Shannon Oliveria learns how to use a walkie talkie while training to become a Production Assistant

NEW YORK, NY June 11, 2008 —A Brooklyn-based job program is trying to get minorities into the film industry by training them to be Production Assistants on everything from commercials, to reality shows to big budget films. The work is supposed to help people with limited schooling and a lack of connections get their foot in the door. WNYC’s Cindy Rodriguez looks at how it’s working so far.

REPORTER: On a recent rainy Friday afternoon, inside the offices of Brooklyn Workforce Innovations, a small graduation ceremony was held for about eight men and women. Each one walked up a paper red carpet with cardboard gold stars to receive certificates for completing a Production Assistant training program.

Julianne Cho, an official at the Mayor’s Office of Film spoke at the casual ceremony and told the small group that the agency’s main goal is not only to bring in more production crews but to make sure those crews are diverse:

CHO: We are working toward the goal of looking at a film set and seeing that the set looks just like all of the faces you see streaming by you when you walk down a new york city street.

REPORTER: The city provides the program with free advertising at bus stops, and probably most importantly recommends the program as a recruiting ground for production companies with jobs to fill. The program includes one month of class room instruction followed by two years of working out in the field. Graduate Shannon Oliveria had been struggling to find work but that recently changed:

OLIVERIA: Actually yes, through the program I’ve been working…I gotta work tomorrow..the taking of Pelham 123, the new Denzel movie, I work on that tomorrow. I did a commercial day before yesterday, some type of Kanye West commercial.

REPORTER: Oliveria says most of what he does is crowd control but he also picks up props, locks up studios and says he even did a little stand in work for Kanye West. Before the program, the 37 year old says he tried other types of work such as asbestos removal and waste management but was never satisfied. He was also in the military for four years. His mother, Olivia Frazier attended his graduation and said she believes her son found his niche:

FRAZIER: He found it I was so surprised and so happy I was like oh thank you.

REPORTER: And Oliveria does seem taken by the possibilities of his new job and un-phased by the odd hours. Tomorrow’s work day would start at 3am:

OLIVERIA: Yes, I love it cuz the payoff is tremendous in other ways and I mean we’re going to be underneath the Manhattan Bridge I don’t know if they’re going to drive off the bridge, blow something up. I mean it’s beautiful. I can’t wait to be there to see what they do.

REPORTER: Since it started a little over two years ago, 124 people have graduated from the program. According to Brooklyn Workforce Innovations, more than half are black, a third are latino, and their average age is 27. Katy Finch is the program’s director:

FINCH: For the most part we are taking people who are unemployed or who have minimal employment, they are working part time or they are working at minimum wage.

REPORTER: Finch says she started working in the film industry in the early 90’s and since then has done everything from special effects makeup artist to editing documentaries. She was also a Production Assistant and says most of the people she worked with were just like her:

FINCH: A lot of them did go to film schools specifically they went to NYU, or USC or Columbia and those who didn’t were usually related to somebody.

REPORTER: Finch says the goal of her program is to create the same type of networks that exist for those who have a higher education or the right connections. And she says so far there are signs that it’s working.

WILSON: I keep a list of names of people who I graduated with….

REPORTER: Tsahai Wilson is an office production assistant for a company that specializes in reality TV shows. She was one of the first to graduate from the program about two years ago.

WILSON: If I hear about something and I’m currently at a job and can’t accept it then I definitely pull from that list of names.

REPORTER: According to program statistics 80 percent of all graduates remain employed. Wilson says except for the period during the writer’s strike she has kept regular work. Her first job was on Law and Order, Criminal Intent. She also worked one summer on independent films and takes pride in being able to make odd requests happen quickly such as finding a horse and carriage driver for a movie called See You in September. First she went to Central Park and photographed them all:

WILSON: And then I created a slideshow back at the office so they could choose which one. Then I had to go back and tell the guy that we wanted…I had to get a permit from the city to be able to have the horse in the heat at a certain time but I really know Steve Malone, carriage driver at Central Park very well now.

REPORTER: Wilson also takes pride in finding a mock Grammy within minutes for Kathy Griffin, the prop is currently on the cover of a new CD. The 28 year old did not want to discuss how much she gets paid for being so resourceful. Katie Finch says usually production assistants start off at 25 to $30,000 a year. The hope is that in time the graduates will rise to the more lucrative positions. Wilson says she hopes to be a Producer some day.

For wnyc, I’m Cindy Rodriguez