A first-week checklist for new joiners in film and television production

A shoot has no slow first week. The stripboard is locked, the generator van is booked and the unit moves on Thursday. A new spot-boy, clapper loader or wardrobe assistant is expected to be useful by the second call-time. Yet most learn the basics from whoever stands near the tea urn.

This sheet fixes that. It is one page, kept by the production coordinator, for each joiner. Each line has a named person and a date. The longer thinking sits in our note on the first thirty days on a production. This post is only the working tool.

NAME ____ DEPARTMENT (camera / grip / art / costume / sound / production / post) ____ PROJECT ____ JOINED ____.
PRE-CALL: call-sheet for day one sent by the coordinator ____ reporting pin and unit-base location shared ____ nearest gate or pickup ____.
PRE-CALL: department head named in writing (DOP, gaffer, art director, costume designer, sound recordist or line producer) ____.
DAY ONE ON ARRIVAL: wristband or crew-pass issued ____ name entered on the crew list and the daily progress report ____.
DAY ONE: second AD walks the joiner through call-time, tea runs, lunch break, pack-up and the wrap announcement ____.
DAY ONE: safety talk for THIS location covers cable runs, rigging points, generator van, fire exit, first-aid kit and the honeywagon queue ____.
DAY ONE: day-rate, overtime slab, travel-day rule and payment date read aloud and noted on the engagement note ____.
DAY TWO: department head confirms one real task done alone, such as a slate, a clip-on mic check, a fill-light stand or a continuity photo ____.
DAY THREE: walkie, keys, lens kit or costume rack issued and logged in the department register ____.
DAY FOUR: turnaround rule explained (rest between pack-up and the next call) and any night schedule flagged ____.
DAY FIVE: five minutes with the production manager, one question: what is still unclear? ____.
SIGN-OFF: coordinator ____ department head ____ joiner ____ date ____.

The coordinator owns the page. The joiner never ticks their own line. A newcomer who is unsure will tick everything just to look keen, and the sheet then proves nothing.

• Pre-call lines are filled the evening before, straight from the call-sheet and the crew list.
• Day-one lines are ticked by the second AD or the unit production manager while the unit is still at base.
• Day-two to day-five lines belong to the department head, who initials them in pen.
• The coordinator reviews open lines on the evening of day three, while a fix is still cheap.

1. 1

   Print before the unit leaves base

   Carry the sheets in the same folder as the call-sheets and location permission letters. A page left on a laptop in the production office never gets ticked on location.

2. 2

   Read the pay line aloud

   Day-rates, overtime slabs and payment dates cause the loudest rows at wrap. Say them in front of the department head, then write them on the engagement note the joiner keeps.

3. 3

   Match the safety talk to the place

   A rooftop briefing is useless on a studio floor with a lighting grid overhead. The line names the location, so a talk given at the last unit does not count.

4. 4

   Test one task early

   A joiner with nothing done alone by day two is probably standing idle. Hand over the clapper board, a stand, a wardrobe steaming job or the dailies card offload.

5. 5

   Close open lines by day three

   Anything blank is named to the production manager with a date it will be done.

• Camera and grip: lens kit and cable inventory, who signs for the dolly and rig, who may touch the focus puller's gear.
• Art and costume: continuity photos, prop return, and the alteration queue before the next scene.
• Sound: boom pole care, walkie channel discipline, wild-track etiquette on a live set.
• Production desk: petty cash register, vehicle trip sheets, unit-meals headcount, the recce folder and the daily progress report.
• Post: ingest drive labels, the backup rule for rushes and dailies, and who may delete a card.

Scan each signed page at wrap and file it with the crew list, the engagement notes and the daily attendance sheets. If pay or conduct is questioned months later, you hold a dated page, not a memory. The filing habit is covered in our documentation process, and the wider joining routine in the employee onboarding process.

• It is started on day three, after the first complaint.
• The department head ticks every line on the last evening.
• Freelancers hear the rate by phone and no note is written.
• The safety talk is given once to the whole unit and never repeated for late joiners.
• Pages travel between production office and unit base and get lost in the van.

Fix those and week one becomes dull in a good way. For a studio-floor view, see the film studios joining page and the wider film and television production hub.