Free Call Sheet Template (PDF, 2026)

A working call sheet template for film, TV, commercial, and music video productions. Free to download, no email required, formatted to the 2026 standard used by working 1st ADs and production coordinators across US and Canadian sets.

Get the Template

→ Open the free fillable call sheet - fill it in online, then print or save a clean PDF. No watermark, no email, no signup.

Prefer copy-paste? The full template is below - drop it into Google Sheets or a doc. Fill the production header once, then the date, sun times, and crew table follow the same structure every day.

If you'd rather build your own from scratch, the section breakdown below covers every field a professional call sheet needs.

What a Call Sheet Is

A call sheet is the daily document that tells every cast and crew member where to be, when to be there, what's shooting, and what they need to bring. It is sent the night before each production day, typically by the 2nd AD or production coordinator. Reading and following the call sheet is the single most important crew skill on any set.

A complete call sheet does three jobs:

1. Tells everyone where and when to show up (call time, location, parking, hospital info)
2. Communicates the day's plan (scenes, scenes order, locations, weather, sun times)
3. Lists who's involved (cast, crew, contacts, departments, transportation)

The 12 Sections Every Call Sheet Needs

A working 2026 call sheet template includes these 12 sections, in this order. Skipping any of them is a flag to working crew that the production is unprepared.

1. Production Header

The top of the sheet. Identifies the production at a glance.

PRODUCTION:        [Project Name]
PRODUCTION CO:     [Company Name]
DATE:              [Day of Week, Date]
DAY:               [X of X production days]
WEATHER:           [High / Low / Conditions]
SUNRISE / SUNSET:  [Times]
CALL TIME:         [General Crew Call]
SHOOT CALL:        [First shot expected]
WRAP:              [Estimated wrap time]

2. Producer / AD / Coordinator Contact Block

The names and phone numbers of the production decision-makers, in order of who to call when something goes wrong.

PRODUCER:           [Name] [Cell]
DIRECTOR:           [Name] [Cell]
1st AD:             [Name] [Cell]
2nd AD:             [Name] [Cell]
PROD COORDINATOR:   [Name] [Cell]
LOCATIONS:          [Name] [Cell]

3. Location Block

Address and parking instructions for crew. Includes the staging area, the truck holding location, and any nearest-cross-street notes.

LOCATION 1:         [Address]
PARKING:            [Address or instructions]
TRUCK STAGING:      [Address]
HOLDING:            [Address for talent / extras]
NEAREST HOSPITAL:   [Hospital name and address]

The nearest hospital field is non-negotiable. Every working AD includes it. Post it in case of injury.

4. Schedule / Scenes

A table listing what scenes shoot in what order, with location, page count, and cast involved.

5. Cast Table

Every actor's call time, makeup time, set time, and pickup arrangement. Listed by character name and corresponding actor.

6. Crew Table by Department

Lists the full crew, organized by department, with individual call times. Most departments call at the general crew call. Some (camera, art, locations) call earlier for prep.

PRODUCTION
  1st AD:           [Name]                 6:00am
  2nd AD:           [Name]                 6:00am
  Set PA:           [Name]                 6:30am
  Set PA:           [Name]                 6:30am

CAMERA
  DP:               [Name]                 6:30am
  1st AC:           [Name]                 6:30am
  2nd AC:           [Name]                 6:30am
  DIT:              [Name]                 7:00am

G&E
  Gaffer:           [Name]                 6:30am
  Best Boy:         [Name]                 6:30am
  Electric:         [Name]                 6:30am
  Key Grip:         [Name]                 6:30am
  Best Boy Grip:    [Name]                 6:30am
  Grip:             [Name]                 6:30am

[continue for each department: Sound, Art, Costumes, HMU, Locations, Catering, etc.]

7. Background / Extras

Number of background actors, call time, holding location.

BACKGROUND:         8 (4 men, 4 women)
BG CALL TIME:       7:30am
BG HOLDING:         [Address]
BG WARDROBE:        Smart casual, dark colors, no logos

8. Special Equipment / Notes

Anything outside the standard crew kit: jib, drone, steadicam, special vehicles, animals, kids, weapons, stunts.

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:  Steadicam (Op: [Name])
                    DJI Inspire drone (Op: [Name], FAA Cert # ...)
SPECIAL NOTES:      Minor on set scene 14, parent guardian on hand

9. Meal Times

Crew meals are union-mandated on signatory shows and should be respected on every set. List breakfast, lunch, and second meal times.

BREAKFAST:          6:30am (catering at base camp)
LUNCH:              12:30pm (1 hour)
SECOND MEAL:        7:00pm (if scheduled)

10. Weather and Sun Times

Critical for outdoor shoots. Pull from a reliable forecast the morning of and update if needed.

