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A production department

Assistant directors

The assistant directors: who is in the department and what each of them does

The ADs are the department whose job is not to make the picture look or sound a certain way, but to make sure it gets made at all. Their business is movement, schedule and logistics: who is where, what is next, how long it will take.

The director decides what the film needs. The assistant directors make sure the cast, the crew, the background artists, the vehicles and the clock are all in the right place so that it can happen. The department is the bridge between the production office and the set, and between the crew and the cast. It is run by three people, and on a studio picture the running team below them can be eighteen strong; on a small independent feature it is four or five.

  1. 1st AD

  2. 2nd AD

  3. 3rd AD

  4. Key PA

  5. Cast PA

  6. Crowd PA

  7. Walkie PA

  8. Additional or daily PA

  9. Lock-off runnerEntry-level job

  10. Floor runner / set PAEntry-level job

Drawn from MFJF's own Foundations course Floor Runner / Set PA (module 1: The AD department: what it does and who is in it, and A floor runner's day, hour by hour; module 5: The industry around the role, for the ladder and the three-year plan). The words are My First Job In Film's. © My First Job In Film 2026.

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Where next

Your recommended next steps

Picked for Floor Runner and Set PA. Signed in, they follow your stage and the roles your answers point to. See your whole MFJF journey, step by step →

  1. My MFJF JourneyOne page for everything MFJF has built, in the order you need it.
  2. My Reading ListThe books, blogs and bodies you have saved, in one place.
  3. Start the Stage 1 course: Floor Runner and Set PATwo hours on what the job is, how people get in and what to do first.
  4. Get on the HotListPut yourself in front of productions looking for crew.
  5. Join MFJF DayPlayersDay work on productions for crew with the credits and the skills.
  6. The career planner: Floor Runner and Set PAWhat to do, learn and be able to do, from no experience to paid work.
  7. The career guide: Floor Runner and Set PAThe job, the day, the way in and the pay, in one guide.
  8. See how it all fits on the career maps17 maps of how films get made: the people, the process and the departments.
  9. Who works whereEvery department on a shoot and every kind of film company: who is in each and what they do.
  10. Industry EssentialsThe books, industry bodies, websites and blogs worth knowing, department by department.
  11. Read the MFJF Survival GuidesStraight answers to what everyone starting out asks: how long it takes, what you get paid, and what to do every day.
  12. MFJF Academy workshopsLive sessions with people who do the job, and the monthly career clinic.
  13. Build your CV with the CV BuilderThe industry's format, built from your profile and your current CV.

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