Third Assistant Directors

Here is how this works in practice. We place third assistant directors who manage background artists and give hands-on AD-department support on shoots in the Czech Republic. Our 3rd ADs run extras check-in and holding, set up the flow of background through wardrobe and makeup, place extras on set, and process vouchers and forms. They also support set operations — talent movements, cast escort, lock-ups and traffic control — and act as a radio communication link across the production floor, reporting to the 2nd and 1st ADs.

Here is the short of it. Czech 3rd ADs work fluently in Czech and English, bridging a global AD teams and local background performers and crew, and they set up with set up Czech casting agencies in Prague and Brno. They work within the Czech Labour Code on hours and rest periods.

Here is the breakdown. Background running at scale is a defining feature of production in the Czech Republic. The country's 3rd ADs are skilled with it. Prague's intact period build style invites large crowd scenes — ballroom sequences, market streets, battle setups — and the city's deep extras pool, drawn from a country with a strong theatre and performance culture, needs skilled wrangling. Global shoots including 'Amadeus', 'The Brothers Grimm' and series such as 'The Musketeers', 'Knightfall' and 'Carnival Row' have all needed efficient background planning.

Here is what that looks like on the ground. Many Czech 3rd ADs start their AD careers on these shoots and progress through the department, often after training at FAMU, the Prague film school founded in 1946. For a production with major background needs, a Czech 3rd AD brings ordered, bilingual crowd running within a skilled crew base.