# Contact sheet

Source: https://storiara.com/glossary/contact-sheet
Last updated: 2026-09-14
Author: Spencer Kaufman, Storiara

> A contact sheet, in production, is the phone and email directory for a shoot: crew by department, cast or their representatives, vendors, location contacts, and emergency numbers. In photography and casting the term also means a single page of thumbnail images, so check which one someone means.

## What it contains

A production contact sheet is organized by who you'd be calling and why:

| Section | Example entries |
|---|---|
| Production office | Office line, production coordinator, APOC, accounting |
| Crew | By department, as on the [crew list](https://storiara.com/glossary/crew-list) |
| Cast | Character, actor, agent or manager name and phone |
| Locations | Rosie's Diner owner (Linda Cho), on-site contact, alarm company |
| Vendors | Camera rental house, grip and electric house, honeywagon company, caterer |
| Permits and safety | Film office or permit coordinator, local police non-emergency, fire safety officer |
| Emergency | Set medic, nearest hospital, production insurance broker |

The vendor and location sections do most of the work after hours. When a generator won't start at 5:30 AM, the gaffer needs the rental house's after-hours number, not the salesperson's office line.

## The photography meaning

Photographers print a whole roll of film as small frames on one page, and that page is also called a contact sheet. The unit stills photographer uses the term, and so do casting offices when they send a page of headshots. If a producer asks for "the contact sheet from the chemistry read," they mean images, not phone numbers.

## How it gets built and kept current

The [production coordinator](https://storiara.com/roles/production-coordinator) usually starts it in prep from the crew list, the vendor accounts set up by accounting, and the location department's contacts for each site. New locations get added as soon as the [location release](https://storiara.com/glossary/location-release) is signed. Each vendor that issues or requires a [certificate of insurance](https://storiara.com/glossary/certificate-of-insurance) should have a contact listed for insurance questions.

Date the header and issue revisions, the same as the crew list. Contact sheets get forwarded widely, so decide in prep what's on the distributed version and what stays in the office.

## Where contact sheets let people down

Actors' personal cell numbers on a sheet that goes to every vendor can sour the production's relationship with that actor and their representatives. A location entry with the owner's number but no on-site contact means a crew waiting outside a locked door at call. Vendors the production stopped using should come off, or a driver ends up at the old rental house for a pickup.

For the layout, start with the [crew contact list template](https://storiara.com/templates/crew-contact-list). In Storiara, location cards in the [locations module](https://storiara.com/feature/locations) hold the real address, photos, and availability dates for each script setting.

## Frequently asked questions

### Should actors' personal numbers go on the contact sheet?

Usually not. The distributed version lists the agent or manager for principal cast. The ADs and the production office keep actors' direct numbers separately.

### What's the difference between a crew list and a contact sheet?

A crew list only covers crew. A contact sheet adds everyone outside the crew the production relies on: cast reps, vendors, location owners, the permit office, and emergency services.

### What is a contact sheet in photography?

A single page printed with small versions of every frame from a roll or shoot, so someone can pick selects. Casting offices and unit still photographers still use the term for thumbnail pages.