A shoot day lives or dies on its call sheet. Here's a clean, print-ready Excel template, plus 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, because 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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