How to Estimate Crew Catering Costs Before You Lock a Budget

The Budget Line That Always Comes Back Larger

A first-time producer budgeted $8,000 for catering on a 10-day indie feature with a 20-person crew. The estimate came from a rough $40 per person per day figure they had read in a general film production overview. By the end of production, the actual catering spend was $14,400 -- 80% over budget.

The original estimate did not account for three things: the overtime meal at the end of each long day (required under the production's SAG agreement), the separate craft services table that needed replenishing throughout the day, and the fact that the location in question was 45 minutes from any restaurant, which pushed the caterer to charge a delivery surcharge on every meal.

Catering is not a rounding-error line item. On a 20-person, 10-day shoot, the difference between a $30 and a $50 per-person per-day estimate is $4,000.

This post covers the variables that determine catering cost at each production tier, how to calculate a defensible estimate from first principles, and how to use the Crew Size Estimator and Budget Breakdown Calculator as inputs.

The per-head cost ranges below are drawn from 2025 data provided by production catering companies, Reddit production forums, and independent film budgeting resources for US markets. Costs vary by region, scale, and vendor.

The Four Components of a Complete Catering Line Item

A complete crew catering budget includes four distinct components that are often collapsed into one figure.

Component 1: Hot Meals

The primary catered meal -- typically lunch on a standard shoot day, occasionally a second hot meal at a working dinner or wrap day. Industry range in 2025: $15 to $35 per head per hot meal for independent productions, depending on the caterer, menu, and location. Studio-level productions with dedicated unit catering typically run $35 to $65 per head per meal. NYC and LA markets run 15 to 30 percent higher than national averages due to labour and supply costs.

Component 2: Craft Services

The continuous snack, beverage, and light-food table available throughout the shooting day. Craft services is not a meal -- it is a constant: coffee, fruit, granola bars, chips, and light snacks available at all hours. Budget range: $8 to $18 per head per day depending on quality level. A $10 per head per day craft services table is functional but basic. A $18 per head table includes fresh fruit, hot beverages throughout, and snack variety appropriate for a full shooting day.

Component 3: Union Meal Penalties

Under SAG-AFTRA agreements (2023 Basic Agreement rates, adjusted for the current period), a meal must be provided within 6 hours of the crew call. Failure to provide a timely hot meal results in a meal penalty charge per SAG performer per meal violation. As of the current SAG-AFTRA Basic Agreement, the first meal violation is $25 per performer, with escalating penalties for subsequent violations. Similar provisions exist in IATSE union agreements for crew members. Any SAG or union production should treat meal penalties as a line item that reduces the buffer, not as a cost that does not exist. Even one late lunch across a 20-person cast and crew can add $500 or more to the day's catering-related costs.

Component 4: Location Surcharges and Contingencies

Caterers charge distance surcharges for locations beyond a certain radius from their base of operations -- typically anything more than 30 to 45 miles may incur a daily delivery surcharge of $100 to $350 depending on the caterer. Remote locations with no nearby food options also push the caterer to charge a premium for the travel time and logistics. Budget a 15 to 20 percent contingency on all catering estimates for a standard urban/suburban production, and 25 to 35 percent for remote or rural locations.

Three Worked Catering Estimates by Production Tier

Example 1: Micro-Budget Short, No Union, 8-Person Crew, 3 Days, Urban

Hot meals at lunch: 1 per day x 8 people x $20 = $160/day

Craft services: 8 people x $10/day = $80/day

Daily catering cost: $240/day x 3 days = $720

Contingency (15%): $108

Total estimate: $828

At this tier, the producer often handles craft services themselves (buying from Costco or a restaurant supply store) and orders from a restaurant for hot lunch. This is a practical approach for shoots under 10 people with flexible schedules.

