A day on the hot sheet
Say Day 7 was budgeted as a 12-hour day with lunch at six hours. The daily production report shows camera wrap at 13.5 hours and lunch called 40 minutes late. For a crew of 30 with an average straight rate of $42 an hour on a non-union deal that pays time and a half after 12 hours, the accountant writes:
| Item | Budget | Actual | Over/(under) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extra 1.5 hrs, 30 crew x $63/hr | $0 | $2,835 | $2,835 |
| Meal penalty, 2 half hours x 30 crew ($7.50 + $10.00) | $0 | $525 | $525 |
| Background, 25 budgeted, 32 used at $200 | $5,000 | $6,400 | $1,400 |
| Extra condor, 1 day | $0 | $850 | $850 |
| Day total | $5,610 |
The overtime line is 30 x 1.5 x ($42 x 1.5) = 30 x 1.5 x $63 = $2,835. The meal penalty amounts in this example follow the IATSE Local 80 schedule for work outside a studio (see meal penalty); your deal may differ. If the rest of the schedule ran like Day 7, a 20-day shoot would be $112,200 over.
Why it's daily
A cost report comes out weekly, which means a pattern of 13-hour days can go on for five shoot days before anyone sees it in dollars. Hot costs turn Tuesday's overtime into a number on Wednesday morning, when the 1st AD and line producer can still change Thursday's call time or cut a setup.
What to include and what to skip
Stick to costs that move with how the day went: crew and cast hours, overtime, meal penalties, forced calls, extra background, additional rentals, and unplanned purchases. Fixed costs that were going to happen anyway, like the location fee, don't belong on the hot sheet unless they changed. Fringes should be applied to the labor overages, since overtime carries payroll taxes too.
Where it goes next
Daily overages roll into the weekly cost report and update the estimate to complete. The hot cost report template has the columns set up, and the overtime calculator and meal penalty calculator help check the numbers before they go on the sheet.