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How to Make a Call Sheet: Steps, Checklist and Template

How to make a call sheet in 8 steps: what goes on it, how to set staggered call times, the mistakes that make crew late, and how to get every confirmation.

By the CreativeBase team · Updated October 21, 2026 · 6 min read

To make a call sheet, lock the day's schedule, set the general crew call, give each person their own call time, add the location, parking and nearest hospital, add weather and sun times, then send it the evening before and get a confirmation from every person.

That is the whole job. The rest of this guide is how to do each step so nobody shows up at the wrong door at 6am.

In short:

• A call sheet is one page per shoot day: who, when, where, and what happens in what order.
• Build it from a locked schedule, stagger the call times, and put parking on its own line.
• Send it once, the night before, and chase every confirmation before you sleep.

Who makes the call sheet

On bigger film and TV shoots, the 1st assistant director builds it from the shooting schedule and the production office sends it. On music videos, commercials and photo shoots, it is usually the producer or a production coordinator (Wrapbook).

If you are directing and producing your own job, congratulations, it is you.

What goes on a call sheet

Use this as your checklist, or as a call sheet template if you are starting from a blank page:

• Header: production name, company, date and "Day 2 of 3", so nobody reads yesterday's sheet
• General crew call: the time crew are ready on set. The one line everyone looks for
• Individual call times: each person's own call, grouped by department
• Key contacts: producer, director, 1st AD or coordinator, client contact
• Location: full address, which entrance, where to load in
• Parking: where crew park, where trucks park, gate codes
• Nearest hospital: name, address, phone. Rarely needed, never optional
• Schedule: shots, scenes or looks in order, with times and company moves
• Meal: lunch time and catering
• Weather and sun: forecast, temperature, wind, sunrise, sunset
• Talent: call time, hair and makeup time, on-set time
• Department notes: special props, wardrobe, vehicles, effects
• Nice to have: walkie channels, tomorrow's advance schedule, what to bring (closed-toe shoes, a warm layer for a night exterior)

On many North American sets the first meal is due within six hours of crew call (LA411). Put lunch where that rule puts it.

Shooting stills? Use the photo shoot call sheet template, which is built from looks instead of scenes.

How to make a call sheet, step by step

1. Start from a locked schedule

The call sheet comes from the schedule, never the other way round. Know the order of the day first: which shots or looks, at which location, with which people. If the schedule is still moving, the call sheet will be wrong by breakfast.

2. Set the general crew call

Work back from the first shot. Want to roll at 8:00 and lighting takes an hour? General call is 7:00. Add time for a long load-in or a walk from parking.

3. Stagger the individual call times

Not everyone needs to arrive at dawn:

Staggered calls save money and goodwill. Nobody enjoys three hours in holding.

4. Write the schedule

List each block with a time: setup, shots, company moves, meals, wrap. Give company moves their own lines. A move always takes longer than anyone says it will.

5. Add location, parking and hospital

Write exactly where to go in: "Rear loading door off the alley." "Ask for Stage 2 at the front desk." Parking gets its own line. Look up the nearest emergency room now, not when you need it.

6. Add weather and sun

Check the forecast the afternoon before you send. Include sunrise and sunset for any exterior or window-light work. If rain is possible, write the rain plan.

7. Add contacts and notes

Producer and whoever runs the floor go at the top. Department notes go last: anything unusual about today.

8. Proofread, then send once

Read it start to finish against the schedule. Check every call time, the date and the day number. Then send.

Common call sheet mistakes

1. Wrong date or day number. Copying yesterday's sheet and forgetting the header is the classic (Wrapbook).
2. No parking line. The address is right, nobody knows where to park, the whole crew is 15 minutes late.
3. One call time for everyone. Talent waits for hours, or makeup starts late and the first shot slips.
4. Lunch at hour seven. A hungry crew is a slow crew, and on union jobs every late half hour is a meal penalty (Storiara).
5. Several versions. Version 3 at 11pm means half the crew reads version 2. If you must revise, say what changed at the top.
6. Gate codes in a forwarded PDF. Put codes in each person's own message, not on a sheet that travels.
7. No hospital. Two minutes to look up. Matters only when it matters a lot.
8. No confirmation check. Sent is not the same as read.

Sending it and getting confirmations

Send the call sheet the evening before each shoot day, once the schedule is final (Wrapbook). For a one-day job, send a draft to department heads a few days out and the final the night before.

The call sheet goes out at 9pm. The gaffer reads it at 6am. Make it readable at 6am:

• Lead with their call time. "Your call: 7:30 AM" in the subject or first line. People skim.
• Put the essentials in the message body, with the PDF attached, so it works on a phone without opening anything.
• Ask for a reply. "Reply to confirm" turns a broadcast into a checklist.
• Check confirmations before bed. Call anyone who has not answered. One missing gaffer is a two-hour delay.
• Print a few copies for the people whose phones die by noon.

What to look for in call sheet software

If you send call sheets every week, a spreadsheet stops paying for itself. The best call sheet software for commercial, music video and photo work does a few jobs well:

Scheduling a feature from a screenplay is a different job. StudioBinder and other script-based tools are built for scene breakdowns and stripboards, which this kind of call sheet does not need.

Doing this in CreativeBase

In CreativeBase the call sheet is one section of each production, so it pulls from what the production already holds. A call sheet rebuilt from last week's PDF is the same hour of work every time. One built inside a system gets faster with every job.

• One call sheet per shoot day, with job code, client logo, "Day N of M", key contacts, location stops, parking and gate codes, and talent and vendor groups.
• Crew in 11 departments, each person with their own call time, added from the Crew tab and your crew book.
• Weather, sunrise and sunset fill in from the location, and the nearest hospital is found for you (you can edit it).
• A readiness bar lists what is missing and what does not add up: wrap before call, lunch past the six-hour mark, people called after wrap.
• Photo shoots build the day from the looks list, with hair and makeup lead time, lunch, time per look and talent calls.
• Each person gets one email with their own call time as the headline, plus the PDF if you choose. They confirm or decline with one tap, no account, and you see who confirmed.
• Crew Pass links show each booked person only their own days: call time, run of show, map, weather and contacts.
• Message crew writes once to everyone, the confirmed or one department, and each person gets their own email.
• PDF export in three templates: Classic Studio, Clean Modern and Minimal.

Limits, plainly: the forecast reaches about 16 days out, so later dates get sunrise and sunset only until it arrives. There is no script breakdown or stripboard. Grizzo, the AI assistant, can read a call sheet but does not build or send one.

Accounts start with a short call, where pricing is set. Crew and clients you invite use it free.

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