Scheduling
Drop and pickup
What is drop and pickup in film production?
Drop and pickup is a scheduling provision that lets a production stop paying a performer during a gap between their working days, then re-engage them later. The performer is dropped after one day and picked up on a later one, with the intervening hold days not paid.
It is governed by union or guild rules where those apply, and the conditions are specific: there are usually minimum gap lengths, limits on how often it can be used, and notice requirements. Applying it outside those conditions turns a saving into a claim.
The reason it exists is the shape of an out-of-order schedule. A performer with scenes at two locations six weeks apart would otherwise sit on paid hold for the entire gap. Reading the DOOD for gaps long enough to drop is one of the highest-value passes a line producer makes over a schedule.
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