Actor Call Sheet Template

1. Begin with header details

Whether it’s your lead actors, your crew, or your extras, everyone needs to know the general shooting call time and date, so let’s add that information to your actor call sheet template first. As soon as you start a new project, you’ll be prompted to enter these details in the pop-up:

Now that your actor call sheet template has the date and time front and center, let’s get all the rest of the important details in the header. For any film or tv call sheet, this typically includes the executive producer, the 1st AD, the studio address, and of course, the project title.

2. Add shooting locations

Film location will be some of the first information your actors and crew look for, so this section should go right below the header on your actors call sheet. 

Your location grid should display the address of your sets, the address for any nearby crew parking lots, and the address of the nearest hospital to each set. 

Make sure you also check with the hospital to make sure they have a 24/7 emergency room. This is especially essential for long shoot days expected to go into late hours (and for stunt actors too!).

3. Create a shooting schedule

Next you’ll want to display the full shooting schedule for the day on your actor call sheet template. When you add a new scene column, make sure the cast ID feature is toggled on, then list each of the actors’ ID numbers in that field.

You’ll establish each actor’s ID number next in the cast grid, so you may want to come back to this part. 

Stage location, script pages, and estimated shoot time are also good to keep toggled on in the schedule grid. This way both your actors and actor assistants know the lines they need to memorize and the amount of prep time they require. A very important aspect of your actor call sheet template.

4. Add actors and crew

Now the main event: filling out the cast, crew, and extras grid on your actor call sheet template. 

Once you have your actor IDs, names, and title roles written, coordinate with each actor’s assistant for the best pickup times relative to their on-set call time. This will vary from actor to actor, so be precise.

Your crew grid will need less information than your actor call sheet template grid section, so you can keep that one at about 3 to 4 rows. 

Your extras grid can be thought of almost like a casting call list, because it’s less about coordinating each background actor’s transfer to set, and more about communicating where they’ll need to be when production is ready for them. 

One thing to remember with actors is that their schedules change on a dime. That’s why it’s convenient to be able to open your actors call sheet and shift any time by simply clicking and readjusting it on the fly!

5. Organize department notes

There’s nothing worse than having a top billing actor’s first day on set be a mismanaged production nightmare. Which is why including a Department Notes section on your actor call sheet template that covers all the small yet important information for the day will be a great help. 

As you can see on our own call sheet example, we have quite a lot of notes from quite a lot of departments that just came down the pipeline. 

So, we’ll simply condense and rework this information into bite-size, yet direct and to the point notes. We’ll also add each department head’s walkie channel in the notes in case anyone on set needs further information.

6. Write private notes

As you finish filling out your actor call sheet template, you may want to include a small message with one or several of your cast members’ copies. 

A call sheet for actors doesn’t always explain every last detail, so maybe this message contains some extra essential info. Or, maybe the director just wants to pass along a friendly thank you to one of the actors for bringing such a beautiful performance to the table. 

Whatever the case, just checkmark one or several of the cast names that you want to attach a message with, then write your message in their ‘private note’ field.

7. Send and track call sheet

Your actor call sheet template is good to go now, so just give it one last thorough look before clicking Send Call Sheet.

From here, you’ll be able to monitor who in your cast and crew has received and opened your sent call sheet.

But let’s say one actor’s call sheet status says ‘bounced.’ This likely means the email was entered incorrectly, so reach out to make sure you have the right spelling!

And, scene!

Now that you know how to properly put together an actor call sheet template, there’s no telling how much the whole cast of your film production will enjoy their time on your team’s set! 

And if you’re looking for more than just actors call sheet template docs, be sure to browse through the full spectrum of StudioBinder’s free call sheet templates when you get a chance.