Production call sheets are arguably the backbone of a well-run film production. They provide all the crucial information everyone needs to know before they show up on set. Without a call sheet, it is exponentially more difficult to maintain professionalism, organization, and efficiency during your shoot. Let’s look at what call sheets do, why they’re important, and what you need to know to make one.
How to Make a Call Sheet in StudioBinder
What’s a Call Sheet in Production?
Why you need a call sheet
Creating a production call sheet used to be laborious (we’ll give you some options to make the process easier). So what’s the purpose of one?
First and foremost, they minimize confusion. A good call sheet will provide answers to all the most pertinent questions for a shoot. Where am I supposed to show up? When should I show up? What is 'call time'? How long will I be there? What are we shooting? Where can I park?
All these questions, and many more, are answered in the call sheet. Without it, an AD or producer would be fielding countless emails from cast and crew, and inevitably would become swamped with the task of repeating themselves over and over again.
Take a look at our production call sheet template made with StudioBinder's call sheet builder. Notice how simply laid out all the information is. With a document like this, a crew member will know exactly what to expect out of the shoot, and what will be expected of them. Click the image below to explore the entire call sheet.
StudioBinder film production call sheet template
Whether your production has three members or three hundred members, a call sheet will prove useful. For smaller sets where everyone already knows the most vital information (such as when and where), a call sheet can ensure no stone is unturned, acting as a quick checklist for an indie filmmaker.
Production Call Sheet Example
What’s in a call sheet?
The call sheet is split into two pretty intuitive parts (top and bottom). Both include pretty vital information, so let’s take a look at what goes into both.
Top of the call sheet
This is where the most general information that almost everyone on set will likely need to know resides. This info includes:
- Project title
- General call time
- Location and address
- Producer and AD contact information
- Nearest hospital contact information
- Sunrise and sunset
- Weather report
- Parking instructions
- Special announcements (if required)
As you can see, this is stuff everyone needs to know.
PRO TIP
Try not to cram too much info into the special announcement section. Choose the most important things for the entire crew to see, otherwise they’ll gloss past the message.
Bottom of the call sheet
The bottom contains information that is no less important, but often more individualized. A few elements that are typically included here:
Scenes to be shot
Scene locations
Scene schedules
Individual call times
Pick up times (if necessary)
Again, this information is more of the nitty-gritty, but it’s still good to know.
PRO TIP
Often cast members will need the most help getting to where they need to be at the right time. It's best to pad your talent's call times to give them some wiggle room. Consider how long they'll need for hair/makeup while factoring in how many hair/makeup chairs you’ll have available.
Now, let’s look at best practices when making a production call sheet.
Building a Production Call Sheet
How to create a call sheet
There’s no one way to build a call sheet. You can create your own template, find a PDF that you can fill out by hand, or use a call sheet software.
Creating a call sheet with a spreadsheet is a repetitive task, and it can be a drain on your limited production hours. We're a bit biased, but this is a huge reason why you should create a call sheet online and reclaim that precious time.
There are call sheet details that don’t change much day to day (e.g., production name, company logo, certain cast/crew, etc.). It's a good idea to create a custom call sheet “template” for every project with these details. This way you don’t waste any time adding the same information over and over again.
After that, you can spin off copies of it for every day of the shoot and add the missing details.
Now your call sheet is looking good and you’re ready to prep it for sending. There’s important etiquette to follow for this next step.
GETTING A CALL SHEET READY
How to prepare a call sheet
You may think your call sheet is ready, but scan this checklist before you start firing it off.
1. Only send out one call sheet per day
Multi-day call sheets are rarely made for two reasons:
- You don’t want to inundate your cast and crew with too much information at once. And then it becomes a question of "which call sheet is current"?
- Shooting plans change constantly. You generally won’t know all the details to include on the next call sheet until the end of the current shoot day.
The potential for confusion when sending multiple call sheets at once is extremely high. You could have the wrong people showing up at the wrong location.
On the other side of things, you don’t want to send out several versions of a call sheet for a single day. So this brings us to rule number 2.
2. Make sure your call sheet is accurate before you send it out
Even if you send a correction, an inconsistency greatly increases the chances of confusion.
If you're making a call sheet with StudioBinder, you have a "living call sheet" online. Since the latest revisions will always load (from which a PDF can be generated), you don’t need to worry about the wrong versions being seen.
3. Think mobile
This is an on-the-go industry where people practically live off of their smartphones, so make sure to include map link URLs on the call sheet. That way, talent and crew can just tap the link on their smartphones to easily pull up driving directions. This is especially great when doing company moves.
PRO TIP
We recommend making only the parking locations into map links. Otherwise people may drive to the set location and delay your shoot.
StudioBinder uses the Google Places API to auto-fill addresses and turns them into map links for you. All call sheets are optimized for smartphone viewing, and recipients can tap to call, text, or email any production crew members who have exposed contact details.
Talent and crew will appreciate the modern convenience.
4. Check the weather again. And again.
Weather changes frequently. With each change to the weather, even a subtle one, comes change to the plan.
Always double-check weather information three days out. Then check it again the day before the shoot and one more time the morning of the shoot to see if conditions have changed.
Accuracy matters which is why we made sure that StudioBinder would auto-check the latest changes in weather on every page load.
5. Export the proper file format
Never send your call sheet to cast and crew in its native file format (.xls or .numbers). First, you don’t want anyone editing and circulating an unapproved version of the call sheet.
