How to Become a Film PA in NYC (2026 Guide)

Becoming a film production assistant in NYC in 2026 takes one phone call. Seriously. The barrier to your first PA gig is not training, certifications, or a film degree. It is knowing the right person on the right day, on the right show, who needs an extra body who can read a call sheet and not get hit by a truck.

This guide is the version of that phone call. We'll cover what a PA actually does, what you can expect to make, the realistic path to your first gig, and the specific things about working in NYC that no national how-to article will tell you.

What a Film PA Actually Does

A production assistant is the entry-level on-set role across film, TV, commercial, and music video production. The job is less glamorous than the title sounds and more important than people think. PAs are the connective tissue of a set. When a director needs a sandbag, an actress needs water, the location owner needs to be told the wrap time changed, or a 75-foot extension cord needs to get from the truck to the third floor without anyone tripping over it: that's a PA.

Day to day, you'll be doing some combination of:

• Lockup: holding a corner of the set or street to keep pedestrians from walking into a shot
• Walkie traffic: carrying a handheld radio and relaying information between departments
• Runs: picking up coffee, supplies, props, paperwork, talent
• Set prep: helping rig, sweep, tape down cables, set up craft service
• Wrangling: shepherding background actors, talent, or kids
• Paperwork: chasing signatures on releases, tracking timecards, distributing sides

The set PA, key PA, office PA, and locations PA are all variations of the same role. You'll typically start as a set PA. The work is physical, the days are long (10-14 hours is typical), and the food on commercials and union jobs is much better than people expect.

Here's what surprised me the first time I worked a real set: nobody asks where you went to school. They watch how you carry yourself for 30 minutes and decide whether they'll request you again.

What PAs Make in NYC (Real Numbers)

A non-union PA day rate in NYC in 2026 ranges from $150 to $300 for a 10-12 hour day. Higher-budget commercials and streamers can pay $325 to $400 per day. You will see job postings offering $100/day or "deferred pay" — those are exploitative, and you can ignore them.

Job type	Day rate (NYC, 2026)
Non-union short film, music video	$150 to $200
Indie feature, low-budget commercial	$200 to $275
Mid-budget commercial, episodic TV	$275 to $350
Major streamer / studio production	$325 to $450
Union / IATSE Local 161 (clerical)	Higher with benefits, varies

Kit fees (extra pay for bringing your own walkie batteries, multitool, headlamp) add $25 to $50/day. Overtime kicks in after 10 hours on most contracts. New York is one of the more PA-friendly markets because rates rise with the cost of living and most professional productions follow union-adjacent guidelines even when not signatory.

For a deeper breakdown of rates across roles and cities, see our full Film Crew Day Rates by Role and City (2026) guide.

The Real Path (You Don't Need Film School)

Here's the path almost every working NYC PA actually took, regardless of what their LinkedIn says:

1. Got their name on a list somewhere a producer could find it. Whether that was a film school crew board, a coordinator's spreadsheet, a specific Facebook group, or a platform like NeedaCrew, this is step zero. If you're not findable, you don't get called.

2. Worked a few unpaid or low-paid jobs first. Student films, music videos, low-budget shorts. Not because they wanted to work for free, but because that's where the network is. Every working PA in NYC came up through somebody else's no-budget short.

3. Made themselves easy to recommend. Showed up early, didn't complain, learned names, didn't sit when there was nothing to do, brought their own snacks. The bar is genuinely that low and somehow most people miss it.

4. Got a returning request. The first producer or coordinator who calls you back is the most important contact you'll ever have. They become your reference for the next three jobs.

5. Joined IATSE Local 161 or another local union when the rate ladder demanded it. Union membership is not your starting point. It's a milestone you reach after enough professional days.

Film school is not required. A film school degree might get you into the office of a production company in a coordinator-track role. It almost never gets you on set faster than just being on set.

What Actually Gets You Hired in NYC

Three things, in this order:

1. Reliability. Coordinators want PAs who answer texts within 30 minutes, who show up at call time minus 15, who don't get sick on Wednesdays before a Thursday call. The single most-cited reason a PA gets rehired is "they showed up and didn't make my life harder."

2. Local knowledge. NYC is a logistics nightmare. A PA who knows that you can't park a 5-ton truck on 34th Street between 8am and 7pm, that the J train doesn't run on weekends north of Essex Street, that the Brooklyn Bridge is closed to commercial vehicles at certain times: that PA gets called for the next job. Read the NYC Mayor's Office of Media & Entertainment permitting pages until you understand how filming in this city actually works.

3. A working setup. A reliable phone, charged constantly. A cheap pair of work gloves. A headlamp. A multitool. A backup phone battery. Comfortable boots. A black t-shirt and pants (set crew dresses dark to not reflect into the camera). A copy of your direct deposit info. A signed W-9. None of this costs more than $100 total.

What you don't need: expensive equipment, certifications, OSHA cards, a resume reel, or a portfolio. Nobody looks at any of those for a PA job.

How to Get Your First NYC PA Gig in 2026

These five steps are in priority order. Do all of them.

