You can download a filled-in day out of days template in XLSX, CSV, or PDF and follow along. This post covers the codes, how to fill the grid from a schedule, how to read the totals, and how to use it to take paid days out of the schedule.
The grid
A DOOD has cast down the left and shoot days across the top. Each cell holds a code. The right side holds totals.
| # | Character | D1 Mon | D2 Tue | D3 Wed | D4 Thu | D5 Fri | D6 Mon | D7 Tue | D8 Wed | Work | Hold | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DELL | SW | W | W | W | W | W | W | WF | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 2 | JUNE | SW | W | H | H | W | WF | 4 | 2 | 6 | ||
| 3 | HOLLIS | SW | W | H | W | WF | 4 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 4 | SHERIFF | SWF | 1 | 0 | 1 |
The weekend between D5 and D6 isn't in the grid, so it never counts as a hold. June starts D1 and finishes D6. She works four of those days but is on the payroll for six, because D3 and D4 fall between her start and finish. Hollis starts D3 and finishes D7 with one hold on D5.
The codes
Different software and different offices spell these slightly differently, but the meanings are standard.
| Code | Meaning | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| SW | Start work | The actor's first work day |
| W | Work | Any work day between start and finish |
| WF | Work finish | The actor's last work day |
| SWF | Start, work, finish | A one-day role |
| H | Hold | Not working, but between start and finish |
| T | Travel | A travel day to or from location |
| R | Rehearsal | A scheduled rehearsal day |
| D | Drop | Released from payroll during a gap |
| PU | Pickup | First work day after a drop (some software writes PW, pickup work) |
| F | Fitting | Wardrobe fitting (some offices use F for finish instead, so check the legend) |
Movie Magic Scheduling, for instance, builds its report from separate start, work, finish, hold, drop, pickup, and travel markers, and applies hold and drop/pickup rules you set per element (Movie Magic Scheduling manual). Because codes vary, always print a legend on the DOOD.
The drop and pickup codes need extra explanation. D marks the point where a performer is released partway through their run, and PU marks the day they come back. It's used when an actor works early in the schedule and again near the end, and paying them to hold through the middle would be expensive. Whether you can do it depends on the contract (see below).
How to build a DOOD from a schedule
- Start from the current shooting schedule. If you're working from an old version, the DOOD is wrong before you begin. Write the schedule's revision date on the DOOD header.
- List cast by ID number and character name, using the same numbers as the schedule and call sheet. Add the actor's name if cast.
- Put shoot days across the top with the date. Add columns before Day 1 for travel, rehearsal, or fitting days if they're paid.
- Go through the schedule day by day. For each scene, mark W for every cast number in it. At the end you have a grid of W's and blanks.
- For each actor, change their first W to SW and their last W to WF. If they have only one W, make it SWF.
- Fill every blank between an actor's SW and WF with H.
- Look at each long run of H. If a drop and pickup is allowed, replace the gap with D and mark the return day PU.
- Add T, R, and fitting days where they apply.
- Total each row: work days, hold days, travel, rehearsal, drops, and paid days. Paid days are everything except blanks and drop days.
- Total each column too. The number of cast working each day is useful to the 2nd AD for trailers, makeup chairs, and catering counts.
The DOOD generator does steps 4 to 6 if you paste in which cast work which days.
Reading the totals like a line producer
The paid days column feeds the budget. If Hollis's deal is $1,000 a day, his row costs 5 × $1,000 = $5,000 before fringes, even though he's on camera for 4 of those days.
Now look for holds that don't need to be there. On the grid above, Hollis holds on D5 and then works D6 and D7. Suppose his D7 scene is short and could be shot on D5 instead. He would go SW on D3, W on D4 and D5, and WF on D6, with no holds, and his cost drops to 4 × $1,000 = $4,000. Whether that move is possible depends on the location and the other cast in that scene.
June's two holds are harder. Her D5 and D6 scenes are at a different location from D1 and D2, and moving them would split a location block. That's the kind of trade-off the AD and line producer weigh together: a company move might cost more than two hold days.
Drops and pickups under union rules
For SAG-AFTRA theatrical productions, performers are paid consecutively from the first day they're told to report. A day performer can be dropped and picked up without being paid for the gap if they're given a firm pickup date more than 10 calendar days after their initial employment ends, and only one such break is allowed per production. Day performers can also get an "on or after" pickup date, which gives production 24 hours of leeway (SAG-AFTRA).
A few consequences for the DOOD:
- The pickup date has to be firm when the actor is engaged, so casting needs the drop plan before making the offer.
- A second drop for the same actor isn't allowed. If the schedule changes and adds a work day inside the gap, the break is gone and the holds come back.
- Moving a pickup day earlier can shrink the gap below the 10-day threshold.
- SAG-AFTRA's low budget agreements have exceptions, and television works differently. Check the agreement your production signed, and the drop and pickup glossary entry for more.
On a non-union show, hold pay depends on each deal memo. Some day-rate deals only pay days worked. The DOOD still matters there, because it tells actors which days they have to keep free.
Other DOODs: vehicles, animals, stunts, equipment
The cast DOOD is the one everyone means, but the same grid works for anything booked by the day. Productions commonly build separate ones for:
- Picture vehicles, so transportation knows when the hero car has to be prepped and where
- Animals, so the wrangler can book handlers and plan rest days
- Stunt performers and the stunt coordinator
- Specialty equipment like a crane, underwater housing, or a second camera package
An equipment DOOD is how the line producer spots that the crane is booked for a full week but only used on two days, which might be cheaper as two day rentals.
Mistakes that end up in payroll
Building the DOOD once. Every change to the schedule can change starts, finishes, and holds. Re-run it every time the schedule is re-issued and send the new version to casting and accounting.
Counting days off as holds. If your grid includes Sundays, make sure they're blank, not H.
Forgetting paid days that aren't shoot days. Rehearsals, travel, and sometimes fittings are paid. If they're missing, the budget is short.
Wrong start dates on call sheets. The 2nd AD copies the status code for each actor onto the call sheet. If the DOOD is out of date, the call sheet tells the actor and the accountant the wrong thing.
Dropping an actor the deal doesn't allow. It looks good on paper and gets reversed by the payroll company later.
Keeping it in sync with the rest of the paperwork
The DOOD sits between three other documents. It reads the shooting schedule. Its codes go onto the call sheet next to each actor. Its totals go into the cast accounts of the budget and into deal memos. On SAG-AFTRA shows, the production office checks actual days worked against the Exhibit G sign-in sheets. If the DOOD, call sheet, and Exhibit G disagree about whether an actor worked or held on a given day, sort it out that week, before payroll closes.
The DOOD view in Storiara
In Storiara, the Day Out of Days is a view inside the Schedule module. It fills in cast codes from the stripboard: SW, W, WF, SWF, H, and I (idle) are assigned automatically, and travel, rehearsal, drop, and pickup codes are set by hand. You can override any cell and use Reset to Auto to go back to the calculated codes. It covers cast only, not vehicles or equipment, and it prints. Cast paid days from the DOOD also feed the budget module.