A shoot day lives or dies on its call sheet. Here's a clean, print-ready Excel template — and a short guide to filling it out so nobody calls you at 6 AM asking where to park.
A call sheet is the single document your crew checks the night before and the morning of a shoot. It answers five questions: when do I show up, where, who else is coming, what are we shooting, and who do I call if something goes wrong. If your sheet answers those five, it's doing its job.
General call and individual calls. The general call is when the day starts; individual call times let you stagger arrivals (nobody needs the drone pilot at 6:30 AM for a 2 PM aerial). Location with parking notes. The address gets people to the building; the parking note gets them inside on time. Nearest hospital. You'll go years without needing it, and the one day you do, you'll be glad it wasn't a Google search under pressure. Key contacts. Producer and 1st AD numbers at the top — decisions have to route somewhere. The schedule. Time blocks with scene or activity, location, and who's needed. Pad it; every schedule slips.
Weather and sunset time (exteriors care, and golden hour doesn't wait). Meal times — crews forgive a hard day but remember a skipped lunch forever. Wardrobe and HMU notes for talent. And a note section for the stuff that prevents phone calls: gate codes, radio channels, the name of the security guard who's expecting you.
The night before is standard; 48 hours ahead is kind. Send it to everyone — including the client contact if they'll be on set. Re-send if anything material changes, and say what changed in the email body.
Template tip: replace every bracketed field, delete the rows you don't need, and print a few extra copies for set — phones die.
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