Raise Production Assistant Wages in NYC

We help make your favorite shows: Orange Is The New Black, The Blacklist, Person of Interest, Elementary, Madam Secretary, Girls, The Good Wife, and the list goes on. We also work on popular features like The Amazing Spiderman, The Dark Knight Rises, Ninja Turtles, etc.

Production assistants on Film and Television sets provide an invaluable service to all productions operating within NYC. They have no job description, so they can be asked to do anything. They operate vehicles, they handle talent, paperwork, they lock up city streets, they deal with vendors, they handle petty cash and credit card purchases, they handle valuable costumes and jewelry, and do many other much less glamorous tasks. They also work 12 hours a day minimum. They are the first people on set, and the last to leave, and they work in any weather conditions.

The average rate for a production assistant has been $150/12 for decades. Costs of living have gone up, our rent has gone up, the price of gas has gone up, the cost of education has gone up, and minimum wage has gone up. But our rate hasn't. Which means we are making closer to minimum wage now than we were even 5 years ago. Even worse, production companies are switching to $150/14, meaning we are making even less than we were even a year ago.

Many PAs quit before they move up because they can't afford to do this work for years at a time. Without the mandatory overtime, we would be living eerily close to the poverty line, because our work leaves us unemployed throughout certain parts of the year. We get no health benefits, no paid days off or vacation time, and have no retirement benefits.

We deserve better. We deserve a living wage.