[Watch the video interview on Youtube here]
Film Courage: How did you get your first production assistant job?
Zimran Jacob, Screenwriter: It’s kind of a funny story. I was at a sushi restaurant that I really loved and it kind of appeared out of nowhere. I was friends with the security guard there and he always told me that he knew this producer that was looking for young writers. I said Would you be able to connect us? A couple days later I was at the sushi restaurant and this producer walks in. The security guard introduced me to the producer.
I kind of owe my start to that producer and to that security guard who ended up hiring me, or sorry rather the producer hired me, and the security guard connected me. It was kind of a random connection.
Film Courage: Yeah, Los Angeles security guards are the eyes and ears of a lot of what happens here in town.
Zimran: I miss him. I love them.
Film Courage: That’s really cool. What does the production assistant do?
Zimran: The production assistant ultimately fills in the gaps of production. Anytime there’s an issue that needs to be taken care of, it’s there to support the producers of the project.
For example, they set up the coolers usually and then on lower budget productions they’re setting up the crafty. If there’s no craft services department, they’re also making sure they’re calling out the roles, making sure that people know when we’re shooting and making sure that nobody walks into the shot accidentally.
There’s a lot of other things. They’re doing runs. If they’re helping other departments. Especially on lower budget productions you might have to help the grip and electric department. You may (at one point like I did) have to do the sound. You do anything and everything, but the producer’s job is to make sure you’re all shooting and so the production assistant is to support the producer in that goal.
Film Courage: So you’re learning from the ground up, but it sounds like you’re really learning all the different moving parts?
Zimran: One hundred percent. I think that being a production assistant helped me when I became a writer because it helped me understand what elements we would need to set up a shot and how…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
About:
Zimran Jacob is an Indian American drama television writer originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. After graduating Cum Laude from Chapman University with a B.A. in Screenwriting and studying at NYU, USC, and UCLA, he moved out to Los Angeles where he began to work in the finance department at Gaumont Television, which released Narcos, Hannibal, Hemlock Grove, and F is for Family during his tenure at the company. Zimran’s job at Gaumont led him to Marvel in the writer’s room on the Netflix show, The Punisher where he was able to contribute to the story in his role on the support staff as the Showrunner’s Assistant. During his time at Marvel, he pitched two stories which became produced episodes. Zimran sold his feature SWAG to 19f Productions where Kevin Pollak is attached to direct. He was a PGA Diversity Workshop Fellow in 2019 and was a Semi-Finalist in both the 2018 and 2019 Austin Film Festival. Most recently, he brought enthusiasm to his job as Showrunner’s Assistant for October Faction on Netflix. He writes dark Shakespearean dramas featuring Machiavellian characters, tribal power struggles, and is addicted to crime stories.
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