Day Rate

What this is about

Most film work in Germany is booked in day units: the crew member commits a working day, and the rate covers it. What that day contains is the part worth negotiating — the agreed number of hours, whether preparation and wrap count, whether personal equipment travels with the price, and what happens once the clock runs past the agreed end. A rate quoted without those boundaries is a number without a scope. Put the definition in the booking mail, not into the conversation on the shoot morning.

A term only helps when everyone on set means the same thing by it — so what follows is how it is used, not a dictionary definition.

What runs differently here

In planning terms, that means:

• A day rate without a defined hour window and travel rule is a placeholder, not a price
• Clarify early whether personal gear is included; kit rental normally sits on its own line
• Rates move with market, format and lead time, so numbers rarely transfer between projects

With TillyGen

TillyGen fixes the number of shoot days from the shotlist first, so rate talks start from a schedule rather than a guess.

Change one constraint and the consequences travel through the whole plan: affected shots are flagged, the call sheet is regenerated, and nobody keeps working from yesterday's version.