ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the assistant directors (ADs) the different types of ADs and their roles and responsibilities on a set. There are two parts to a "day in the life" of a 1st AD: preproduction and production. 1st AD responsibilities during preproduction include preparing the daily prep memo, organizing and managing location scouts, setting up department head meetings with the director, organizing and managing the key location survey, running the final production meeting, and working with the second assistant director (2nd AD) to create the daily call sheets. The 2nd AD also supervises the duties of the other assistant directors and production assistants. The major difference between the skill set of a director and the skill set of an AD is this: Directors primarily use the right side of their brain, and ADs primarily use the left side of their brain. Both jobs are about managing creative professionals; and both demand a good understanding of human behavior.
