Exhibit G Walkthrough: Filling In the SAG-AFTRA Time Report

The Exhibit G is the form performers sign at the end of the day to confirm their hours. Payroll works from it, meal penalties and forced calls are counted from it, and when the union asks about a day, it's the document on the table. The daily production report copies its times, but the signed Exhibit G is the one that counts when they disagree.

This walkthrough fills in one day for three performers and runs the checks a 2nd AD should run before each one signs. It follows Day 12 of HARBOR LIGHTS, the fictional feature from how to set call times, so you can compare the plan to what happened. The Exhibit G glossary entry lists the form's columns in brief. Column labels shift a little between versions of the form, so use the version your signatory paperwork came with.

The header

Fill it in once per day, before the first performer arrives:

Mark whether it's a studio or location day. Several rules, including rest period exceptions, depend on it.

The three performers

Status comes from the day out of days for that date and should match the call sheet. Wes starts and finishes today, so his start paperwork and his Exhibit G signature are both needed before he leaves. Rosa is a minor, which adds tutoring time and a studio teacher's sign-off on hours to the row.

Work time: four edges per person

These are the columns everything else is calculated from.

Log the report time when the performer actually arrives at makeup or wardrobe, or at set if they came camera ready. Log dismissal from makeup and wardrobe when they're out of costume and released, not when camera cuts on their last shot. Elena's last shot was at 4:15 PM, but she was in wardrobe until 4:35 PM, and 4:35 PM is the time her rest period runs from.

A PA with a notebook who writes each time down as it happens gets this right. Reconstructing times at wrap from memory is where 15-minute errors come from, and 15 minutes on a dismissal can turn tomorrow's call into a forced call.

Meals

SAG-AFTRA's theatrical rules say the first meal must start within six hours of first call and the second within six hours of the end of the first. A performer can get a 15-minute non-deductible meal within two hours of their call, and then the first meal is due six hours after the end of that meal. The start and finish of a non-deductible meal have to be noted on the report.

Check each row the moment the meal starts:

• Elena: call 4:40 AM. No ND meal (the dawn shot took the whole window). First meal due by 10:40 AM. It started at 11:05 AM, 25 minutes late.
• Wes: call 9:30 AM. First meal due by 3:30 PM. Started at 1:45 PM. No penalty.
• Rosa: call 12:00 PM, dismissed from wardrobe at 5:00 PM, five hours total. No meal was due.

Elena's plan on the call sheet had her lunch at 10:30 AM. The morning ran long, and the 1st AD kept her through one more setup. Meal penalties are counted per half hour or fraction of one, so 25 minutes is one unit. SAG-AFTRA's theatrical FAQ lists $25 for the first half hour, $35 for the second, and $50 for each half hour after that. Penalty amounts change between contract cycles and can differ under other agreements, so confirm against the agreement your production signed. Write 1 in Elena's meal penalty column. The meal penalty calculator handles longer delays.

The planned 10:30 AM meal had ten minutes of slack. On a morning with a hard light cue, ten minutes disappears easily, and an AD who knows that calls lunch a setup early.

Travel

The travel columns record when a performer leaves for a location, arrives, leaves the location, and gets back. SAG-AFTRA's theatrical summary says overtime caused by travel time is paid at time and a half, and that mileage is owed to principal performers in some cases when they report to a location, with exceptions such as when production provides the transportation. That's why the columns exist: travel time affects pay.

On Day 12, Elena rode the production van from the crew hotel, so her travel times come from the van driver's log. Wes and Rosa drove themselves to the marina. How your production fills these columns depends on the agreement and where the location sits relative to the studio zone, so ask the production's SAG-AFTRA business representative once at the start of the show rather than guessing every day.

Everything else on the row

Outfits matter when performers supply wardrobe at production's request, and they help wardrobe reconcile what was worn. Tutoring time comes from the studio teacher, who tracks it, and it should match their own log. Working with minors on set covers the hours and teacher requirements.

The forced call column needs yesterday's form. Elena was dismissed from wardrobe at 4:10 PM on Day 11. SAG-AFTRA's daily rest in the studio zone is 12 hours from dismissal to the first call the next day, so her earliest call on Day 12 was 4:10 AM. She reported at 4:40 AM. No forced call. Do this check on the Exhibit G for every performer who worked the day before, and use the turnaround calculator when release times are staggered.

Getting the signature

Present the row to the performer when they're dismissed, before they reach their car. Read the times back if they want. If a performer disputes a time, check the PA's log, and if the log supports them, correct the form and initial the change. If you disagree, write the performer's objection on the form and tell the UPM. Don't alter times after a signature.

Elena looked at the meal line, saw the penalty was recorded, and signed. That's the normal case. Problems come when a penalty was earned and left off, because the performer notices, and then every other time on the form looks doubtful.

After wrap

1. Copy the times into the cast section of the daily production report. The template has a column for whether the Exhibit G is signed.
2. Check totals against the call sheet. Any performer who was on the call sheet and has no row needs an explanation, like a cancelled scene or a hold day.
3. Flag meal penalties and forced calls to the UPM so they land on the hot cost report the next morning.
4. Send the signed forms to payroll with the production report, and keep the originals with the day's paperwork. Your signatory paperwork tells you what the union needs and when.

The daily production report guide walks through the rest of the report the Exhibit G feeds. Crew hours follow a similar path on time cards.

Mistakes that show up in audits

Copying call sheet times. A row that reads exactly 6:00 AM, 12:00 PM, 12:30 PM, 6:00 PM for every performer was copied from the plan, and anyone checking it will see that.

Using camera wrap as dismissal. It shortens the recorded day and hides rest period problems for tomorrow.

Forgetting the ND meal notation. If a non-deductible meal was given and not written down with start and finish, the six-hour clock for lunch runs from call, and a lunch that was on time looks late.

Leaving status codes from yesterday. A W that should be SW sends payroll looking for a start date that isn't there.

Where Storiara fits

Storiara doesn't produce an Exhibit G or track actual times. What it holds is the planned side: the schedule, the Day Out of Days for cast with SW, W, WF, SWF, and H filled in from that schedule, and per-day call sheets with cast and crew calls. Those give the 2nd AD the status codes and planned times to compare against when filling in the form.