Example 2: Low-Budget Feature, SAG Ultra Low Budget Agreement, 18-Person Crew, 15 Days, Suburban

Hot meals (1 per day): 18 people x $28 = $504/day

Craft services: 18 people x $12 = $216/day

Meal penalty buffer (2 violations per week at $25/SAG performer x 6 SAG cast): $900 for the run

Daily catering cost: $720/day x 15 days = $10,800

Add meal penalty buffer: $900

Contingency (15%): $1,620

Total estimate: $13,320

This is the tier where catering becomes a significant budget line. A $14,000 catering allocation on a 15-day feature is reasonable and should be defended to investors as a crew retention and compliance expense, not a luxury.

Example 3: Mid-Budget Commercial, Non-Union, 25-Person Crew, 5 Days, Location Surcharge

Hot meals (2 per day -- lunch and working dinner on shoot days): 25 people x $35 x 2 = $1,750/day

Craft services: 25 people x $15 = $375/day

Daily catering total: $2,125/day x 5 days = $10,625

Location surcharge (remote, $250/day): $1,250

Contingency (20%, remote location): $2,375

Total estimate: $14,250

The working dinner line item is the single biggest cost driver at this tier. If the shoot day is scheduled for 12 hours and principal photography runs past 6pm, the second hot meal is both a crew goodwill requirement and often a contractual one on union or guild productions.

Catering Cost Reference by Production Tier

The table below shows per-head per-day ranges for catering at each production tier. All figures are for US markets as of 2025; adjust for regional multipliers noted above.

The most common budgeting error at every tier is using a mid-budget per-head figure for a low-budget production's crew size. A 30-person crew at mid-budget rates costs 2.4x as much as an 8-person crew at micro-budget rates -- both the per-head cost and the headcount matter.

How to Calculate a Catering Budget Before Locking: Step by Step

Step 1: Use the Crew Size Estimator to arrive at a realistic crew headcount for each department and each shoot day. Catering budgets are often built against total-crew-days (crew members multiplied by shoot days), which this tool calculates directly.

Step 2: Identify the production tier (union or non-union, SAG agreement tier) and confirm the applicable meal penalty provisions. If the project is SAG, note the meal interval requirement (typically 6 hours from crew call to meal) and budget for at least two penalty instances across the production as a buffer.

Step 3: Determine the number of hot meals per day. A standard 8 to 10-hour day typically requires one hot meal. A 12-hour or longer day requires two: lunch and a second meal at the 6-hour mark from lunch (or at wrap). Any day scheduled for 14 or more hours should budget three catering intervals.

Step 4: Select a per-head cost from the reference table appropriate to your tier and market. Confirm with at least two caterer quotes before locking the figure. For productions in major markets (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago), add 15 to 25 percent to national average figures.

Step 5: Multiply: hot meal cost per head x meals per day x crew size x shoot days, then add craft services (per head per day x crew x days), then add location surcharges and a contingency percentage. Use the Budget Breakdown Calculator to see how catering sits relative to total below-the-line costs.

At the end of this process you have a line-item catering estimate with each component visible, which is the only format that survives a budget review.

Pro Tips and Common Mistakes

Pro Tip: Lock your caterer before you lock the budget. Get actual quotes from two or three caterers who service your location and shoot schedule before building the final figure. A quote from a specific caterer for your crew size, your location, and your shoot dates is a far more defensible number than a per-head average from a published guide -- and it often reveals cost variables (delivery fees, minimum order requirements, overtime) that the average does not capture.

Pro Tip: On SAG productions, treat meal timing as a scheduling constraint, not just a cost line. The meal must be provided within 6 hours of crew call regardless of whether you are mid-setup, mid-rehearsal, or mid-take. Building a 45-minute meal break into the day's schedule -- and confirming the caterer arrives 15 minutes before meal time -- is cheaper than discovering a $25-per-performer penalty at wrap. On a 10-person SAG cast, one meal violation at $25 each is $250. Three violations across a 15-day shoot is $750 -- money that could fund an additional shooting day at micro-budget scale.