1. Get on every list

• Sign up free on NeedaCrew. Fill out every field. Photos help. List your gear, even if it's just a multitool and a headlamp.
• Join the active Facebook groups: "NYC Production Assistants," "PA Bootcamp NYC," "Brooklyn Filmmakers."
• Post a one-paragraph intro in the appropriate Discord servers (a quick search for "NYC film Discord" finds the active ones).
• Get on Mandy and Staff Me Up, especially for student film and indie crews.

2. Take any short you can find

The first three to five days you work will be unpaid or low-paid student or indie shorts. That is the cost of admission. You're not working for the production; you're working to get the next coordinator's number.

A specific tactic: search NeedaCrew, Mandy, and Facebook for "music video" or "student short" calls in the next 30 days. Apply to all of them. Even if you only get on two, you'll have set days under your belt and two coordinators who know your name.

3. Hand out your number on set

The quiet rule of set work: at lunch on the second day, when you've established you're not a problem, you walk up to the AD or coordinator and say something like "Hey, if you ever need an extra hand on a future job, I'm available. Here's my number." 90% of set work happens through phone numbers passed at lunch.

4. Take the worst calls first

A 5am call in Long Island City for a non-union beverage spot? Take it. A weekend music video in a Bushwick warehouse with no AC? Take it. Saying yes to the inconvenient jobs early is how you build your reliability reputation.

5. Always send the post-job thank you

After every gig, text the coordinator who hired you: "Thanks for having me on [show]. Loved the team. Around for any future jobs." This single text is the difference between getting called back and not. Most PAs forget to do it.

NYC-Specific Things Nobody Tells You

A few things worth knowing about working in this market specifically:

• Boroughs matter. Productions in Brooklyn and Queens often expect you to live nearby because they don't pay for parking and the subway commute at 5am is your problem. If you're in Manhattan, productions in DUMBO and Williamsburg are realistic; productions in Riverhead are not.

• Permits are everywhere and constant. Every shoot in a public location has a permit posted, usually on a film notice taped to a streetlamp. Reading these permits and recognizing the production company names is one of the fastest ways to learn who's working and what they're shooting.

• The Coffee Talk rule. When a coordinator asks you to grab coffee for the director, you don't ask "what do they want." You quietly find out from the second AD or the assistant. Looking helpful matters; looking confused doesn't.

• The weather rule. Outdoor shoots happen in February and August. You will be cold, you will be hot. Layers solve the first problem. Hydration solves the second. Whining solves neither and gets noted.

• The IATSE Local 161 path. Once you've worked enough non-union days as a PA, the next professional rung in NYC is often joining IATSE Local 161 (production office coordinators and accountants) or moving toward second AD work. Most PAs do not stay PAs forever. Two to three years in, you're choosing a specialty.

Common Mistakes That Kill PA Careers Before They Start

• Sitting when there's nothing to do. The job of a PA between active tasks is to look like you're available. Standing, alert, near a department head: that's the posture.
• Posting set photos to Instagram. Productions are obsessive about NDAs. One leaked behind-the-scenes shot of a closed set, and your name goes on a list nobody calls.
• Eating before crew. Talent eats first, then department heads, then everyone else. PAs eat last and quickly. This is hierarchy, not snobbery.
• Asking the talent for a photo. This will end your day and possibly your career. Don't do it.
• Treating the job like a stepping stone out loud. Everyone on set knows you want to direct one day. Keep that conversation off set.

Advancing Past PA

Once you have 30 to 60 set days as a PA, options open up:

• Set PA → Key PA: more responsibility, more money, often a stepping stone to AD work
• Set PA → 2nd AD: requires DGA membership in most cases, longer path
• Set PA → Locations: scout, manage permits, negotiate with property owners
• Set PA → Office Coordinator: paperwork-heavy, less physical, often union (Local 161)
• Set PA → Department PA → Department lead: art, camera, locations, costumes, all hire department PAs who eventually graduate into department roles

The most common path in NYC: PA for 1-2 years, then specialize into either AD work, locations, or a craft department. Pick a department lead you respect, become their go-to PA, and ask for a department PA role on the next show.

How NeedaCrew Helps Working PAs

NeedaCrew is the US/Canada marketplace for film crew and casting. Producers post gigs, working crew get notified when a job in their city matches their role. Free to sign up, free to be listed.

For PAs starting out, the platform handles:

• Profile with photos and gear list
• Direct messaging with coordinators
• Saved searches by city and role
• Notifications when new NYC gigs hit

If you want to be findable when a producer in Brooklyn needs a PA for tomorrow at 6am, getting on the list is step zero.

Sign up free on NeedaCrew →

TL;DR

• Becoming a film PA in NYC does not require film school
• Day rates in 2026 are typically $150 to $400 depending on production
• The path is: get on every list, take any short, build a coordinator network, send the post-job text
• Local knowledge of NYC permits, transit, and parking matters more than a resume
• Expect 1-2 years of PA work before specializing into AD, locations, or a department track

The single most important step is the one most people skip: making yourself findable. The producer who needs a grip at 6am tomorrow is not searching LinkedIn. They're calling the people on their list, and if you're not on a list, you don't get called.

Get on NeedaCrew →