By By ERIN VER BERKMOES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - When the new season of Fox's hit show “24” premieres in January, Niles residents may see a familiar face on their television screens.
Former Niles resident Patrick Priest, a 1996 graduate of Niles High School and a 2004 graduate of Grand Valley State University, is a production assistant on the show's set and is filling in as an extra from time to time.
While attending Grand Valley, Priest took theater classes and was an assistant director on several student productions including “Flickering Blue,” which starred James Karen, a long-time Hollywood actor.
Currently, Priest is a key production assistant on the set of “24.”
Priest's hope is to be accepted into an assistant director's training program in Los Angeles. The program is very competitive, he said, only accepting 200 applicants out of the 4,000 to 5,000 who apply each year.
Priest said those accepted into the program are the “top guns of assistant directors” and find themselves on the “fast track into the industry.”
Priest's ultimate goal is to become a producer.
Priest said he really enjoys what he is currently doing on the set of “24” and said it is “great to be a part of something which so many people enjoy.
Priest was able to secure his job at “24” with hard work, he said. He moved to Los Angeles and began doing day work on different sets, one of which was “24.”
He was able to secure a job with the HBO show “Six Feet Under,” for the last five shows of the season. When the “Six Feet Under” season was completed, Priest said he went back to doing day work, which means he worked sporadically in different jobs on an on-call basis. One of those jobs included work on the set of “24,” and he was eventually offered a full-time position there.
Priest admitted moving to Los Angeles and getting into the entertainment business was difficult.
A typical day for Priest is 16 hours long and the shooting schedule is five days a week, depending on what types of scenes they are shooting.
Another thing Priest enjoys about living in Los Angeles is the frequency with which he runs into people “in the business.”