Pro Tip: For remote or rural locations, contact the nearest town's catering or restaurant infrastructure a minimum of 4 weeks before the shoot. Caterers who service remote locations often have a limited booking calendar and may require a minimum crew size (often 15 or more). Identifying the catering solution early prevents the last-minute discovery that the only available option is a 2-hour drive and a $400 delivery charge.

Common Mistake: Budgeting catering as a per-day flat figure rather than per-person. A $500/day catering figure for a 10-person crew is $50 per head -- reasonable at mid-budget. The same $500/day for a 25-person crew is $20 per head, which covers a basic hot meal but no craft services and no margin for second meals or penalties. Catering scales with headcount, not with shoot days alone.

Common Mistake: Not accounting for non-crew principals in the catering count. Craft services is typically extended to producers, clients, agency representatives, and on-set visitors as a standard courtesy. A commercial shoot with a 20-person crew may have 5 to 8 agency and client attendees on any given day. These additional mouths are not in the crew count but they eat from the same table. Budget an additional 20 to 30 percent on top of the crew-count figure for commercial and agency productions where client attendance is expected.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between catering and craft services on a film set?

Catering refers to a prepared hot meal typically served at a break -- lunch or dinner -- from a dedicated catering truck or company. Craft services (also called "crafty") is the continuously stocked table available throughout the production day with snacks, fruit, beverages, and light foods. On union productions, both are typically required. On micro-budget productions, craft services is often self-managed by a PA buying supplies from a wholesale retailer.

How does meal penalty work in practice on a SAG production?

Under the SAG-AFTRA Basic Agreement, if a meal is not provided within 6 hours of the performer's call time, the production owes each affected performer a meal allowance penalty (currently $25 for the first violation, escalating for subsequent ones). The penalty is paid per performer per violation and is calculated on the production payroll. A 10-performer cast missing one meal on a 15-day shoot represents $250 in penalties -- not catastrophic, but often avoidable with a disciplined schedule.

Can craft services be replaced by a per-diem payment to the crew?

On some very small productions, a cash per-diem replaces a physical craft services table. The per-diem rate should cover what craft services would cost -- typically $10 to $15 per person per day -- and should be confirmed with any applicable union agreements before implementation. SAG-AFTRA has specific provisions about meal allowances and per-diems that differ by agreement tier; consult the applicable agreement before substituting a per-diem for provided meals.

How do I estimate catering costs for a shoot in a country outside the US?

Labour rates, food costs, and caterer availability vary enormously by country. For UK productions, BECTU agreements and PACT guidelines govern meal requirements. For European productions, local labour agreements apply. As a baseline, the per-head structure (hot meal + craft services + contingency) remains the right framework -- the unit costs must be sourced from in-country catering quotes rather than from US average figures. Budget for at least two local caterer quotes before locking any international catering line.

Related Tools

The Crew Size Estimator produces a department-by-department headcount that feeds directly into the catering calculation -- total crew days is the denominator of every per-head estimate. The Budget Breakdown Calculator shows how catering relates to total production costs and flags when catering is undersized relative to the overall production scale.

For the adjacent budget items that interact with catering planning, How to Calculate Shooting Day Cost covers the full daily cost structure including location, crew, equipment, and catering as integrated line items. For managing the total budget allocation across departments, Film Production Budgeting: A Practical Guide covers the priority framework for allocating limited resources.

A Line Item Worth Spending Time On

Catering is one of the few production budget items where the difference between a good estimate and a bad one directly affects crew morale, union compliance, and the production's ability to retain talent for additional days. A crew that is well-fed on schedule shows up early and stays late. A crew waiting 45 minutes for a late lunch on day two starts making contingency plans. Spend the time on the catering estimate before the budget is locked -- a realistic number built from actual quotes is one of the clearest markers of a producer who has done productions before.

This post covers on-set catering for productions shooting under a standard day rate. Catering for multi-day location holds, travel days, and international productions involves additional per-diem and allowance structures not covered here. What is the largest gap you have experienced between a catering estimate and the actual cost on a production?