Was it 7.30 or 8.15?
A product shoot was scheduled as a ten-hour day. The client arrived late with the products, lunch was pushed back, and the last set-up ran long. The gaffer's invoice two weeks later includes two hours of overtime for everyone in his team. The producer remembers wrapping at around 7.30. The gaffer says the lights were not packed until 8.15. The client, asked to pay for the overrun, says they were told it would be quick.
Nobody wrote anything down. The producer pays the overtime to keep the gaffer happy and absorbs the cost, since nothing can show the client why it happened.
Why shoot days leave no record
- Producers and first ADs are busy running the day, not keeping a log.
- Wrap means different things to different departments: last shot, lights down, van loaded.
- Late lunches and short turnarounds can carry their own terms, which are forgotten.
- The cause of an overrun, such as a client delay, is not noted at the time.
- Crew invoice weeks later from their own memory.
Your overtime terms, and any agreements with crew or their representative bodies, are your own. We build the log so whatever terms you use are applied from facts recorded on the day.
What the missing record costs
Overtime paid without a record is hard to recharge. Overtime disputed with crew damages relationships in a small industry. Clients who caused a delay are rarely charged for it, because the evidence is a producer's memory. And the next quote for that client is built on the assumption the day went to plan. Over a year, the same pattern repeats on the same kinds of shoot, and nobody can see it because each day was only ever remembered, never recorded.
How we build the shoot day log
- The first AD or producer opens the day on a phone. Scheduled call, lunch and wrap are already there from the schedule.
- Actual times are tapped in as they happen: crew call, first shot, lunch start and end, last shot, wrap by department.
- If the day overruns, the log asks for a reason, with quick choices such as client delay, weather, kit fault, extra set-up requested, plus a note.
- Any client request for extra shots is recorded with the time and who asked, and the client contact can confirm on the producer's phone.
- At wrap, each head of department sees their team's times and taps to agree, or adds a note.
- The times feed the crew invoice checks, so claimed overtime is compared with what was agreed on the day.
- Client-caused overruns appear on a recharge list for the job, with the reasons and confirmations attached.
| Recorded on the day | Used for |
|---|---|
| Call and wrap by department | Crew invoice checks |
| Lunch and breaks | Your terms on late meals, if any |
| Overrun reason | Deciding who bears the cost |
| Client requests | Recharges with evidence |
| Crew agreement at wrap | Avoiding disputes later |
A long day, properly recorded
The client is late with the products again. The first AD logs the delay with the time. Lunch is pushed, and logged. At 6.30 the client asks for an extra set-up, which the first AD records and the client contact confirms on her phone. Wrap is logged per department, and the gaffer taps to agree his team's time.
The gaffer's invoice matches the log. The overtime is recharged to the client with the confirmed extra set-up and the delay attached, and nobody argues. The producer also has a clear note for the next quote: this client's product days run long.
Does this happen after your shoots?
- Nobody records wrap times on shoot days.
- Overtime on crew invoices is argued over weeks later.
- Client delays are rarely recharged.
- Different departments mean different things by wrap.
- Overrun costs are absorbed to avoid arguments.