A Day In The Life - Katie Lovejoy, Producers' Assistant

The next installment in the our sorta monthly feature "A Day in the Life" features our lovely assistant, Katie Lovejoy. And yes, that is her real name.

A Day in the Life by Katie Lovejoy

6:00 am: The worst ringtone I have on my blackberry screams at my sleeping face, and I roll over and glare at the time. I proceed to think seriously about going for a half-hour jog, but decide instead that, because it’s so early in the week, I need to get my rest. I guiltily reset my alarm. 6:30 am: I drag myself out of bed (I’m not a morning person) and plod towards the bathroom, beating myself up for not going on that jog.

7:30 am: After making a steaming cup of green tea and snagging a banana, I squeeze into my car, wondering why I ever thought it would be a good idea to own a coupe.

8:00 am: I arrive at Ralphs, where I commence the weekly office grocery shopping. There’s nothing that says TV Writers’ Room like loading your cart up with enough sodas to quench the thirst of a small army and enough chocolate to fuel a rocket. But don’t worry. I buy fruits and vegetables to supplement our sugar.

8:30 am: I proceed to checkout while twenty other morning shoppers grumble about how long I’m taking at the counter. I attempt a joke to ease the tension, but neither the elderly man trying to buy a carton of milk nor the sick college kid holding a bottle of NyQuil are particularly amused.

9:15 am: Ed (our Writers’ Assistant) and I go over the schedule for the day as we walk to Starbucks – Producers’ meeting at lunch, a casting session across the lot, a set design call with Vancouver, and a notes call from the Studio and Network (schedule subject to alteration).

9:30 am: I hunker down at my desk as the phones start ringing. Todd, who is en route to Vancouver to oversee episode 401's prep, calls and asks what’s on his schedule for the day. Jaime, who is working on a script polish from home, phones in to see if I can conference him to Bruce, who is currently reading the latest draft of a different episode at Starbucks. One of the main responsibilities that comes with this job is being the center of all internal communication, so knowing who is where and what is happening at all times is absolutely crucial. It's the only time being a know-it-all is actually a valuable commodity.

9:45 am: John (our Script Coordinator) gives me the latest episode draft that was distributed to the Studio and Network the night before, and I copy and collate scripts. Well, okay. I have our interns copy and collate the scripts. But I oversee.

9:50 am: Paper jam. I engage in an epic battle with the Xerox Machine.

10:00 am: The writers start in the room and all is quiet on the Western Front. I update the calendar and write my to-do list for the day – FedEx DVDs to Vancouver, get an episode outline to our post supervisor, order office supplies (especially the index cards and sharpies that are the life force of the writers’ room), get Sunset Gower facilities to figure out why it’s, twenty degrees in our offices, etc. The most important thing I learned after working this job for a while? Resistance is futile: you will NEVER outrun your to-do list.

10:30 am: Update calendars with confirmed meetings, including the master calendar on the white board in my office. Naturally these meetings will get canceled, rescheduled, canceled, and rescheduled again – so needless to say, the calendars and I hang out a lot.

11:00 am: Approach writers about where they’d like to order lunch today and circulate the coinciding lunch menu. After everyone has indicated their order, I have one of our lovely interns fax that baby over to the restaurant.

11:20 am: The Production Office in Vancouver calls about scheduling conference calls later that afternoon. (Like I said, schedule subject to alteration.)

12:00 pm: Lunch arrives and the interns and I organize the meals. I contemplate how much the delivery guy must hate me for making him stand there and wait for us to go through every single box and make sure each order is correct before letting him leave the premises.

12:30 pm: Our weekly internal Producers’ Meeting starts as Bruce goes around the room, asking each writer how their episode is coming. Then, we go through, one-by-one, and report on our various areas of responsibility. I take notes during this shindig, because if the producers say they want to set a meeting or schedule a call, I’m the one who makes it happen.

1:00 pm: We take a short break. The interns and I talk shop while we tidy up the kitchen, and then I clear my head. Sometimes I talk a walk to get a change of scenery and some fresh air. Other times, I’ll play a round of Left4Dead with Ed and John. Nothing says relaxation like killing some zombies.

1:30 pm: I reach out to the assistants at the Studio and Network to schedule some meetings and conference calls.

2:00 pm: Conference call with Vancouver regarding set design. My duties on such a call include dialing in to the telephone conference center, making sure the other parties are on the line, and then grabbing the producers to jump on the call. (My biggest fear in the world? Forgetting to MUTE my phone while I monitor the conference.)

3:00 pm: FedEx DVDs to Canada. I still struggle to fill out that International Waybill.

3:30 pm: I leave the FedEx in the drop box on the lot and pick up mail from the Sunset Gower mailroom. I use this as an excuse to climb the five flights of stairs back up to the office, which I’m hoping will help get rid of that guilt I’m still feeling over not jogging in the morning.

4:00 pm: Accounting sends me the weekly Corporate Purchasing Card (P-Card) report and I organize all the receipts from the previous week. Every time I order anything for the office, I need a complete itemized receipt. I tape this receipt to a clean sheet of white paper and, each week, organize these receipts in chronological order to accompany the P-Card report. This standard protocol is designed to make sure all purchases are actually for the use of the show… and not so that I can finally buy that awesome Mario Brothers chessboard on Thinkgeek.com.

4:35 pm: Visit my favorite website. Staples.com.

5:00 pm: As I bug the assistants at the Studio about various and sundry projects, I remind myself of the P.A. adage “Call early, call often.” And then I decide that this is simply a nice way of saying, “Be annoying.”

5:30 pm: I check in with John to see if he needs help with anything as he reads over the latest episode outline before sending it to the Studio and Network. If he says no, I use this time as an opportunity to read the outline myself. There’s nothing more exciting or informative than reading each draft of the outlines and scripts for each episode. It’s amazing how much things change.

6:00 pm: The interns finish cleaning up the kitchen and make sure drive-ons are ready for any guests visiting the office the next day. This is usually the time that I prep a nightly email that I send to the entire staff with the following day’s schedule.

7:00 pm: The room breaks and Ed, John, and I reconvene. We discuss what’s on the docket for the next day and how things went for each of us in our various areas of responsibility. Because we spend so much time together, it’s important that the three of us not only get along and like each other, but support each other as much as we can. As Ed likes to say… he sees us more than his own wife.

8:00 pm: I arrive at home and eat some dinner. As I dig into my own writing for the rest of the evening, I’m reminded that, while sometimes exhausting, this job is a unique and incredible position. I’m not only learning by example, but I get to work in the exciting and creative environment that is the writers’ inner sanctum. And there’s no better place to be than that.