If one hasn’t seen senior Charlotte Hughes’s IMDb profile yet, one might not know that she debuted as a production assistant (PA) last fall for The Jingle Dress (2014). The film premiered on April 5 at the St. Anthony Main Theater.

“It is a fictional narrative following a Native American family who moves from the reservation to the city,” Hughes said.

Hughes has a family friend who was a second assistant director for The Jingle Dress.

“When I learned about his job, I asked if he took any interns,” Hughes said. “He invited me to work a few days on set and it all kept going from there.”

Hughes took part in her second film, The Public Domain directed by Patrick Coyle, over spring break. The film depicts the 2007 35W bridge collapse, telling the story through fictional characters.

“I initially began on a whim. Making a movie sounds exciting and new (which it is), but I followed up on the second film offer because I truly loved my experience and the amazing connections I made,” Hughes said.

Her position rose due to her dedication, and she became the director’s assistant and key set PA for The Public Domain, leading the other PAs.

Last spring break, a typical shift for Hughes could last 10-14 hours, often overnight.

“Although I do get to work with amazing and inspiration local film professionals as well as phenomenal film actors, the job is not glamorous and requires a lot of hard work for long periods of time,” Hughes said.

“As a PA, you are constantly on your feet and doing everything you can to make sure production is running smoothly; PAs are essentially the oil that keeps film production going,” she said.

She did “any tasks that the crew and talent needed,” and also took on the role of an extra for The Public Domain.

Hughes hopes to continue grabbing opportunities to work on film sets and look more into film in college.

“Working on set taught me about film production, but it also opened my eyes about people’s careers in ‘the real world’ and how inspiration and hard work really can lead to success,” she said.

Read about Isabelle LaBlanc’s experience acting in the film here.