Live Production Crew Glossary: Load-In, Call Time, Turnaround and 40 More Terms

The vocabulary of a production dock is precise, regional and mostly unwritten. Someone new to scheduling crews, or evaluating software for them, runs into forty terms that nobody defines because everyone on site already knows them.

These are the ones that come up when you are building a schedule, writing a call sheet or arguing about a timesheet.

Scheduling and the day

Call time. The time an individual is required to be present and ready to work, not the time they arrive at the parking lot. Different people on the same event have different call times.

General call. The time the bulk of the crew is due, quoted on the call sheet as a headline even when departments stagger around it.

Load-in. Moving equipment into the venue and building the show. The most labor-intensive phase and usually the earliest call.

Load-out, or strike. Taking it down and putting it back on trucks. Almost always late, frequently overnight, and the phase where overtime and night premium actually happen.

Focus. Aiming and setting lighting fixtures after they are hung and powered.

Soundcheck. Audio testing with the performers or presenters. Distinct from a systems check, which happens earlier without them.

Doors. The time the audience is admitted. A hard deadline that everything before it is measured against.

Wrap. The end of the working day for a crew or a department.

Dark day. A day in a run with no performance. Often used for maintenance, and sometimes staffed anyway.

Turnaround. The rest between the end of one call and the start of the next. A crew wrapping at 02:00 and called for 08:00 has a six-hour turnaround, which many agreements treat as a violation requiring premium pay.

Changeover. Resetting a space between two events or two acts, usually under time pressure and with a surge of labor.

Advance. The planning phase before the crew arrives: confirming specs, access, power and schedule with the venue and client.

Roles

Crew head, or crew chief. The person running a department on site. Also usually the one holding the call sheet and signing off hours.

Steward. In union environments, the crew representative responsible for the agreement being followed.

Rigger. Works at height installing points from which equipment hangs. Requires specific certification and is one of the highest-consequence roles on a dock.

Stagehand. General production labor: loading, building, pushing cases, assembling staging. The backbone role and the one hired in the greatest number.

Electrician. In production, handles lighting fixtures, cable and power distribution, not building wiring. A Production Electrician takes the lead of that department.

A1 and A2. Audio roles. The A1 mixes and takes responsibility for the audio system. The A2 handles stage-side work: microphones, cabling, instrument changes.

V1. The lead video role, responsible for the video system, sometimes called a video engineer or technical director depending on the shop.

LD. Lighting Designer, who designs the lighting look. Distinct from the programmer who executes it on a console.

Hand. Generic shorthand for a working crew member, as in "we need six hands for the changeover".

EIH. Employee in house, a term some labor companies use for crew provided to work under a venue's or client's supervision.

Pay and rules

Day rate. A flat amount for a day's work, often with an assumed number of hours before overtime applies. Common for specialists and touring positions.

Minimum call. The guaranteed number of hours paid for showing up, commonly four. A two-hour strike still pays the minimum.

Daily overtime. A multiplier applied after a threshold of hours in a single day, commonly eight or ten. Distinct from weekly overtime at forty hours, which is what retail scheduling software assumes.

Double time, or golden time. A higher multiplier after a second threshold, often twelve hours.

Night premium. An uplift applied to hours worked inside a defined overnight window, commonly something like midnight to 06:00.

Meal penalty. A payment owed when a required meal break is not provided in its window or is cut short.

Portal to portal. Paying from the time a crew member leaves a designated point rather than from arrival at the venue. Common on travel days.

Show call. The shift covering the performance itself, as distinct from the load-in or strike call.

These are the rules most often mishandled by hand. Overtime, night premium and meal penalties for event crews covers how they interact in a single shift.

Paperwork and logistics

Call sheet. The daily document listing call times, venue access, run of day, contacts and pay rules. See how to write one.

Production schedule. The multi-day plan for the whole project, as distinct from a single day's call sheet.

Run of show. The minute-by-minute sequence of the performance or program itself.

Rider. The artist's or client's document of technical and hospitality requirements.

Spec, or tech pack. The equipment list and technical requirements for a production.

Dock. The loading bay. Which dock, and whether a freight elevator is involved, is the single most useful line on a call sheet.

Pusher, or truck pack. Loading trucks so that equipment comes off in the order it is needed.

Marshalling yard. Where trucks wait before being called to the dock, common at large convention centers.

In-house. Labor or equipment supplied by the venue rather than by the production company. Hotels and convention centers often have exclusive arrangements that constrain who may rig or run power.

Jurisdiction. Which union or in-house group has the right to perform particular work at a particular venue. Worth confirming during the advance, not at 06:00 on the dock.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between load-in and setup?
Load-in strictly means moving equipment into the building. In practice it is used to cover the whole build phase including assembly, rigging and focus.

What does a Crew Head actually do?
Runs a department on site: directs the crew, coordinates with the production manager, keeps the department on schedule, and usually signs off hours at the end of the call.

Why do riggers call earlier than everyone else?
Because everything else hangs off what they install. Lighting cannot fly, audio cannot hang arrays and video cannot mount screens until the points are in.

What is the difference between a day rate and an hourly rate?
A day rate is a flat sum for the day, often with an assumed hour count before overtime begins. Hourly pays for time worked from the first hour. Many companies use both, depending on the role and the client.

Related reading: How to write a call sheet for a live event, Overtime, night premium and meal penalties, Stagehand scheduling software.