’s no one personality – whether one willing to put in a day’s work or not – that makes a good writer. It’s the writing. And even then it’s subjective. Hope you don’t talk to your own writing self with that attitude.
June 13th, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Wow, Chris (#39), could your post be any more condescending, belittling, and self-aggrandizing? Yes, it could. But you still should’ve shown more restraint… Hard to follow any advice from someone who chooses to be as vague as they are insulting (not to mention bitter). You must be a pleasure to work with down at the quarry.
June 29th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
To the guys saying its about writing – you miss a big point about drama of any sorts. Its a collective art form. As a writer I have learned most from being on productions in different positions from assistant, dramaturge or director. The writing is a mean to an end, not a thing in itself. Only if you’re a novelist. With drama you have to figure out how it works – that means all aspects: the actors, the directors, producers and so on. Johnny’s path is one of the viable ones to figuring that out.