Nonfat Grande Cliché? Okay!

It’s the cliché of all industry clichés. Rumors of it are whispered in dark hallways of film school, and woe are you if you move to Hollywood and make your way on to a set, only to hear the dreaded words:

“Can we get a coffee run?”

NOOOOOOOO! I SPENT $120,000 ON FILM SCHOOL TO SLING STARBUCKS FOR PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE MY NAME?! Oh my God, right about now Business School is looking better and better… I should have listened to my parents and been an accountant.

Except not, because I’m on a film set watching entertainment get made… I am one of a special few that get to see the magic happen, LIVE! And that is something that I will gladly fetch a cappuccino for.

I think it’s bullshit that it’s viewed as such a degrading thing to do… what’s the matter with taking pride in making someone whose working hard’s day a little bit easier? A cup of coffee is a small way of being told that you matter, and it’s a tiny thank you for your long hours on set or in the office. The best Production Assistants that I’ve worked with are the people that are just naturally helpful and want to make things easier for others around them, just because it’s the nice thing to do. Nice can really go a long way in this business too, because a lot of people just aren’t.

For a lot of talent, their days are spent surrounded on set by handlers, managers, entourage, producers, make up and hair people, etc… I remember Sara Blakely (a judge on American Inventor/creator of Spanx pantyhose) apologizing to me for her intricate Starbucks order (Grande Nonfat Chai Latte, extra water, extra hot), saying that getting her tea just right felt like about the only thing she had control of on set. It’s interesting to me that the people you might think have the most control can sometimes have the least.

The worst part is, I didn’t just work with her last week or anything, but last YEAR. Somehow, I still remember her order… And THAT is how important a person’s beverage of choice can be.

I remember sitting in the bleachers watching rehearsals for Thank God You’re Here, and one of the show creators came over and sat down. He looked exhausted, but he smiled at me.

I grabbed a water bottle sitting next to me that I had been carrying around for anyone that needed it and handed it over… not to be a suck up or get ahead, but just to be nice. It was room temperature, just the way I had learned he liked it.

“What’s your name again?”
“Brandie.”
“Awesome Brandie, thanks.”

I was the only PA on set he knew by name. I got my next 2 jobs after Thank God You’re Here because “an exec” recommended me. I ran into him about a month ago at the grocery store and he STILL knew my name.

Kindness pays, I’m just saying.