How Does a Film Major Become a Technical Instructor?

Per Scholas found me in summer 2019 when I was:

• broke

• desperate

• and searching for a better job than a Production Assistant

My story begins in 2018, two years before 4 million Americans quit their jobs in “The Great Resignation” of 2020.

In November 2021, 4.5 million more Americans quit their jobs. So I’m definitely not the only one with a “gap in my resume.”

In 2018 I was finishing up the Temple University LA Study Away Program and getting ready to graduate film school.

I felt lucky in May 2018 to have had an internship while I was in the LA Program.

I felt even luckier to have graduated with zero student debt.

That internship turned into a part-time Assistant Editor job with a great boutique production company, Special Order.

In July 2018, I got another part time job as executive assistant to director Salvador Litvak, aka The Accidental Talmudist.

I had no benefits and no perks. But I felt lucky to have two part time jobs right out of film school in LA. 

I then started working my ass off.

I went to a writers groups to show a screenplay I was writing. 

I PA’d on sets whenever I got the chance.

I even Post PA’d on a Netflix show you can watch here.

I quickly learned there is no shortage of young, idealistic, smart people in LA trying to break into entertainment.

You could throw a rock and find someone trying to act, or write, or direct, or produce.

I went through months of barely scraping by. Soon I realized that being a starving artist isn’t all that glamorous.

I grew jealous of friends who who majored in business, or IT, or engineering. 

You know, majors that people do to get “real jobs” after college.

I knew I could have done those majors, but back then I was rebellious, and stubborn, about pursuing my dream of becoming like my hero Martin Scorsese.

I thought I could handle the struggle, but I was wrong.

I could barely even afford rent!

And I was constanly searching for my next big job.

By early 2019 I was depressed. I even stopped writing.

So before my 23rd birthday in June 2019, I decided I wanted to study tech.

I moved back in with my parents. I am so blessed to have them.

Me and my parents at a party somewhere in New Jersey

I had an aunt who knew an executive at the headquarters of Revature in Reston, Virginia, so I went there first.

It was a long drive from New Jersey to Virginia.

In that meeting the Revature executive mentioned another company called Per Scholas.

I searched for it. Pretty soon I found this Vice Special Report: The Future of Work on HBO that featured Per Scholas.

The rest is basically history.

I was able to get admission into the Network Support program in August 2019 at Per Scholas Newark.

I finished the program in December 2019 and got certified in CompTIA A+ and Network+.

In March 2020 I started as a TA with Per Scholas. 2020 was a terrible year for a lot of people, but not for me. I taught over 100 people and earned more certs.

I was somehow able to figure out how to teach adults remotely over Zoom during a pandemic with an amazing organization that I’m proud to be a part of.

An organization that prides itself on infinite learning.

As of this writing in January 2022, I have been working with Per Scholas for almost two years and trained over 150 adults in CompTIA A+, Network+ and Google IT Support.

Some adults I trained now work at Barclays, Google, Maximus, Casper, among other cool places.

A Zoom graduation photo from an IT Support class I taught in 2021.

I’ll be 26 years old in July 2022.

I have no idea what the future holds.

But I do know I enjoy writing. Learning. Teaching remotely.

I spend way less time on my feet as a Technical Instructor than as a Production Assistant.

As a set PA I remember doing like 40,000 steps in a day, getting home, and barely being able to move.

Why Would You Ever Want To Be a Production Assistant?

As The Anonymous Production Assistant writes, it can be “one of the most harrowing jobs in Hollywood,” one where you get a hands-on education on the harsh realities of filmmaking that I only heared about from guest speakers at film school.

“Shorts and student films have their value, but you're still not going to learn what a professional set is like… PAing is the only job where you interact with everyone, and so you'll you learn what everyone does. Some people skip the Production Assistant experience; they take jobs at camera rental places or post houses, and focus on a single department.”

Maybe you're lucky and you sold a script right out of film school.

Maybe you went viral like my former classmate Kalen Allen, who talks shit about food and posts his reaction videos on Twitter.

Or maybe you are still trying to figure out what you are good at.

No matter where you are in life, I thank you for reading and hope you check out more of my work on my website or on LinkedIn.