Have you ever wondered how many people it takes to make a 30-second commercial? On average: 200+ people.
Every frame you see, every pause, from the lighting cue to every camera move is the result of a deeply collaborative system. Film, advertising, and all visual storytelling are never the work of one mind. Yet somehow, we still talk about them that way. When it comes to appreciation, we always applaud directors,but almost never do we talk about the people who actually keep the set alive.
The Assistant Directors.
No set runs without them. No Directors vision comes to life without them.
They are not assistants.
They are showrunners.
Our industry isn’t small anymore but the number of truly dedicated Assistant Directors, the ones who understand what the job actually is, remains painfully few. Anyone can be an AD. Not everyone can be a showrunner. Because a showrunner doesn’t control a set with volume.They control it with awareness.
As a producer, I’ve had my fair share of bad experiences with Assistant Directors, especially the ones who believe authority comes from shouting the loudest. Screaming to get a point across. Turning urgency into aggression, and blame games but here’s the truth no one likes to say out loud:That this quality is the biggest red flag on a set.
Anyone who truly understands the difference between a good AD and a bad one knows this, panic travels faster than clarity. Noise kills intention. And the loudest person in the room is usually compensating for a lack of control.
The best ADs don’t dominate a set.
They hold it, together.
They read energy.
They anticipate collapse before it happens.
They absorb pressure so it doesn’t show in the work.
This piece is about those people.
Below, 3 directors, Ali jaura, Mehreen Jabbar, Ali raza and I write about the Assistant Directors who make their work possible. Not as job titles but as humans who run the show when no one’s watching.
TAIMOOR KHAN
Written by Ali Raza
As I reflect on my journey, I took the route of an Assistant Director, and today I am directing ads and that path shaped me, hardened me, taught me how sets actually survive. As I was someone’s special AD back in the days, my special one is Taimoor.
Because when you’ve been an AD yourself, you don’t judge people by how loudly they run a set. You judge them by how quietly they prevent disasters.
Taimoor understands that the real job isn’t the call sheet or the stopwatch it’s holding the day together. He reads the room better than most people read scripts. He knows when a director needs shielding, when a crew member needs reassurance, and when the set needs firm direction without drama attached to it.
What sets him apart is that he never treats chaos as a personal failure. He treats it as part of the process. Delays don’t shake him. Pressure doesn’t inflate him. He stays grounded, present, and alert and that steadiness travels across the set faster than panic ever could.
As a director, you’re constantly balancing creative intention with brutal reality. Taimoor makes that balance possible. He filters noise. He anticipates friction. He gives you room to think while making sure the floor keeps moving. You don’t feel managed around him you feel supported.
He’s firm without being cruel. Clear without being arrogant. Efficient without stripping the soul out of the work. People respect him not because they’re scared of him, but because they trust him.
That’s the difference between an Assistant Director and a showrunner.
Taimoor doesn’t chase credit. He chases continuity of energy, of discipline, of intent. And when he’s on set, the work feels lighter, smoother, more human.
Every industry runs on invisible pillars.
Taimoor is one of ours.
UBAID TEMURI AND MONIS NAVAID
Written by Ali Jaura
Monis Navaid and Ubaid Temuri were my juniors back in university. They showed up on my very first project in 2018, just a messy student film, and somehow they never left. Eight years later we’ve done every commercial and short film together. I’ve seen them turn into the best ADs I know, but really they’re the heart of everything I make.
What always gets me is how well they get me. I’ll say something half-baked, just a feeling or a picture in my head, and both of them understand right away. Monis feels the emotion in my voice with that quick sharp energy of his. Ubaid catches the stuff I don’t even say, with his fast wit and that naughty sparkle in his eye. They hear my words before I finish them. They see the whole thing the second it pops into my mind. It’s like they’re already inside the story with me.
And then they give it everything. I’ve watched them stay way past wrap, fight through tired days, refuse to quit until a scene feels alive. Monis brings this fire that spreads to everyone. When I start doubting myself he lifts the whole set and keeps us moving.
