Summer Series 2023: Khaula Malik

Funding Source: Smart Family Funding

This summer I’m interning for Khaula Malik – a filmmaker and producer based in New York City. For the first two weeks of my internship, I was a Production Assistant (PA) on the set of Wire and Cloth – a short narrative film that Khaula is a producer for.

Prior to the four-day shoot, I accompanied the key crew in scouting one of the locations for the shoot. I had the chance to observe the planning process of orchestrating movements and shots and the refining of pre-existing schematics.

 

Though the PA position is a starting position on set, I found that it is also one of the most crucial. One of my key responsibilities was to manage the walkies on set at the top of the morning of the shoot, ensuring that everyone from the Assistant Director to the Lighting folks had a working walkie on them. Walkies are essential for the functioning of film crews, as they are used to quickly communicate and call for crew members needed at the moment, especially PAs.

 

As a PA, some of my responsibilities included giving out water bottles to cast and crew, guarding the entrances during takes, standing in for actors during camera rehearsals, holding the slate and marking the take during shoots, and blocking off the road during outdoor shoots. Although these tasks seemed very small scale at first, I grew to understand the significance of having PAs on a set. 

For the most part I was always on my feet and checking in with different departments, as well as with Khaula and the Assistant Director, Joe, to see if they needed my help with anything. I had the opportunity to assist the Set Design department in adding elements to the set rooms as well as resetting the room to how it was pre-shoot.

 

I was also charged with the responsibility of shooting behind the scenes film stills on my film camera for which I tactfully slithered around the set to capture moments of interactions between cast crew members, setup, and shooting.

I would also use free moments to sit in during takes at the video village – the area where some of the crew gathers around the monitor to watch the current shot. This was one of my favorite parts of being a PA, as it was very satisfying to see everything come together after all the diligent preparation and fervent anticipation of the scene. It was fascinating to see how the takes would vary depending on the creative decisions made by the director, cinematographer, and actors. 

 

In making my own short films in college, the largest crew I’ve had has been three people, including myself. I have enjoyed juggling the roles of director, cinematographer, lighting person, gaffer, sound mixer, and editor all at once during those productions. Being a part of the Wire and Cloth shoot allowed me to see what each role entails when it’s more individualized within a larger production.

It was important for me to take note of the roles as I am thinking about what career and specialization I would like to pursue within the world of filmmaking in the near future. I would advise those who are interested in learning more about that world to take upon an opportunity like being a PA. As a PA, you also have access to different people who are very willing to talk to you about their career and life paths and provide you with valuable advice.

 

Aside from the on-set production work I have done, I have also been doing research for Khaula. Currently, I am researching film festivals based in European countries that have been platforms for world wide premieres of documentary films that focus on a culture, community, and/or LGBTQ+ themes. The purpose of this research is to find film festivals that would be a suitable fit for the premiere of the documentary that Khaula is currently editing, which focuses on the daily lives of three trans women in Pakistan. Within this research, I have not only expanded my knowledge of film festivals in Europe, but also of the unique stories that have been told, especially those that indulge in the intersection of queer identities and culture. 

As someone who is very interested in using film as a medium to highlight underrepresented stories, I am continuously inspired by the ways that people engage with film and subvert traditional modes of storytelling. I have eagerly added many of the films I have stumbled upon in my research to my ever growing watchlist and marked down the titles and their directors in a separate document for my own thesis-related research.

 

I’m very grateful to have this opportunity to engage in this type of research and to have a part in developing the meaningful film projects that Khaula is entangled with. I would advise other students pursuing summer internship experiences, whether within the realm of film or outside it, to consider how the work challenges them as learners while also exploring and following up on the elements of that work that connect to their specific interests.