Call Sheets for Catering and Craft Services: How 1st ADs Feed the Crew on Schedule

A call sheet feeds the crew when it lists the caterer by name, the exact headcount, every meal time, and where food will be served, right alongside call times. Do that, and the first meal lands within 6 hours of crew call, craft services stays stocked from call to wrap, and nobody loses a setup because lunch showed up late or short.

What catering information belongs on a call sheet?

Caterers do not read your call sheet for the scene list. They read it for five numbers and three locations. The numbers are total crew, cast, and background headcount, the vegetarian and allergy counts, and the expected wrap time. The locations are base camp, the catering setup area, and the craft services table. Put all of them on the sheet, not in a separate email the caterer may never open.

Headcount deserves special care because it changes last. A director adds 12 background performers on Thursday night, a client sends 3 extra observers, and a meal ordered for 38 has to stretch to 53. Build a 10 percent buffer into the count you give the caterer, confirm the final number when the call sheet goes out, and call the caterer directly if it changes after that. A revised sheet alone is easy to miss at 5 in the morning.

Also list dietary needs as counts, not names. The caterer needs to know there are 4 gluten free meals and 2 nut allergies, packed and labeled separately. Flag serious allergies to the craft services lead in person, because shared tongs and open snack bowls are where cross contact happens.

How should a 1st AD time meals on the call sheet?

Work backwards from crew call, not from when you hope to be hungry. On most professional productions the first meal is due within 6 hours of crew call, and the meal break itself runs at least 30 minutes, not counting the walk to catering and back. If crew call is 6:00 AM, lunch must be served by noon, and the caterer needs to be fully set up before you release the crew, which means food ready around 11:45 AM.

Print three food times on the sheet so everyone plans around the same clock. Breakfast or first meal service for early calls, because a crew that starts at 4:30 AM cannot wait until noon to eat. The scheduled lunch, with its serving window. And the second meal on long days, which many productions owe the crew 6 hours after lunch ends. The caterer, drivers, and location team all schedule their own work from those lines.

Protect the plan when the day slips. A 20 minute warning that lunch will move by 30 minutes lets the caterer hold hot food safely instead of serving it dried out or having to remake it. Note the actual meal out and meal in times in the production report, because meal penalties and payroll both depend on them.

What is the difference between catering and craft services on set?

Catering serves scheduled full meals. Craft services, called crafty on set, provides coffee, drinks, and snacks continuously from crew call through wrap. They are separate jobs with separate budgets. A snack table does not satisfy a meal obligation, and a caterer hired for lunch should not be expected to keep a coffee urn full for 12 hours unless that was agreed in advance.

Give craft services its own line on the call sheet, including who runs it and where the table sits. On location, the table should be close enough for crew to reach between setups, but far enough that wrappers and chatter stay off the sound recording. Plan replenishment around the schedule too. Coffee before first shot, a restock after lunch, and something warm or cold in the last 2 hours, when energy dips hardest.

• Confirm the final headcount and dietary counts with the caterer when the sheet goes out
• Print breakfast, lunch, and second meal times, with the catering location for each
• List the caterer and craft services lead as contacts, with phone numbers
• Note where cast with early calls eat, so hair and makeup are not waiting on breakfast
• Warn catering at least 20 minutes ahead when a meal time moves
• Record actual meal times in the production report for payroll and penalties

How do small crews handle food without a caterer?

On a 6 person commercial or content shoot, there is no catering company, but the call sheet still has to answer the food questions. Name the person ordering lunch, set the order deadline, usually right after crew call so dietary requests are in, and print the delivery time on the sheet. Collect dietary needs when you book the crew, not on the morning of the shoot. A quick text thread the day before beats 6 separate conversations at a folding table by the door.

This is where a digital call sheet earns its keep. With Easy Call Sheets, you build the sheet once, add cast and crew with individual call times, and send it in one click, and each person confirms with one tap and no account. When the headcount or the lunch time changes, you revise and resend with one click, so the caterer, the client, and the newest PA are all working from the same version. The Free plan costs $0 with unlimited productions and 2 email sends per month, and Pro at $9 per month adds unlimited sends, shareable links, weather forecasts, and SMS notifications.

Frequently asked questions

How early should catering arrive before a meal break?

Plan for the caterer to be set up and ready to serve at least 15 to 30 minutes before the scheduled break. Crew should walk up to food that is already hot and plated, not watch a buffet being assembled while their 30 minute break ticks away.

Should background performers be counted in the catering headcount?

Yes. Background performers eat too, and they are the group most often forgotten because their numbers change last. Include them as a separate line in the count so the caterer can set up a second serving line or stagger their meal when the group is large.

What happens if a shoot skips a scheduled meal?

On union productions, late or missed meals trigger meal penalties paid to each affected crew member, and the costs add up fast. On non union shoots there may be no formal penalty, but a hungry crew works slower and makes more mistakes, so the meal costs less than the delay.