What's inside
Walk down the side of a typical honeywagon and you'll see a string of doors. A few are restrooms (often split men's and women's at one end), and the rest open into narrow rooms with a bench or small couch, a mirror, a clothes rack, and an outlet. People describe them by the number of rooms: a "six-room honeywagon" or an "eight-room." Some units add a small office room the ADs or the production office can use.
It sits at base camp next to the cast trailers and hair and makeup.
How rooms get assigned
The 2nd 2nd AD, or the 2nd AD on smaller shows, works out room assignments from the day's call sheet and tapes name cards to the doors before cast arrive. On a day with six speaking roles and two stunt performers, the list might look like this:
| Room | Occupant | Call |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Restroom | |
| 2 | Restroom | |
| 3 | #7 Dr. Ruiz | 9:30A |
| 4 | #9 Officer Tate | 9:30A |
| 5 | #11 Waitress | 12:00P |
| 6 | Stunt coordinator | 7:00A |
| 7 | #12 Stunt double (Tate) | 10:00A |
When a day player wraps, the 2nd 2nd AD flips the card so wardrobe knows the room can be cleared for the next arrival.
Budget and scheduling notes
The honeywagon sits in the transportation section of the budget, billed as a rental by the day or week plus the driver's labor, fuel, and pumping. It moves with the company, so a company move means breaking down base camp and rebuilding it at the next site. On shoots with a lot of background, one honeywagon's restrooms won't be enough, and the production adds portable restroom units near holding.
Common mistakes
Indie productions sometimes skip the honeywagon to save money and rely on a location's bathrooms. That works until you have forty crew and one toilet in a private house, and the homeowner who signed the location agreement starts regretting it. Another mistake is assigning a principal performer a honeywagon room when their contract promises something more. Check the deal memo before posting room cards. The transportation coordinator should also confirm the trailer's length against the base camp lot before booking, since some honeywagons need a semi tractor to move.