Second Assistant Directors

Here is how the work lines up. The 2nd assistant directors we work with in New York have come up through the DGA East AD ladder that has shaped NYC production since the days of the first Law & Order, Sex and the City and the Sopranos pickup units, with most having spent formative seasons on the long-running HBO and Showtime series, the Marvel and Sony features that have anchored Manhattan exteriors and the steady slate of A24, Killer Films and Plan B indies before crossing onto the Netflix and Apple TV+ originals that the New York State Film Tax Credit has pulled into Steiner, Silvercup, Kaufman Astoria and Broadway Stages.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. They build call sheets in English, manage cast and background flow from holding through wardrobe and makeup, set up transport with Teamsters Local 817 drivers between basecamp and set across Midtown lock-ups and the Brooklyn Bridge corridor, and keep the production forms flowing accurately so the 1st AD stays anchored on the shooting floor.

Here is how the picture comes together. Their working knowledge of DGA East 2nd AD provisions on hours, late hours, turnaround and meal penalties, SAG-AFTRA Local 1 talent rates, the NY State Department of Labor minor-on-set rules and the NYS child actors permit workflow means schedules they distribute are realistic and compliant from first day of principal photography.

Here is what we have to work with. On the ground, our 2nd ADs in New York handle daily prod reports, time cards, scene status sheets, cast and crew logs, and the administrative trail needed for Empire State Development PCN qualifying-spend records submitted at wrap.

Here is the layout. They have credits across Steiner's 30-plus stages including the new Hudson Yards stages, Silvercup's seven stages in Long Island City, Kaufman Astoria's nine stages and the Broadway Stages footprint across Greenpoint, Bushwick and Sunset Park, and they routinely set up large background calls through NYC extras agencies such as Central Casting NY, Grant Wilfley Casting and Sylvia Fay Casting for street scenes in SoHo, the Lower East Side, the Meatpacking District, DUMBO and Williamsburg, period work in Brooklyn Heights and the Greenwich Village historic district, and crowd shots across Times Square, the Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park.

Here is how the work shapes up. When shoots involve child actors, our 2nd ADs handle the NY State Department of Labor child actors permits, on-set studio teacher lineup needed by NYS rules, and the extra Parks Department and NYC Landmarks walkthroughs that heritage shoots in Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park and the Greenwich Village historic district routinely demand. We match 2nd ADs based on DGA East status, format, AD operation scale and prior NYC credits.