A daily production report (DPR) is the official record of one shoot day: when the crew was called and wrapped, which scenes were scheduled and which were actually shot, how many pages and setups were completed, each cast member's hours, and anything that went wrong. It is written at wrap and sent the same night. Payroll, insurance, the completion bond, and the producer's “are we on schedule?” question all run on it.
What is a daily production report?
Every other document in pre-production is a plan. The DPR is the only one that records reality. That is why it is boring to fill in and why everyone who pays for the film reads it.
What goes in a daily production report?
The day summary
The headline numbers. A producer reading only this block learns, in ten seconds, whether the day happened as planned. Here is Day 1 of Nightfall:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Production | Nightfall |
| Date | Tue, May 12, 2026 |
| Day | Day 1 of 18 |
| Crew Call | 06:30 |
| First Shot | 08:42 |
| Lunch | 13:00 – 13:30 |
| First Shot After Lunch | 14:10 |
| Camera Wrap | 19:05 |
| Crew Wrap | 19:50 |
| Scenes Scheduled | 5, 12, 12A |
| Scenes Completed | 5, 12 |
| Scenes Partially Shot | 12A (2 of 4 setups) |
| Pages Scheduled / Shot | 4.00 / 3.25 |
| Setups | 23 |
| Weather | Overcast; rain from 19:00 |
Read the pairs. Crew call 06:30, first shot 08:42: a 2h12 setup, which is slow for a single location and worth a question. Scenes scheduled 5, 12, 12A; completed 5 and 12; 12A half done. Pages 4.00 planned, 3.25 shot. One day is a data point. Three days of 80 percent is a schedule that needs to be re-cut.
Cast times
Exact times, to the minute, for every cast member: call, arrival, on set, wrap, and any meal penalty. This block is a contractual record on union shoots and a payroll document on all of them. It is also where turnaround is checked: an actor wrapped at 19:05 cannot be called before 07:05 the next morning under a 12-hour turnaround.
| # | Character | Actor | Call | Arrived | On Set | Wrap | Meal Penalty | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maya | Dana Whitfield | 06:45 | 06:40 | 08:00 | 19:05 | No | |
| 2 | Reyes | Marcus Oyelaran | 07:15 | 07:20 | 08:30 | 12:45 | No | Wrapped early — Sc. 5 only |
| 3 | Okafor | Priya Nair | 07:15 | 07:10 | 08:30 | 12:45 | No | |
| 4 | Cook | Tom Barrow | 09:30 | 09:25 | 10:00 | 19:05 | No | Held for 12A |
Notes and incidents
Anything that cost time, money, or could have hurt someone: delays and why, equipment broken or lost, schedule changes and where the dropped scenes went, injuries and near-misses. Each with the time, the action taken, and who reported it.
| Time | Type | Description | Action Taken | Reported By |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:15 | Delay | Fridge compressor noise in kitchen; 25 min lost re-blocking for sound. | Unplugged fridge between takes; props iced the shelves. | L. Ferreira |
| 16:40 | Equipment | Slider plate stripped; 2 setups shot handheld. | Replacement from Harbor Camera for Day 2. | E. Novak |
| 19:00 | Schedule | 12A not completed — rain arrived early, light changed. | Remaining 2 setups moved to Day 4 (diner, night). | S. Moreau |
Who writes it, and when?
- During the day, the 2nd AD keeps a running log: actual times as they happen, scenes as they complete, incidents as they occur. This is the only way the times are accurate.
- At wrap, the 2nd AD fills in the report from the log, in fifteen minutes.
- The 1st AD checks it against their own sense of the day, especially the scene status and the incidents.
- The production office finalizes and sends it the same night to the producer, line producer, UPM, and whoever the financing requires.
On a small shoot, one person does all four. The sequence still holds: log during, write at wrap, send tonight.
How producers use the DPR
- Is the schedule real? Pages shot versus pages scheduled, day after day. Three days at 80 percent means the remaining fifteen days are two days short, and the time to find out is Day 3.
- What is the day costing? Overtime hours, meal penalties, extras used versus booked, feed the daily cost report and the running budget.
- What is owed? Partial scenes and dropped setups are the pickup list. If they are not on a DPR, they get forgotten until the edit.
- What happened? For insurance claims, for a dispute about hours, for the completion bond, the DPR is the record. An incident not in the report did not, officially, occur.
Common mistakes
- Writing it the next morning. Times become estimates and incidents become memories.
- Only recording the good news. The report is a record, not a performance review. A 12A-half-done day written as “completed” is a lie the schedule will tell back to you on Day 18.
- No “scheduled” column. Without what was planned, the report cannot show what slipped.
- Sending it to nobody. Filed and unread, it does no work. It goes to the producer the same night, and they read the top block before bed.
What comes next
The DPR closes the loop that the call sheet opens: what was planned in the morning, what actually happened by night. The free DPR template has all three sections above, filled in for Nightfall's Day 1, and a blank copy to use tomorrow.
Frequently asked questions
Who fills in the daily production report?
The 2nd AD drafts it during and at the end of the day, the 1st AD checks it, and the UPM or production coordinator finalizes and distributes it. On a small indie shoot, the 1st AD or the producer does all of it at wrap.
When is the DPR sent?
The same night, within a few hours of wrap, to the producer, UPM, and line producer, and often to the financiers or completion bond. A report that arrives two days later is a diary, not a report.
What is the difference between a call sheet and a production report?
The call sheet is the plan for the day, sent the evening before. The production report is the record of the day, written at wrap. Read together, the gap between them tells you whether the schedule is real.
Why does the DPR record cast times so precisely?
Because payroll, overtime, meal penalties, and turnaround are all calculated from them, and because on union shoots the report is a contractual record. 12:45 is not 13:00.
Does a short film need a daily production report?
A simple one, yes, even if it is half a page. Scenes planned versus shot, cast times, and anything that went wrong. On a two-day short it takes ten minutes and it is what you will want when the insurance claim or the festival delivery asks for it.