Interview With Brennan Parks

Brennan Parks: Short Film Director. Post Production Coordinator. Friend I roped into an interview.

I was really excited to interview Brennan because he just recently made the transition from being a Post Production Assistant on season 1 of HBO's "Hung", to being their Post Production Coordinator on season 2. For those of you who aren't sure what the difference is, a Post PA drives around town delivering important things on runs (i.e. sits in traffic dictating their next screenplay into their smart-phone), copies and distributes the dailies, and perhaps most importantly-- keeps everyone in the office fed and caffeinated. The Post Production Coordinator gets to tell the PA(s) what to do. Well, they also coordinate the logistics of the editorial office, such as scheduling ADR sessions, and spearhead the creation and distribution of deliverables, but I like to focus on the part where you get to boss people around. "How do you get to do that?" I wondered. Let's hear it from a man who knows.

CRC: Congratulations on your new job!

BP: Thank you very much!

CRC: Let's go back to the beginning. You came here from Chicago... You were working there?

BP: I was, I was in theater in Chicago.

CRC: What made you decide to move to Los Angeles and end up on the path that you're on?

BP: I wanted to direct film and TV, and there's not a lot of that in Chicago. I had lived in LA before and I sort of knew the lay of the land. I wanted to apply the skills I had been using and learning for theater in film and television.

CRC: Do you think that background has indeed helped you?


BP: I think so, I think I learned a lot of skills; certain types of leadership skills and work ethic for everything. Also, I'm older now so I've gained more perspective on things.

CRC: You recently made a short film. I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume you had limited resources. Can you tell me what some of your obstacles were and how you managed to overcome them?

BP: Limited money is always an obstacle-- I just had to keep pushing and keep asking for people and things.  The more people you know in more specialty fields, the better off you are.  I knew people in post-production, but as far as production/camera- we had to go out and meet and interview people - which was a bit scary diving in.
CRC: Getting promoted from a PA to a Post Coordinator is a big step and I'd like to hear your story about how you got there.

BP: About a year and a half ago I started temping at HBO and I happened upon the desk of the VP of post production for a few months because her usual assistant was on maternity leave. While I was at her desk I found out that I really like post production and so when that came to an end I had met various people who had worked on shows-- post producers. I met them for coffee, let them know I was available for work, and eventually I got a job half way through the season of In Treatment Season 2. A couple of the people I had met with had paid off because then when they were looking for a PA they gave me a call. And so from there when I was finishing [work on In Treatment], another person I had met with was looking for a PA mid-season on Hung Season 1. So I went over there and got that job, and then I continued with that producer. He gave my resume to the producer on Big Love and I did a full season of PA work on Big Love Season 4. When that came to an end, the associate producer I had worked with on Hung and Big Love was going on to be producer for Hung Season 2, and he asked me if I wanted to step up and be a Post Coordinator, and I said yes.

CRC: Full circle... I'm liking it. So the same people kept bringing you from one show to another to another.

BP: Yes, things just fell into place.

CRC: As someone who was just starting out in the industry, what do you think your best attribute was as far as work ethic?


BP: I was just willing to do what ever was asked of me on a moment's whim and not complain about it and not put up a fight. It's not like you should be willing to do absolutely anything that's degrading necessarily, but what ever it takes to get the job done, for the show to run as best as possible, you should try and fill in that gap.

CRC: Has anybody ever given you any advice in particular that you've taken and run with? Any tips a wiser, older person has bestowed upon you?

BP: Probably, but it's hard to say. It's an accumulation of things people have said and things I've worked out for myself I suppose. You don't know where you're going to get your breaks, so when you're presented with them sometimes you should go with them and see where they take you and don't rule out-- don't think you're not going to get somewhere you want to go just because this first step that's offered to you isn't exactly what you think it's going to be or exactly turn into the ultimate position you want. You never know how things will lead and if you just navigate yourself toward your goal no matter what you do you're going to get there. You can use what ever you get along the way to help you get there.

CRC: Anything you want to tell future generations of Steven Spielbergs and Kathryn Bigelows? Words of warning perhaps?

BP: Just keep at it.  Allow for periods of feeling like you're doing nothing-- but keep your eye on your goals.  Think of everything as steps toward your plan/goals.