New York-based Julie Bloom says her favorite part of being a 1st AD is visiting places she’s never been.

As an AD in the busy production world of New York, no one gets more out of less than Doug Torres.

If there were an Ironman award for production professionals, Moore would have won hands down. His career began in 1916 as a child actor.

Richard Cowan, a film school dropout from Vancouver, Canada, says becoming a 1st AD by the tender age of 25 was a dream come true.

On the set of the recent USA Network miniseries, Political Animals, 1st AD Richard Coad's biggest challenge was uniting crews from a trio of production centers in the most diplomatic way.

1st AD Josh King, whose partial resume includes movies starring Mike Myers, Jim Carrey and Eddie Murphy, says running comedy sets is rarely all fun and games.

Some are born to it, and others just fall in. For 1st AD Justin Muller it was the former. His grandmother was one of the first women film editors in Italy and his grandfather was head of publicity for MGM Italia.

First Assistant Director Peter Kohn laughs when asked what it is with him and water. "I have spent a fair bit of time around islands," he admits.

One of Hollywood’s most sought after 1st ADs is Adam Somner, whose résumé before he even crossed the Atlantic included some of the most revered names in the British film industry.

Charles Washburn, would never have come to Hollywood if not for experiencing the same racial bias in Chicago that blacks in the industry had endured for so many years.

As one of the first female assistant directors in Hollywood, Daisy Gerber has been called a lot of things, but studio big shot was not among them.

Callow was among the original ADs to join the Guild in 1938 and became one of the savviest nuts and bolts production pros in the industry.

The first black member of the Screen Directors Guild and the second black stage manager to work in network television, Franklin was as determined as he was skilled.

With one letter of reference and a British taxi, Stacey arrived in LA from England and worked his way up to AD, a profession he chose because it paid $5 more per week than DP.

Starting out cleaning lights at Biograph Studios, Jacobson worked his way up to 1st AD with on-the-fly solutions like substituting iced tea for whiskey to keep W.C. Fields sober.

The first Mexican-American admitted to the Guild (in 1937), Day was known for his professionalism - so much so that C.B. DeMille told him he'd never do a picture without him.

A former theater stage manager in San Francisco, Koster - a 1st AD on Private Practice who spent time as 2nd AD on JAG - says the stage is Spanish and film is Portuguese.

After switching majors from engineering to film, this AD has fulfilled childhood dreams of chasing pirates and launching rockets.

A veteran of Six Feet Under and True Blood, this graduate of the DGA's Assistant Director Training Program jokes she's the go-to AD for shows about death, dying, or the undead.

Comparing his job to that of a flight attendant's, this 1st AD maintains that each film can make for a bumpy ride.

A veteran of Home Improvement and One Day at a Time, this 1st AD has had almost as many yucks behind the camera as when the red light went on.

As a 1st AD, Robinson sees his job as balancing the needs of the crew with the director, actors, and department heads and walk a political tightrope every single day.

Twohie, a Queens native (and Mets fan), has spent seven seasons - over 525 games - as an AD for the New York Yankee broadcasts in the Bronx.

Having spent the majority of her life on set, Blymyer finds herself now making the move from 2nd AD to 1st.

Working on tabletop food commercials and network dramas, Harris says he'd rather work with a group of infants over a tray of deli meats any day and that there's a right way to AD beer.

Known for his laid-back rapport with the crew, the Samoan-born Porter will still dash through burning buildings or wade through farm refuse to keep the production on track.

A former stockbroker at Merrill Lynch, Hausman calls himself a "repeat customer" for directors such as Milos Forman, Mike Nichols, Martin Scorsese, Ang Lee, and Sydney Pollack.

Choosing filmmaking over the family restaurant, this AD helped cement Chicago's straight-shooting image on-screen in films like Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Home Alone.

Though his shot precedes him, the longtime AD, UPM, and producer gets a kick out of how his name has become standard production slang.

Working as a messenger boy at Columbia in January 1936, McWhorter attended the DGA's first public meeting at the Hollywood Athletic Club.

After moving to LA after college (a trip given to her by her parents), Green enrolled in the DGA Training Program and began building her two decade career in television.

Like his boss, Scorsese's 1st AD is an avowed cinephile, mentally storing the images he comes across at MOMA, Film Forum and Lincoln Center for visual references later.