Where the 2nd AD sits
The 1st AD decides what gets shot and when. The Key 2nd AD makes sure everyone who needs to be there shows up at the right time, ready, and that the paperwork proves what happened. On a feature the 2nd AD spends most of the shooting day at base camp or in the production trailer, on walkie channel 1 with an earpiece, talking to the 1st AD on set, the hair and makeup trailer, transportation, and the production office.
In prep the 2nd AD helps finish the breakdown, confirms cast availability against the day out of days, collects the crew list, and sets up templates for the call sheet and production report so they match the studio's format.
Building the call sheet
Around mid-afternoon the 1st AD hands over tomorrow's plan: scene order, crew call, shooting call, and when each actor is needed on set. The 2nd AD works each actor backward from that set time.
Say Maya (cast #1) is needed on set at 8:30 a.m. for scene 42A. Her look takes 75 minutes in hair and makeup, wardrobe takes 15 minutes, and the drive from the hotel is 30 minutes.
- On set: 8:30 a.m.
- Out of wardrobe by 8:30 means into wardrobe at 8:15.
- Out of hair and makeup at 8:15 means into the chair at 7:00.
- Report (arrival at base camp) at 7:00, so pickup at the hotel is 6:30.
Then the 2nd AD checks her turnaround. If she was released at 9:00 p.m. yesterday, the gap to a 6:30 pickup is nine and a half hours, and whether that works depends on how her contract counts rest time. The SAG-AFTRA rules are summarized in turnaround rules compared, and the turnaround calculator does the arithmetic. If it fails, the 2nd AD goes back to the 1st AD to push her set time or reorder the scenes.
Background calls, stand-ins, special equipment, the advance schedule for the next two days, and the safety bulletin for any stunt get added before the draft goes to the 1st AD and UPM. Once approved, the production office sends the call sheet out, and the 2nd AD or the office calls or texts each actor to confirm they've received it.
During the shooting day
A rough shape of a Key 2nd AD's day on a location show:
| Time | Work |
|---|---|
| 5:30 a.m. | Arrives before the first hair and makeup call |
| 6:30 a.m. | First cast pickups roll. Tracks arrivals, starts Exhibit G times |
| 7:00 a.m. | Crew call. Makes sure the 2nd 2nd AD has sides and background counts |
| 8:15 a.m. | Calls "Maya is out of makeup, walking to wardrobe" to the 1st AD |
| 1:00 p.m. | Logs lunch start and end for crew and each actor |
| 3:30 p.m. | Gets tomorrow's plan from the 1st AD, drafts the call sheet |
| 6:00 p.m. | Call sheet approved and sent |
| 7:00 p.m. | Camera wrap. Logs actor out times as they leave wardrobe |
| 8:00 p.m. | Finishes the production report draft, leaves |
The DGA rate card says a Key 2nd AD's workday starts at the earliest of general crew call, makeup call, or hair call, and ends one hour after camera wrap, plus travel time on distant or bus-to locations. On a single-camera show with one 2nd AD on the unit, days past 13 hours add a half day's salary, and days past 15 add a full day.
Exhibit G and the production report
For SAG-AFTRA performers the 2nd AD fills out Exhibit G, the performers' production time report: report time, on-set time, meal start and finish, dismissal from set, time out of wardrobe, and travel times. Each performer signs their line before leaving. Mistakes here become meal penalty or rest period claims weeks later, so a careful 2nd AD compares Exhibit G against the hair and makeup trailer's times and the walkie log before signing.
The daily production report carries the same data for the whole company plus what got shot: scenes completed, pages (in eighths), setups, script minutes from the script supervisor, film or media used, crew in and out times, meal times, and notes on delays, accidents, and anything unusual. A typical page-count line:
| Scenes | Pages | |
|---|---|---|
| Prev. shot | 31 | 42 3/8 |
| Shot today | 4 | 5 4/8 |
| Total to date | 35 | 47 7/8 |
| Remaining | 71 | 60 1/8 |
Script total is 108 pages, so 108 minus 47 7/8 leaves 60 1/8. The UPM signs the report and it goes to the studio the next morning. Our daily production report guide goes through each section.
Routes onto the 2nd AD list
DGA signatory employers give hiring preference to people on the Qualification Lists. For 2nd ADs there are three main routes.
The first is the DGA Assistant Directors Training Program. The West Coast program (Directors Guild-Producer Training Plan) places trainees for 400 days of paid on-set work; the New York program is two years with a minimum of 350 production days. Trainees rotate through features, series, and commercials under DGA 2nd ADs, 1st ADs, and UPMs, and attend seminars on production forms, call sheets, union contracts, set safety, and staging background. Graduates can join the DGA as 2nd ADs. The New York program asks that applicants be 21 by the June start and US citizens or permanent residents; a four-year degree and some industry experience are recommended but not required. It gets 300 to 350 applications a year and takes 5 to 7 people, selected through online testing in February, a half-hour interview in March, and a board interview in May for about 20 finalists.
The second is working days. The Southern California list requires 400 days as a 2nd AD, 1st AD, or UPM, at least 75% with the shooting company, and one qualifying day in the last six months. The Third Area list requires 120 days on the same terms (90 with the shooting company). The New York list requires 350. Days on non-union shows count if you were paid as an AD and can document them with call sheets, production reports, crew lists, deal memos, and pay stubs or W-2s.
The third is the commercial side. The DGA/AICP Commercial Qualification List counts production assistant days toward its 2nd AD requirement of 600 days of direct production experience, 300 of them doing AD work, in New York or Southern California. DGA Contract Administration's film and television lists do not count PA days at all, which is why many set PAs look for 2nd AD credits on non-union features instead.
Pay
For July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, the Key 2nd AD Article 13 minimum is $4,585 a week in the studio and $6,407 on location, with a weekly production fee of $967 studio or $1,270 location. Daily hire is $1,146 in the studio or $1,602 on location. On single-camera pilots and first and second season series, the rates are lower ($4,473 weekly studio). ADs on most projects also receive 4% vacation pay with their closing check and 4.583% unworked holiday pay the following spring.
Tools of the job
The call sheet template, a turnaround sheet for every actor, Exhibit G pads, the production report, and a walkie with a surveillance earpiece. In Storiara the call sheet is built from the schedule: it knows which scenes are on the day, which actors play the characters in those scenes, their call times, the location address, and the weather. The hospital is still typed in by hand, but the rest covers much of the retyping a 2nd AD does at 4 p.m.