Careers A–Z · Assistant directing
1st AD
The 1st AD runs the floor and owns the schedule. The director decides what to shoot; you decide the order it can be shot in and drive the day that delivers it.
You are also, in practice, the person responsible for the safety and the temper of the set.
The basics
Also known as, and where the grade sits.
| 1st AD | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | 1st AD, first assistant director. Not a route to directing, despite the name. |
| Level | Head of the assistant directing department. |
| Reports to | The director and the line producer. |
| Comes after | 2nd AD, or 1st-ing on smaller jobs. |
| Leads to | Production manager, line producer, or 1st-ing larger shows. |
The job
What does a 1st AD do?
In prep you break down the script, build the shooting schedule against locations, cast availability, daylight and the budget, and keep rebuilding it as reality intervenes.
On the day you call the set, run rehearsals, keep every department informed, protect the director’s time and chase the day back when it slips. You call the safety brief and you stop the set when something is wrong.
The unglamorous end: you are the person holding the pressure for everybody else. You deliver bad news all day, you are first in and rarely first out, and being liked is not part of the job description.
The requirement
What is a 1st AD good at?
Planning, nerve and the ability to keep a hundred people moving in one direction.
Scheduling
A day that is achievable, and a plan B already in your head.
Communication
Everybody knows what is happening next, before it happens.
Safety leadership
Briefings, stunts, weather, water, and the authority to stop.
Reading a room
Knowing when to push the director and when to hold the floor quiet.
Stamina
Twelve hours of decisions without the tone slipping.
Kit
Tools of the trade.
| What | The actual items |
|---|---|
| Scheduling software | Movie Magic Scheduling or Yamdu, and a script breakdown that other people can read. |
| Documents | Shooting schedule, one-liner, day out of days, call sheets, risk assessments, safety briefs. |
| Radio | The channel everyone else is listening to, and the discipline that keeps it useful. |
| Recce material | Floor plans, location photographs, sun paths and tide tables where they matter. |
| Contingency | Cover sets, weather cover, and the alternative running order you built at breakfast. |
The unit
Who does a 1st AD work with?
| Who | What passes between you |
|---|---|
| Director | Coverage, time and the shots that matter most. |
| Line producer | Days, overtime, cost and what the schedule can carry. |
| Every head of department | Timings, readiness and what each one needs to be told first. |
| 2nd and 3rd ADs | Cast, background and the floor. |
| Safety and stunts | Briefings, rehearsals and sign-off. |
Routes in
How do I become a 1st AD?
A grade reached through the AD department, with almost no shortcuts.
Commercials and promos
Where most 1st ADs did their first days in the chair.
Shorts and low budget
Paid shorts and indie features are real 1st AD experience.
A degree is not required and confers no advantage on the floor. Safety training, first aid and a scheduling package you can drive are worth far more.
You are hired on the last show you ran and who will vouch for how it went.
Nearby
The grades either side of this one.
The 1st AD stands between the office and the floor. Read both sides.
Production department guide
The paperwork, the office, the published rates and the free route through all three.
Never been on a set? Start here. Offered a first day? Read this first. Want to know where this grade leads? Where people have gone names people who trained here and the productions they went to.