Ubaid is the funny one who won’t let the energy drop. On the longest hardest shoots he’ll crack a perfect joke or start some silly bit that pulls everyone back in. His laugh is catching. He keeps us awake and smiling even when we’re dead on our feet.
Together they don’t just help. They run the show. They hold the soul of the story when I’m too deep in it to see straight.
We’ve made work that won awards and went to festivals and meant something to people. But honestly every single frame has their love in it as much as mine. In a job that can feel lonely when you’re the one in charge, they make me feel like we’re still those university kids chasing the same dream. And now we actually grab it, together.
This is my love letter to them.
Thank you for knowing what I mean before I do. Thank you for giving your whole hearts to turn my messy ideas into something real. And thank you for quietly running everything so I can keep dreaming.
FARIHA AFZAL
Written by Mehreen jabbar
People often ask what an assistant director actually does. A great AD isn’t an “assistant” in the small sense; they’re the engine of the day. They take a script and turn it into something shootable: who we need, what we need, how we’ll get it done, and how we’ll still be standing when the shoot ends for the day.
On set, they manage time, keep departments in sync, and protect the director’s headspace so you can stay with the actors and the story.
On Pakistani TV serial sets, where time is always tight and chaos is seconds or minutes away, that role becomes everything. A strong AD is the difference between a day that accomplishes what’s required and a day that falls apart.
For me, over the last eight years, that person has been Fariha Afzal. I first worked with her when she joined my set as a second AD on a couple of telefilms, followed shortly by a long serial. From the start, she had this rare mix: obsessive attention to detail, real stamina, and a problem-solver’s temperament: she fixes first, talks later.
Since then, she’s been my right hand across short films, telefilms, TV series, web series, and hopefully a feature film (soon)! When things go sideways (weather, budgets, personalities, production hiccups), Fariha doesn’t add to the noise. She quietly minimizes the damage, finds solutions, and keeps the chaos away from the frame. And that gift, keeping a set humane while still maintaining discipline is not common.
She’s also carved out deep respect in a male-heavy environment, not by forcing it, but by earning it daily…firm, fair, and genuinely caring. I’ve watched how she looks after people: the spot boy, the light crew, the make-up artist, the actors…everyone feels seen.
When she’s on set, half my stress is gone. And somewhere between call sheets and crises, she’s become a good friend, bonded over horror and zombie films, and my running joke that I should “let her go” already.
The truth is, I feel proud watching how far she’s come, and I can’t wait to see what she does as she directs more of her own stories. I know she’ll continue to create magic there as well.
MOIZ ZAIDI
Written by Shahrain Shah
Its was 5am in the morning, my second ever commercial as an associate producer and I came on set already dreading the day, because it was my first one with Ahsan Bhai as a director and I had no idea how my day would unfold as a new commer working with the pioneer’s of commercial making but then I saw moiz, with my very low energy, midway sleepy eyes. He was glowing, cracking jokes while asking for call time’s, I wondered, It was just 5 am, how could he but then by the end of the day I knew why. Its because moiz has this innate ability to make everything around him look so easy that his energy becomes contagious. He is never in a hurry, while someone would assume so when you are an AD of one of the biggest directors this country has. Even when people lost their temper on set and would only speak one lamguage which is sarcasm, moiz always talked to you with a cheeky smile, that conveyed “ don’t stress, I got it” , he never lets anyone’s shortcomings reach to the director, he always went to him with solutions, and always came back with them too. Moiz has the true sipirit of a collaborator.
I have never seen an AD so in sync with his director, he understands what Ahsan bhai wants and what he wouldn’t. Moiz is always on his toes, but so effortlessly that you’d want to ask him what did he drink in the morning. In these 2.5 years I have worked with moiz the most and not once have I seen him loose his temper and control and that says a lot about him.
He is effortlessly aware of his surrounding, keeps the chaos of the set away from the director and the film. He manages every single person on set so well, is grounded in his attitude towards his work.
It has been a priviledge working with him, cant wait to see him take on his directorial projects with the same grace and attitude.
Written by : Shahrain Shah
Contributors: Ali Jaura, Mehreen Jabbar, Ali Raza