New HMAb Feature: The Whole Nine Yards

Oh, I just how to laugh when I was reading Heather Morton Art Buyer blog's new feature called "The Whole Nine Yards" where they talk about the support staff - i.e producers, MUAs, stylists, etc. To kick off the new feature, their first topic : assistants ! Yes, this relates again to assisting - I can't help it, I worked as an assistant for so many years.

So here's a quote of a quote from the "The Whole Nine Yards"

“Pay the assistant in a timely manner. Most of us give you 30 days but why wait allllll 30 days? Please don’t make me pester you for 200 bucks. It makes me feel like a douche and it makes you look like one. On that note, the worst thing you can say is “ohhhhh the client hasn’t paid me yet.” I don’t care if you’re waiting for the client to pay you - it’s not my problem. Do you tell Headshots or the caterer that you’ll pay them once the client pays you? On most shoots lunch is more expensive than me, and while lunch was very delicious and everyone loved the Niçoise salad, it didn’t carry all the gear, do all the dishes, or fix the wifi. The Niçoise salad, while wonderful and full of hard-boiled eggs, definitely did not take you aside and quietly tell you that the client’s name is Tim NOT Ted.

Oh, yes, I've stood in those shoes for so many times. I do have to give props to some photographers here in LA who pay at the end of the day - you know who you are and I definitely appreciated it when I was hustling for gigs. Other photographers...well, I won't name names but one who works here in Los Angeles just didn't pay - I heard a make up artist or stylists had tried taking him to small claims court. I managed to get my money but it was like pulling teeth. That was back in 2006 I think. Oh, there's another time I got nothing from a New York fashion photographer. He still owes me $500 bucks and this is from 2002. Overall in my assisting career I usually don't have much problems.

Oh, for photographers, when you want to hire an assistant - one of the best places to go and ask (besides your fellow photographer friends) is your local camera rental house - here in LA, it is either PIX or Samy's or Calumet and talk to their rental dept. They see who comes and goes and they know the assistants. They can recommend someone. Also, ask your past assistants - assistants talk to each other and they can easily recommend someone whom they work for and feel confident in their abilities. A number of my gigs came from other assistants I work with.

Same thing for photographers who travel to different cities - find your local camera rental place. If not, check your local ASMP/APA organization.

I, for one am pretty much out of that assisting game now. I still assist but only for clients I've known for years. It is probably for the better - I have several projects I'm working on. There's a new generation of assistants out there and the world has changed. In the old days, I used to load 4x5 holders, and pull Polaroids but those are a thing of the past now.



Just for kicks, here's a photo of my bag of Polaroids I've collected from the many many gigs I worked on over the years.

So anyone got assisting stories they wanna share ?