Grab the free call sheet template before you start. It downloads as XLSX, CSV, or PDF with every section below laid out and a sample day filled in. This post covers the part a template can't do for you: where each number comes from, the order to fill the sections in, and the checks that stop a bad sheet from reaching 60 inboxes at 9:00 PM.
On a union show the 2nd AD builds the call sheet. On a small indie it might be the 1st AD, the producer, or a coordinator doing it at the kitchen table. The process is the same either way. If you want the reader's view first, how to read a film call sheet walks a finished sheet from the crew side.
Gather these before you open the template
A call sheet copies information from other paperwork. If those documents are out of date, the sheet will be too. Have these open:
- The current shooting schedule or one-liner, for tomorrow's scenes in order.
- The day out of days, for each actor's status code.
- Today's progress from the set: which scenes finished, which carried over, and when the company wrapped.
- The crew list with phone numbers and any department pre-calls.
- The location sheet: addresses, parking plan, base camp, and restrictions from the location agreement.
- Department notes collected during the day (the prop master's reminder about the hero knife, wardrobe's note about a costume change).
Start drafting in the afternoon from the schedule, then update it once you know whether the company made its day. Carried-over scenes go at the top of tomorrow's list, or wherever the 1st AD wants them.
The header: day count, calls, meals, wrap
Fill in the production title, the date with the day of the week spelled out, and the day count ("Shoot day 9 of 18"). The day count is the fastest way for someone to notice they opened the wrong sheet.
Then the times:
| Field | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Crew call | Set by the 1st AD and UPM, usually from the last day's wrap time plus the rest period your agreements require |
| Shooting call | Crew call plus the time needed to block, light, and prep the first setup |
| Breakfast | Before crew call if catering serves it, with its end time |
| Lunch | Timed so the meal break falls inside the window your union or crew agreements allow |
| Estimated wrap | The 1st AD's estimate from the scene list |
Check the crew call against yesterday's wrap every day. The rest period between wrap and the next call depends on the agreement each person works under, and cast and crew rules differ. The turnaround rules comparison and meal penalties guide cover the contract side. The how to set call times guide goes deeper on the scheduling side.
Safety and locations
List the nearest emergency room with its address and phone number. Look it up yourself instead of trusting the location scout's note from six weeks ago, and pick a hospital with a 24-hour emergency department. On a company move day, list a hospital for each set unless someone has checked that one ER is close to both. Add the set medic, if you have one, and any safety notes from the 1st AD: stunts, weapons, water work, a drone flight, work at height.
For each set, give the location name, full street address, and cross street. Then parking (where crew parks, where cast parks, shuttle times), base camp, holding for background, and a map on the back page if the route isn't obvious. Copy restrictions from the location agreement word for word: "No crew in the upstairs rooms," "Trucks off Front St. by 8:00 PM."
Put the weather forecast and sunrise and sunset times here, too. A National Weather Service point forecast and the NOAA solar calculator give you both for the exact address. For an exterior day, note the cover set and what departments need to prep for it.
Scenes in shooting order
Copy tomorrow's scenes from the schedule in the order the 1st AD plans to shoot them, with scene number, set, D/N, script day, a one-line description, cast numbers, and pages. Put the company move on its own row between sets. Add up the pages and put the total at the bottom.
A worked total from a sample day:
| Sc. | Pages |
|---|---|
| 23 | 2 3/8 |
| 24 | 5/8 |
| 41 | 1 1/8 |
| 12 | 1 4/8 |
2 3/8 + 5/8 = 3. 3 + 1 1/8 = 4 1/8. 4 1/8 + 1 4/8 = 5 5/8 pages. If your sheet's total differs from the sum of the rows, a scene was dropped or a page count was typed wrong. The page count guide covers how eighths are measured.
Cast: status codes and calls worked backward
Each working actor gets a row with character number, character name, performer name, status code, and three times: pickup, report to hair and makeup, and on set. Actors on hold get a row too, with H and no times.
Take status codes straight from the day out of days (SW, W, WF, SWF, H, T, R) and check that they agree. Payroll and the production report rely on them, and a mismatch usually means the schedule changed and the DOOD wasn't updated.
Build the times backward from when the actor needs to be on set. Ask the hair, makeup, and wardrobe heads how long each actor takes; don't guess. Here's the arithmetic for a lead with a 25 minute drive:
| Step | Time |
|---|---|
| On set, ready to rehearse | 8:00 AM |
| Wardrobe (15 min) | 7:45 AM |
| Hair (30 min) | 7:15 AM |
| Makeup (45 min) | 6:30 AM report |
| Drive from hotel (25 min) | 6:05 AM pickup |
Stagger actors so the makeup trailer isn't asked to do three people in the same chair at 6:30 AM. Actors who only work after a company move can be listed with a later report time, or with W/N (will notify) if the 1st AD isn't sure when they'll be needed.
Background, stand-ins, and crew calls
Give background actors a count per scene, a report time, and a report place (holding is often not the set), plus wardrobe instructions: "Fall casual, no logos, bring two changes." Stand-ins get their own line.
Crew calls go by department with a time for each person. Most people get the crew call. Departments that need a head start get pre-calls: camera assistants for prep, hair and makeup for the first actor, locations to open up and post signs, grip and electric if there's a pre-rig. Get pre-calls from department heads and have the UPM approve them, because each one adds paid time to the day.
Department notes and the advance schedule
Notes go under department headings so people can find theirs: props, wardrobe, makeup (blood or wounds), special effects, stunts, vehicles, animals, special equipment such as a crane or Steadicam, sound (playback), and production (press on set, closed set, visitors). Keep them specific: "Sc. 41: Nora's rain jacket wet down, 2 duplicates" is useful; "wardrobe as per script" isn't.
At the bottom, add the advance schedule for the next one or two shoot days: date, crew call if known (marked TBC if not), sets, scenes, and cast. Departments use it to prep, and actors on hold use it to see when they're coming back.
Sign-off, sending, and revisions
Before anything goes out, the 1st AD checks the scene order and times, and the UPM or line producer checks the crew calls and anything that costs money. Then send it to every working cast and crew member, the production office, and anyone else on the show's distribution list, such as agents for cast who want calls sent to their reps.
Productions send call sheets as a PDF by email, as a link, or both, and post printed copies at base camp. Send it once the day has wrapped and the times are final, so you aren't revising it an hour later. Keep every version you send; the production report and payroll get checked against it.
When something changes, send a revised sheet and mark it clearly at the top ("REVISED 10:40 PM"). Call or text anyone whose call time moved, since people may have already gone to bed with the old sheet. Don't count on a mass email alone for a changed call.
Checks before you hit send
- The date and day of week are tomorrow's, not today's copied forward.
- Page total equals the sum of the scene rows.
- Every actor in the scene list has a cast row, and every status code matches the DOOD.
- Each actor's report time leaves enough prep time for their on-set call.
- Crew call respects the rest period after today's wrap.
- There's a hospital listed for every set.
- The advance schedule agrees with the current schedule.
Building call sheets in Storiara
In Storiara, the Callsheets module builds a sheet for each shoot day from the schedule and the cast, crew, and location details already in the project, and pulls in a weather forecast. You type in the nearest hospital (the address field autocompletes) and can change details for a single day without touching the rest. The sheet can be printed, sent by email immediately or at a scheduled time, or shared as a web link for that shoot date.