You're On The List

Back when I was a booth PA, and terrified that I would be fired if I estimated the time of the show incorrectly, some wise, more experienced coworker assured me that a PA wasn't really judged on all that timing stuff. The real test was whether the PA was a person the other control room people wanted to sit next to, especially on the very long days.
 
I have worked in a variety of places, and long ago, I started making a mental list of the people I'd hire (if I were ever in a position of hiring) or at least those I'd like to work with again. I carry that list with me wherever I go--at this point, there are a lot of names on it. The people on the list are certainly talented in their arenas, but more important, they are people I'd be happy to sit next to on a set or in a control room, even on the very long days.
 
I used to think that the genre in which I worked was the most important consideration. After all, how could I devote time and energy to work that didn't move me, work that didn't do something great for the world? It's not that I don't want to do those kinds of projects. But on a day to day basis, the inspiration I get from working with the kind of people who make it onto that mental list of mine is right up there with the inspiration I'd get from a particular project.
 
One of the very nice things about my most recent gig with the soaps online has been the opportunity to work not only with some of the people from my list, but also with people who have become new additions to the list. (It's important, when making such a list, to update it constantly--you never know when you'll meet your next great collaborators). You might think that, having worked in soaps for as long as I have, I wouldn't have new people to meet, but happily, I am constantly exposed to new personalities and new ways of working.


Which, I'm happy to say, makes for an ever-growing, very full and exciting, list.