WEATHER:            68/52, partly cloudy, 10% precip
SUNRISE:            6:08am
SUNSET:             7:54pm
GOLDEN HOUR:        7:14pm to 7:54pm

11. Call Sheet Footer / Approvals

The 1st AD's name and phone, plus a "questions or changes contact" line.

1st AD:             [Name] [Cell]
QUESTIONS:          Text 2nd AD, [Name] [Cell]
NOTE:               This call sheet is confidential. Do not post.

12. Next Day Preview

A short note on what tomorrow looks like - location, scenes, expected call. Helps crew plan.

TOMORROW:
  LOCATION:         [Address]
  SCENES:           17, 18, 19
  EST. CALL:        6:00am

A Working Example

Below is what the top of a real one-page call sheet looks like in practice. Copy this layout into Google Sheets and it keeps the same structure once you fill in the fields.

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
THE LATE BLOOMERS - Day 4 of 12 - Tuesday, May 11, 2026
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
PRODUCTION:    Late Bloomers Films LLC
DIRECTOR:      Jane Doe
1st AD:        John Smith (917) 555-1234
2nd AD:        Sarah Lopez (917) 555-9876
WEATHER:       68/52, partly cloudy
SUNRISE:       6:08am   |   SUNSET:  7:54pm

GENERAL CREW CALL: 7:00am
SHOOT CALL:        9:00am
EST. WRAP:         9:00pm

LOCATION:      Cafe Reggio, 119 MacDougal St, NYC, NY 10012
PARKING:       MacDougal between Bleecker and W. 3rd, signs posted
HOLDING:       SVA Theater, 333 W 23rd St
NEAREST ER:    NYU Langone, 550 1st Ave (5 min by car)

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
SCHEDULE
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
Scene 14   INT  Coffee shop      Sarah orders, sees James   1 1/8 pp
Scene 15   EXT  Sidewalk         They argue outside           2/8 pp
Scene 16   EXT  Subway entrance  James walks away             1/8 pp
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════

The full template includes the cast table, full crew breakdown by department, background, equipment notes, meal schedule, and next-day preview.

Common Call Sheet Mistakes That Break Productions

Even seasoned coordinators get bitten by these:

Sending the call sheet too late. Industry standard is by 8pm the night before. Crew need time to plan transit, hire babysitters, or get sleep. A call sheet that hits at 11pm causes resentment and missed call times.

Vague location addresses. "Brooklyn" is not a location. The full address, the cross street, and parking instructions are non-negotiable. If parking is tight, name the specific lot or street.

Missing nearest hospital. Every working call sheet has it. Skipping it is a red flag for safety culture.

Inconsistent call times. If catering is calling at 5:30am to set up breakfast for 6:30am, the sheet has to reflect that. Catering missing because their call time wasn't on the sheet is a meaningful problem.

Posting the call sheet anywhere public. Call sheets are confidential. Crew who post photos of them get burned. Productions sometimes watermark sheets with the recipient's name for that reason.

Updating without reissuing. If anything changes, send a "REVISED" version with the changes highlighted. Verbal updates get lost.

How to Use Our Template

Once it's in Google Sheets, you can set it up so you can:

1. Make a copy to your own Google account
2. Fill the production header once (name, director, AD info, default location)
3. Auto-populate the date, sun times, and weather based on your shoot date and zip code
4. Manually fill the schedule, cast, and crew tables for each day
5. Export as PDF for distribution

The PDF version is built for productions that prefer offline editing. Open in Acrobat or Preview, fill the fields, save, and email.

Both formats are 8.5" × 11" portrait. Some larger productions use 11" × 17" landscape sheets to fit a bigger crew table. If you need that format, we'll add it in a future update.

Related Templates

A complete indie production stack typically includes:

• Call sheet (this one)
• Production budget template - for tracking spend by department
• Crew deal memo template - for hiring crew on paper
• Actor release form template - for talent on screen
• Location release form template - for shooting on private property

For day rate guidance to fill in the budget side, see our Film Crew Day Rates by Role and City (2026) reference.

A Note on Why This is Free

We built this template because every working AD has spent an hour at some point trying to find a clean version online and ended up with one that's cluttered with branding, locked behind an email gate, or formatted for a 2014 production workflow.

NeedaCrew is the US/Canada marketplace for film crew and casting. Free working tools like this one are part of how we help productions and crew find each other faster.

If you're producing or coordinating, post your next gig on NeedaCrew and reach the crew who'd be on this call sheet.

If you're crew, list yourself free and start getting requested by name on next week's call sheets.

TL;DR

• A working 2026 call sheet has 12 sections: header, contacts, location, schedule, cast, crew, background, special equipment, meals, weather, footer, next-day preview
• Send by 8pm the night before
• Always include the nearest hospital
• Mark "CONFIDENTIAL" and "DO NOT POST"
• Re-issue any version with changes as "REVISED"

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