Set & Crew

Call time

What is call time in film production?

A call time is the time an individual is required to be present and ready to work — not the time they should arrive. Call times differ by department and by person: hair and makeup are called before the cast they are preparing, who are called before the crew shooting them.

General crew call is the headline time on a call sheet, but almost nobody actually works to it. The staggered times underneath it are the real schedule, and they are derived backwards from the first shot of the day.

Call time is also one end of the turnaround calculation, so it cannot be set independently of when the previous day wrapped.

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Call sheet software

Reviewed 2026-08-27

Related terms

Call sheet: A call sheet is the document issued the day before each shooting day telling everyone where to be, when, and what is being shot. It carries individual call times, the scene list, the location and its parking, weather, sunrise and sunset, hospital details, and department-specific notes.
Turnaround: Turnaround is the guaranteed rest period between the moment a crew member is released at the end of one working day and their call time for the next. Where union or guild agreements apply, a shortened turnaround triggers a penalty payment rather than being prohibited outright.
Wrap: Wrap is the end of shooting. Called at the end of a day it releases the crew and starts the turnaround clock; called on a location it means the unit is finished there; called as picture wrap it marks the end of principal photography for a performer or for the production.
Shooting day: A shooting day is one scheduled day of principal photography, defined by its call time, its planned scenes and its wrap. It is the atomic unit of a production schedule: budgets, crew bookings and location agreements are all counted in days rather than hours.