Acting as an assistant requires a close relationship with the boss. An assistant producer must communicate with the producer and carry out their requests. Because this relationship is so tight, when you apply for a new position, your assistant producer cover letter becomes very important.
A cover letter affords an applicant the opportunity to display personality and style along with credentials. The best application letters expand upon the biggest success touched upon in your resume.
It’s a good idea to develop your resume first (if you need assistance, we have a guide for you) since you will then be able to complement it with your production assistant cover letter. When you come to write your cover letter, it is worth looking at different sources of inspiration. Our cover letter examples library contains letters for hundreds of different roles.
This guide and the corresponding assistant producer cover letter will explain the following:
- What is the purpose of a cover letter?
- How to structure a cover letter and which paragraphs to include
- Getting the most out of each section (header, greeting, intro, body, and conclusion)
- What to highlight in the text of your cover letter
- Avoiding common errors when writing your cover letter.
What is the purpose of a cover letter?
The purpose of an application letter overall is to bolster your application by differentiating yourself from other candidates and creating a connection with a prospective employer. An assistant producer cover letter must exhibit confidence in your abilities, but also give the producer an idea of how you will collaborate.
The cover letter also serves to fill in some of the details of your career that you have only a phrase or two to explain in your resume. Perhaps you resolved a crisis that allowed the movie you were working on to continue shooting on schedule or identified a potential budget overrun before it happened. It is within your assistant producer application letter that you can detail exactly how you succeeded.
Your role also requires great attention to detail and calm under pressure. You may be required to juggle many responsibilities at once without dropping a single ball. Within your cover letter, you can give hiring personnel an idea of your style in handling the different aspects of your job.
A cover letter can also help explain a career change or a break from employment. Assistant producers may go from shoot to shoot with gaps in-between, which means you may not have to explain why you weren’t working, but if you were working in a complementary field, you can highlight what you learned from that experience in your letter.
Best format for an assistant producer cover letter
You work in an artistic field, but your position requires a lot of structure. So does your assistant producer cover letter. The creativity in your application comes from the content, not the format.
The format of a cover letter should contain the following elements:
- The cover letter header
- The greeting, AKA salutation
- The cover letter introduction
- The middle paragraphs or body of the letter
- The ending paragraph of your cover letter, which includes the conclusion and a call-to-action
Resume.io is an expert resource for job seekers in all fields and at all levels of their careers. For general information on putting together a cover letter, read our comprehensive cover letter guide or check out our collection of 180+ adaptable cover letter examples and writing guides!
This cover letter example will give you a blueprint for writing your own cover letter:
Dear Mr. Summers,
I would love to join your production team and feel that I may be a valuable member as you travel to the Antarctic and South America. I have worked as a senior script editor and assistant producer on fourteen nature documentaries for major streaming providers – always on location and always getting more involved than my job description requires.
My work has taken me to some of the most extreme locations on the planet, where alongside the normal producer duties I have carried out threat assessments and managed the health and safety of the production team. I thrive in an uncertain environment and would relish the chance to travel to Antarctica with you. My three months spent in the depths of the Siberian winter will certainly come in handy.
I am typically one of the quieter members of the production team – I prefer to add value once I see what is happening around me rather than jumping in with an opinion. My acute observation skills have saved lives on several occasions and my eye for a shot has produced scenes that have won awards across the globe. I have learned my videography and photography skills from some of the best in the business.
I enclose a highlights reel from some of the locations that you may be visiting. I would be delighted to have the opportunity of an interview to share some of my experiences.
Sincerely,
Rachel Wallace
Cover letter header
The header of your assistant producer cover letter carries great importance because it tells hiring personnel how to reach you to schedule your interview. Include your name, title, and best phone and email contact information. If relevant, include the city in which you live.
You’re in a visual field, so the design of your header also carries weight. Your first task is to ensure that all your contact details are legible. Allow yourself some leeway to create a memorable design that will stick in the recruiter’s memory.
Header information
You may also include any social media that you want your prospective employer to see, such as a LinkedIn or IMDB profile.
Resume.io’s online builder tool makes it simple for you to link to your portfolio from your application documents, so consider adding that link as well.
Cover letter greeting
In your industry, you may know the producer already, and that gives you a head start in getting the job. It also means that you can begin your assistant producer cover letter more casually than if you are applying for a job where you don’t know the boss.
You may start with “Dear [Mary Jo],” or something even more casual like “How are You, [Laurence],”. However, if the production is a more formal one or you don’t know the producer, you need to keep your greeting business-like. “Dear [last name]” works well.
Notice that we recommend using a name. “To Whom It May Concern” is old-fashioned and may leave a reader cold. Use your contacts to find out to whom you should address your letter. If you don’t have contact, IMDB is a good source for movie and television productions, or conduct some web research to get a name. It is always preferable to address a person individually, but if all else fails, you may begin with a greeting such as “Dear Production Team.”
The goal of the greeting: Use the correct tone and make a connection to the producer if possible.
