OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW CREW MEMBERS
The Producer's Creative Partnership, in association
with
international production companies, is always searching for
Maltese crew members to fill various posts.
The availability of qualified and experienced crew
members in the Maltese islands is unfortunately very limited,
particularly where managerial positions are concerned. Problems also lie
when seeking assistants for managerial positions since experience is imperative. It is indeed not the first time that several
productions have been filming simultaneously in Malta and when human resources
have became
quickly exhausted.
The PCP encourages the training of all
those seriously interested in entering the film industry. On our last
feature 'Largo Winch' (2007) we engaged no less than eight Trainees, all
of whom are now either working actively in the industry or studying film
or media in Malta or abroad.
The best way to
learn from scratch is to work as either a Trainee or an Office Runner.
If you already have some basic experience in television then you might
be ready to work as a
Production Assistant. Also, it not the first time a Trainee with
no film or TV experience performs so well that he/she gets promoted as a
Production Assistant on the same production. But these cases are
infrequent.
The PCP is interested in receiving your application
only if you are career motivated.
Patience, persistence and stamina are other attributes needed since the
film servicing industry in Malta is an unpredictable one and opportunities can
be infrequent
If you are undecided on which position you may wish
to work and train for, we suggest you visit the following website for
job descriptions
http://www.skillset.org/film/jobs/.
To show your interest with the PCP, you should write
to us by following the
application guidelines. We do
not administer applications by phone.
For all those applicants who pass the screening
process, an informal gathering or individual interviews are held
annually, typically in the first quarter of the year when the local
servicing industry tends to be quiet.
After working as a Trainee, you would need to then
work as a Production Assistant so your responsibilities
and experience will increase substantially. Once you have achieved enough experience as a Production Assistant
on at least a two or three productions you could be ready to move a
step up the ladder to a higher position.
The salary earned by Production Assistants usually ranges between 65
to 82 Euros a day depending on your level of experience and/or the
department you are assigned to. In most countries Trainees are not paid
for their experience but they are of course still expected to be useful
and proactive. In Malta, if you are placed as a Trainee but also
as a Production or (Departmental) Runner (ie: within the Transport
department) where you would be driving a vehicle, then you would receive
a Runner's wage which is typically between 60 and 70 Euros a day. Wages
mainly depend on your experience, your performance and the budget of the
film.
Below is the job description of a
typical Production Assistant.
PA Job Description
The Production Assistant (PA) shall play an important part in the
preparation and production of a prestigious cinema film with a worldwide
release and his/her duties shall be including but not limited to:
-
assisting
in a key manner with general production coordination
-
assisting
in running the office of the production manager
-
doing most
of the secretarial work
-
planning
meetings and making schedule-related arrangements
-
assisting
with the booking of hotels and pickups
-
controlling certain expenses
The Production Assistant shall work long and irregular hours. The
place of work shall usually be in the Production office situated in the south of
Malta. He/she shall report to the
Production Manager and the Production Coordinator.
The Production Assistant will need to be:
-
able to
work to constrained time and budgets
-
able to
organize, and relay messages with confidence
-
a good
communicator
-
able to
deal tactfully with a variety of people.
-
able to
carry out tasks delegated to him/her responsibly with professional finality and
with meticulous detail.
The ideal candidate shall have some experience in the film business
but this is not an absolute necessity. Enthusiasm, reliability and career motivation shall be considered more important assets. Training will be
on the job
but the ability to learn fast is very important.
The entrant shall work with experienced professionals and may
gradually take on greater responsibility on other films.
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