What you’ll learn
- Be able to read a call sheet and a movement order and know what each line is for.
- Know what a risk assessment is, who signs it, and what to do if the job in front of you is not on it.
- Know the paperwork that hires you: the start form, the rate, the kit hire and your right to work.
- Be able to send a correct invoice with a purchase order number and know when to expect payment.
Where this leads
By the end you will have written your own Stage 1 plan, checked yourself against MFJF's five Stage 1 statements, and know exactly what to do next: a mentor clinic, an Academy workshop, and Stage 2, the HotList.
The paperwork that runs the day
8 minThree documents decide where the unit goes, what it shoots and whether it is safe to do it. Read them before anyone asks you to.
- readThe call sheet, the movement order and the unit list3 min
- readRisk assessments, permits and the safety file3 min
- checkCheck: the day's documents2 min
The paperwork about you
8 minHow you are hired, how you are paid, and the forms that decide both. This is the part nobody explains and everybody gets wrong once.
- readGetting hired: the start form, the deal and your right to work3 min
- readGetting paid: timesheets, invoices, purchase orders and petty cash3 min
- checkCheck: hiring and paying2 min
The paperwork the shoot produces
9 minEvery department writes something down each day, and those documents follow the footage into post. Knowing what they are makes you useful to all of them.
- readWhat each department files before wrap3 min
- taskTask: your paperwork folder3 min
- checkCheck: the shoot's own records3 min
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Sources and references
Where this course comes from. Open any of them yourself.
Check it yourself
This course is written from our own experience of the industry. These are the authorities that set the rules, so you can check anything here for yourself.
- HSE: entertainment and the arts risk assessments and method statements, from the regulator
- GOV.UK: prove your right to work to an employer the right to work check every production must do
- The Mark Milsome Foundation on-set safety, and the free online safety course
- BECTU deal memos, grades and what a fair engagement looks like
- albert: screen industry sustainability the carbon calculator and the paperwork it generates
Every link checked 19 September 2026.
