BUTTE — Highlands College will soon offer a production set training course that can help you get your foot in the door to work on productions like the 1923 series being filmed in Butte.
Rachel Boothe of Butte wanted to be a part of last year’s production and then heard about the production assistant course at Highlands College.
“And I’m like, ‘oh! oh! oh! I have to get on this. I have to get my foot in the door any way I can and I have to do this,’” said Boothe
The two-day course sponsored by the Media Training Center gives intensive training on what it takes to be a production assistant on a film set.
“A production assistant does everything from help move equipment to help talent get to the right location. They really are the backbone of the production and it’s great because anyone can do this position,” said Project Coordinator Lynn-Wood Fields.
Dozens of people have already gone through earlier courses. Rob Cox, who works as a location assistant on 1923, said people who get this kind of training are whom production crews are looking for.
“Production people in general expect you to know your job when you get hired, they’re not there to train you and so knowing those little things, you know, just kind of knowing ins-and-outs of how to function on a set without getting in trouble is really important,” said Cox.
Butte is expecting to bring more productions in the future, so having a trained workforce will be beneficial. For Boothe, her experience with 1923 has been positive.
“I’ve loved every minute of it, I’m still pinching myself. Sitting next to Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford and Timothy Dalton and Jerome Flynn and watching these guys act every day. Wow, you learn so much,” said Boothe.
The next course is on Feb. 25 and 26 at Highlands College. You can sign up at the Media Training Center website.