The Big Picture

Sometimes You'll Have a Terrible Boss

Being an assistant can be frustrating, when it seems like all you’re doing is taking care of tiny, insignificant jobs. Menial tasks that are, strictly speaking, necessary, but no one wants to do. What’s worse is when they pile up, they can become overwhelming despite their unimportance.

When you’re stuck with those, it’s often helpful to try picturing how these small things fit into the larger goal: making a movie (or show or whatever). It’s not only good for your mental health, but it’s practical, too.

A Terrible Boss

I read this story recently,¹ about communication difficulties between a boss and an assistant:

BOSS: I need you to do A. How long will it take?

ASSISTANT: Three days, easy.

BOSS: Okay, great. Do A and tell me when you’re done.

ASSISTANT: Sure, no problemo.

BOSS: I’m going to need you to do B. Can you do that?

ASSISTANT: Of course!

BOSS: Okay, great. How long will it take?

ASSISTANT: Three days. Unless you want me to keep doing A, then I can’t get started on B until Monday.

BOSS: Wait, what? Who said anything about not doing A?

The surprising thing is, the person who posted this was the boss. Even more surprising, he posted it because he thought he was the hero of the story, and not the raging asshole he obviously is.

You will run into people like this at some point in your career, who can’t wrap their head around the fact that they know more than you. The boss’s job is to take care of the big picture; in fact, it’s very likely his job is to determine the big picture. Literally, in Hollywood.

Division of Labor

These types have either forgotten what it’s like to be an assistant, or never were one in the first place.² There exist just as many bosses who assume new instructions supersede previous ones, as there are those who assume the opposite. It’s impossible for the assistant to know without asking.

Additionally, this dickhead of course can’t admit the possibility that he’s fallible, that he could’ve forgotten the assistant was already working on something. This is almost certainly what was going through the assistant’s head: “Did he forget I was in the middle of A? I better subtly remind him and let him decide.”

I guarantee, without a shred of doubt, that if this boss had forgotten about Task A, and the assistant finished it before getting to work on B, the boss would’ve equally lost his shit over how long it was taking to get B done.

How to Manage a Manager

The only way to manage a manager like this is by keeping the bigger picture in mind. Does it seem like, say, pricing out new furniture for the office is more or less urgent than getting the prep schedule out? Depends. Is it 5:30 and everyone’s asking for the schedule? Is the furniture falling apart right now?

Keep in mind, once you’ve figured out the priority, you still must phrase your response carefully, like you would a child. “B will take a couple of hours, but I won’t be able to get to it until I complete task A, so you can expect it on your desk this afternoon.”

This can be really frustrating, because it might be a heads-I-win, tails-you-lose situation. There are certain bosses who like to be The Boss, so if you in any way imply you know which task to prioritize, they’ll just immediately say it’s the opposite, out of sheer contradiction.

Kobayashi Maru

Sometimes just trying to get ahead of issues will annoy these types. For example, I was on a show with three office PAs,³ so we had three shifts—early, middle, and late. I was scheduled for the late shift one week, but had just scored tickets to a movie screening, so I wanted to swap shifts. I talked with the early guy, but he didn’t want to stay that late, so I asked the middle guy if we could all just slide over one shift for the week.

Everyone was amenable, until the production coordinator stormed into the bullpen. “Are you trying to swap shifts? You don’t determine the schedule, I determine the schedule!”

“Yeah, of course,” I said nicely. “I just wanted to check with them first before I even bothered you. If they didn’t want to switch, there’d be no point in even asking-”

“I tell you what the schedule is.”

“I know, I was going to ask permission-”

“No. You come to me first. So no, you can’t switch.”

There was no reason for her to be like this; she was just a petty tyrant. I knew that, but I still wasn’t going to ask her without talking to my fellow PAs, in case they had something more important than a movie.

So, no matter what, even if you try to do the right thing, try to anticipate and make things easier for them, you’re sometimes going to have a shitty boss who uses any excuse to yell at you. It sucks. That’s life. You have to learn to deal with it. However…

Think Big

That one bad incident (one among many on that show) didn’t endear me to the coordinator, but it did with the rest of the people in the office. We all kinda agreed she was unnecessarily rude and controlling. The show still got made—paperwork was distributed, phones were answered, coffee was brewed. Nothing was really hurt, other than me having to wait a few extra weeks to see that movie.

Much more importantly, I’m still friends with those two former-PAs, lo these many years later. It started simply because I was considerate of their time, and they mine.⁴ We looked out for each other. Consideration became friendship, partnerships even.

And I haven’t even thought of that jerk in at least a decade before writing this piece. She wasn’t focused on the big picture. She cared less about what was best for the show, and more about asserting her power. Petty bosses like that come and go, but you can handle them.

You, dear reader, should keep thinking of the big picture. Not just the show you’re on, but the really big picture—your career, your network, your friends, your life.

1. Normally, I would link to the source, but A) this guy is way more popular than I am and doesn’t need my publicity and B) would probably end with an internet troll fight that I don’t need right now. You can probably find the original if you care that much.

2. Thanks, nepotism!

3. What a luxury that was. We didn’t know how good we had it then.

4. Plus, we were trauma-bonded by the shitty boss.