Cover letter introduction
You’ve warmed up your audience and now you are ready to capture their attention in Act 1 of your assistant producer cover letter before they lose interest. You need a sentence or two that describes your career and leaves them wanting more.
One method to decide what to lead off with is to review your resume. It’s likely there was at least one accomplishment you did not have the room to elaborate on but that you are proud of. This should be your introduction. Consider the tone you will use. You don’t want to brag, but you do want to tout your success. After all, if you aren’t confident in your abilities, why would a producer be?
Finally, keep in mind your message. It is not “Please hire me,” but rather “Here is what I can do to make your job as producer easier.”
The goal of the introduction: Entice them to read on by explaining what you will bring to the production and leave them wanting more.
Below are the greeting and introduction from our cover letter sample.
Dear Mr. Summers,
I would love to join your production team and feel that I may be a valuable member as you travel to the Antarctic and South America. I have worked as a senior script editor and assistant producer on fourteen nature documentaries for major streaming providers – always on location and always getting more involved than my job description requires.
Cover letter middle part (body)
You’ve reached the bulk of your assistant producer cover letter. Maintaining your professional tone, you strengthen the assertion you made in the first paragraph. “I said I could make your job easier, and here are examples of how I have already done that for others” is your message here.
Use descriptive language to illustrate your working style within these two or three paragraphs. Since you will be someone’s assistant, they will want to know whether your habits and methods mesh with theirs. Consider all the aspects of your work, such as budgeting, time management, acting as a crew supervisor, reviewing scripts, etc., and provide examples for the ones that each producer seeks. (Of course, this means that you will be reworking your cover letter each time you apply to a new role.)
To maximize space and break up large blocks of type, use a bulleted list to highlight aspects of your career that don’t need extra explanation.
Use your friends and colleagues
If you are struggling to describe yourself and your work style, or you are excessively modest about your achievements, friends or colleagues can help.
Ask what memories they have from working with you. Or try the old chestnut, “What three words would you use to describe me?” You may be surprised at how positively others view you and your professional excellence.
The aim of the body of your application letter: Highlight your greatest achievements and offer evidence to back up the claims you made in your introduction.
Below is the middle part of our cover letter sample.
My work has taken me to some of the most extreme locations on the planet, where alongside the normal producer duties I have carried out threat assessments and managed the health and safety of the production team. I thrive in an uncertain environment and would relish the chance to travel to Antarctica with you. My three months spent in the depths of the Siberian winter will certainly come in handy.
I am typically one of the quieter members of the production team – I prefer to add value once I see what is happening around me rather than jumping in with an opinion. My acute observation skills have saved lives on several occasions and my eye for a shot has produced scenes that have won awards across the globe. I have learned my videography and photography skills from some of the best in the business.
How to close an assistant producer cover letter (conclusion and sign-off)
The conclusion of your assistant producer cover letter serves several purposes:
- Reiterate your main message in different words
- Add a detail or anecdote that shows off your personality and makes a connection to the hiring personnel
- Politely request an interview (call to action).
Perhaps you want to discuss why you got into the business and especially this aspect of it. You may let the producer know that you have worked with some members of the team before, or you can explain why this particular production speaks to you.
Finally, make sure the producer knows you are available and would like an interview. Then, sign off with “Sincerely,” or “Regards,” and your name.
The goal of the conclusion: Remind the producer of your qualifications and request an interview.
See our assistant producer cover letter sample for a suggestion:
I enclose a highlights reel from some of the locations that you may be visiting. I would be delighted to have the opportunity of an interview to share some of my experiences.
Sincerely,
Rachel Wallace
Basic mistakes in an assistant producer application letter and how to avoid them
You’ve written a compelling letter, so it would be a shame to be thwarted by a simple error. Below are basic mistakes that occur in an assistant producer application letter you can look for and correct before you hit the send button:
- Keep a constant tone and err on the side of professionalism: Make sure you understand your audience. Keep your tone professional unless you know for a fact that the production is very casual.
- Avoid generic letters: Each set is different and each cover letter should reflect that. Target your audience by understanding their needs and choosing examples from your career that best indicate your expertise in those areas.
- Spelling and grammar count: Your job requires great attention to detail, therefore, it is likely that errors in detail within your letter may doom your chances of getting the position. Use spell check, or a grammar tool such as Grammarly, and have a trusted friend proofread your letter.
- Looks count: Align your paragraphs and keep your header legible, neat, and coordinates with your resume. This speaks to attention to detail.
Key takeaways
- A position as an assistant requires a collaborative relationship with the producer, so highlight your personality in your cover letter.
- Adopt the appropriate tone.
- Mention people you know who are already working on the production to make a personal connection.
- Request an interview, but avoid presumptions such as, “When we meet to discuss the position.”
Resume.io’s tools and resources ease the task of developing an outstanding cover letter. Using the hints from this guide, you may simply click on one of our ready-made and market-researched cover letter templates and start writing.
If you seek more cover letter examples before you begin compiling your own, you can start here:
