Second Assistant Directors gathered at the DGA’s Los Angeles Boardroom on April 20 as the AD/UPM Council West’s 2nd AD Committee held their seventh annual brunch. This year’s event was titled Reach for It: Grab the Next Level and featured a panel discussion about how members in this category can move up the ladder and what pitfalls to avoid.
Following a brunch/social mixer which opened the morning, Second AD Committee Co-Chairs Jennie O’Keefe and Marc Newland welcomed the attendees and spoke about the goals of the event. They introduced the panel of DGA members who had successfully made the transition from 2nd ADs to 1st ADs and UPMs which included 1st AD Daniella Eisman (Grey’s Anatomy, Medium, Big Time Rush), UPM Suzanne Geiger (Brothers & Sisters, GCB, Political Animals), 1st AD Kevin Koster (JAG, Drive, Private Practice), and UPM Jules Kovisars (The Slammin' Salmon, Men In Black: 2, The Fosters).
Newland served as moderator of the conversation which sought to answer questions such as: how they were able to position themselves for the next step; what were their biggest concerns before and after moving up; what types of obstacles did they face; what they would do differently overall if they were able to repeat their careers; and what aspects of the job of a 2nd AD helped in their current positions?
In addition to Co-Chairs O’Keefe and Newland, the Second AD Committee includes Katie Carroll, Paula Case, Christophe Le Chanu, Lisa Chu, Clark Credle, Peter Dress, John Elmore, Timothy Engle, Christina Fong, Craig Harris, Lance W. Lanfear, Staci Lamkin, Jaysene Overton, Ari Oyola, Brian O’Kelley, Shawn Pipkin, Carrie Rudolf, Brian Relyea, Paul Schneider, and Topher Wolfe.