Coverage: A brief (short form) or detailed (long form) synopsis of written material (screenplay or novel) that is used to rate the material, to discuss the material without having read it, or to sell the material to someone who is too busy to read the entire work.

The Trades: The Hollywood Reporter and Daily Variety. Industry publications that give daily updates on everything from domestic and foreign sales, studio deals, picture deals, production dates, to projects in development, as well as movie and television reviews.

Stages of Film Production:

Development: Writing the script, developing the story; this stage involves input from producers, directors, studio executives, and, on high-budget movies, actors.

Pre-production: Preparing to shoot a film (making decisions on budgeting, scheduling, casting, locations, costuming, props, makeup, hair, sets, etc., in roughly that order).

Production: Shooting the movie according to the decisions made in pre-production (in theory. The reality is a lot more exciting.).

Post-production: Edit the film, score the movie, edit the sound, add in special effects shots; test screen the movie.

The Pitch: The encapsulated story idea, program idea, or project idea that is bought and sold. Pitching is an art form in and of itself—a good pitch can sell a bad idea, while a bad pitch can sink a good one. On the creative side of the business, the pitch most often refers to a story idea that is told, in story form, to a room full of executives at a studio (hence the name “pitch meetings”).

Rolling calls: Dialing calls for your boss and connecting him/her to the person they are calling. (**THIS IS HOW YOU GET TO KNOW OTHER ASSISTANTS. They are doing this all day as well, so if your boss talks to the same person five or six times a day, you will get to know his or her assistant.)

Sitting on a desk: This means you are someone’s assistant, not that you actually sit on a desk.

Reader: Someone hired by production companies, studios, or agencies to write coverage (see above).

Typical First Jobs in television and film production:

Actor’s Assistant
Agent’s Assistant
Casting Assistant
Costuming Assistant
Director’s Assistant
Post-production Assistant
Producer’s Assistant
Production Assistant (P.A.)
Publicist’s Assistant
Studio Executive’s Assistant
Writer’s Assistant