I think the first rite of passage for any Production Assistant or intern was getting a Thomas Guide.
I wonder how in the age of GPS how I ever got along without turn by turn navigation but I’m glad I had to plot out my route on the grids of the spiral bound map book.
There’s no better way to learn Los Angeles then running scripts and schedules and other paperwork across town like we did before email.
We’ll there was email but there weren’t really PDFs so everything was copied and distributed by hand, well actually by an office PA or intern.
There were a few pages that would eventually fall out and (like Hollywood and Burbank) and you could tell the veteran PAs by their beat up Thomas Guide — and when they were over the office PA/runner gig.
I’ll never forget when a fellow office PA burst into the office around six thirty at night after being on runs all day and exclaimed, ‘I should just send photocopies of pages out of the f’ing Thomas Guide instead of a resume for my next job!’
I don’t remember really reacting.
IYKYK