On your first day of work on a film or TV production you’re presented with what’s known as a “Start Pack,” which contains all of the paperwork you need to complete to be hired on to the production. Most of it is stuff that anyone who’s worked anywhere will recognize – things like tax deduction claims, personal information, and such – and there will also be things like the official policy on harassment (they’re against it), workplace safety (they’re for it) and proof of residency for tax credit purposes (they want it).

One thing that has become part of the experience (or should I say “ordeal,” considering the amount of paperwork the typical start pack contains) in recent years is a non-disclosure agreement.

I’m used to seeing and filling out NDAs from my years working in software development, and their purpose here is no different; you’re expected to not publicly discuss or take/display pictures of anything you hear or see while working on the production, although those restrictions are usually relaxed once the show has aired or the movie has been released. They’re not kidding around, either – I worked on a show (no, I’m not gonna name it) where tales were told of one semi-regular background actor who was fired because he posted some set pictures onto his Facebook page, and the general consensus was that he’s probably going to have trouble getting work in the future because he violated his NDA.

That’s not to say that pictures don’t get taken – after all, it’s human nature to want to document things that you had a hand in creating – but those who do so are usually pretty discreet in how and when they take pictures, and they keep them to themselves or else only share them with a very close, trusted circle of friends.

As for me, I will happily discuss something I’ve worked on once it’s escaped into the wild but until then, the most you’ll get out of me is admission that I worked on PROJECT NAME and, maybe, a comment to the effect that I think people will like it when it comes out…if you want the REALLY juicy stories, you’ll need to buy me a drink or three after it’s gone public.

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