Ready when You Are, Mr. Coppola, Mr. Spielberg, Mr. Crowe

Once a year, the world gathers around their television sets and views that glorious tribute the film industy pays to itself. By the end of Oscar night, a handful of emotional writers and directors and stars have blinked back tears as they stared into the spotlight and thanked God, their parents, and even their make-up artist. Few ever think to acknowledge the individual who gasses up the engine of movie-making, partially because the job by nature is invisible. Even the job title is suspiciously low-key. But no movie has ever been made, or made well, without the character who toils just outside the spotlight. He arranged for the spotlight, hired the spotlight operator, and even made sure that it was trained correctly on the stars. At the end of the day, there would be no movie screens, no Oscar winners, no finished films, good or bad, without the Assistant Director.