Secondly, cast and crew may not have the appropriate software to view these formats. Instead, always export and send a PDF version.
StudioBinder attaches a call sheet PDF to every recipient email, and includes a link to view the most recent version online (and RSVP).
6. Get call sheet notes from crew chiefs
Are you happy with your call sheet? Don’t send it yet!
Well, don’t send it to everyone. Make sure you share it with all the department heads to get approval first. This won’t be easy because they’re busy working. Be conscious of how you may be interrupting.
Why is this step necessary?
Say you have Scenes 1, 2, and 3 scheduled for tomorrow. But the art department takes a look and mentions that there was a mix-up at the rental house and the key prop for Scene 1 won’t be ready until lunch.
You go back to your call sheet and rearrange the schedule. Then you update call times for the affected talent and crew.
If you had not made that check, you would have had to scramble at the last minute, creating a much bigger mess. But fixes are rarely this simple. In many ways, you end up piecing together a jigsaw puzzle.
But the point is this: It’s not always just about catching mistakes. It’s about making the best plan possible.
PRO TIP
The process is slightly different if you're creating a call sheet for short form videos versus call sheets for features or TV. Make sure to brush up on the differences.
7. Get approval
Generally speaking, the 2nd AD creates the first version of the call sheet. But it is ultimately the 1st AD’s responsibility to make sure it's correct. And since the Unit Production Manager handles everything on set, they will likely have a say in its approval as well.
So, let’s say you’re the 2nd AD. You’ve gathered feedback from department heads and made your final adjustments. The next step would be to send it to the 1st AD for final approval.
The AD will likely run it by the director and the UPM, per their agreed upon workflow. If the director, UPM or 1st AD requests changes, make them and let the department heads know of the changes.
Often when a call sheet is approved, the AD, UPM, and/or other stakeholders will sign off on the call sheet. It is then ready for distribution.
StudioBinder has a call sheet approval system to manage notes, feedback and digital sign-offs in the cloud. This timestamp of approval becomes your digital paper trail.
Your call sheet’s prepped. Now, to send it out into the world (and by world, we mean your cast and crew).
Sharing a Production Call Sheet
How to send out a call sheet
A call sheet’s useless if it isn’t sent out, and it can only add to confusion if it’s sent out incorrectly. Let’s go through a few best practices.
1. Track recipients with a distro list
One of the most difficult parts of sending out call sheets is keeping track of who gets the production call sheet, especially if you have different cast and crew for each day.
This is why it is important to maintain a distribution list, or just ‘distro’ for short. A distro list is a list of everyone that is receiving a call sheet for each shoot day.
2. BCC, BCC, BCC
Always, always, always, always, always put all outgoing emails in the Blind Carbon Copy (“BCC”) box, NEVER the “To” box! A quick way to get yourself in trouble is to distribute a star actor or actresses’ personal email address to 100 crew members.
Put your own email address in the To box, and everyone else gets BCC’ed.
Call sheets that are sent from StudioBinder are sent to each person individually in a stylish, easy-to-follow email — so there's no risk of email leaks, or anyone even knowing they're on a BCC list.
3. Include information in the email body
You may have a perfect call sheet, but there are many cast and crew members who dread reading. A carefully composed email body ensures they quickly see the pertinent details for the day.
The body of your email should contain:
- Project Title
- Shoot Day and Date
- Call Time
- Parking Location with a map link
- Shooting Location, if different
- Special instructions for the day (e.g., inclement weather, hazards on set, location regulations, hospital info… use your judgment.)
You should also attach a .pdf version of the crew call sheet and a map of the location.
4. Send separate emails for talent
In most cases, the entire crew can get the same email. This especially makes sense if your entire crew is coming in at the general call time.
However, if some folks (e.g., talent) have unique call times, seeing a different “general” call time could lead to confusion. In these cases, you may want to send a separate email that clearly states when they should be on set.
Personalize the email for each cast member. If you send out a general call sheet to a rookie actor, they will almost certainly show up at the general call time, rather than their individual call time.
5. Send it out at the right time
Ah, but what is the right time? The optimal time to send a final approved call sheet is 12-14 hours in advance of the shoot day. This can vary though.
Optionally, a preliminary call sheet can be sent much earlier so your crew can get a sense of the next shoot day. Just make sure it is clearly watermarked with the words PRELIM, so everyone knows that things may still change.
Call sheet details are often changing, even up through the evening before the shoot. The shooting schedule, shooting order, weather, and equipment needs may need to be updated as other factors shift. You want to avoid bombarding your cast and crew with new versions of a call sheet every time something changes. You also want to avoid version confusion.
6. Confirm call sheets were received
No matter how many times you mention in your call sheet email for people to confirm receipt (bold it, make it red... it won’t matter), the vast majority of recipients will simply not respond.
This is a major liability for the production. Depending on the cast or crew member, if someone important does not show up to set at the right time, the shoot day could be jeopardized or stalled. As you’d imagine, this could be very costly. It’s the production unit’s responsibility to confirm that everyone has confirmed receipt of the call sheet.
Softwares like StudioBinder can make this process a lot easier, including a personalized “Confirm” button.
Up Next
Make your call sheet
You know everything you need to know about making a call sheet, so now it’s time for you to get started. StudioBinder makes the process as intuitive and straightforward as possible, allowing you to focus on the details that matter.
Up Next: Call sheet builder →
