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The standard film-industry structure: straight time to 8 hours, time-and-a-half from 8 to 12, double time after 12. Enter a rate and the hours worked — the breakdown updates live.
| Day length | Payhours | Total pay |
|---|---|---|
| 8 hours | 8 | $371.43 |
| 10 hours | 11 | $510.72 |
| 12 hours | 14 | $650.00 |
| 13 hours | 16 | $742.86 |
| 14 hours | 18 | $835.71 |
Crew rates, call times and the budget live in one project. Timesheets that apply this overtime math at wrap are part of Pro.
Most film and video crews are engaged on one of two structures: an hourly rate, or a day rate quoted against a set number of covered hours (a "12-hour day"). Either way, the overtime math underneath is the same industry convention: the first 8 hours are straight time, hours 8 through 12 pay 1.5x, and everything past 12 pays 2x.
The subtlety is converting a day rate to an hourly base. A $650/12s day covers 14 payhours (8 straight + 4 × 1.5), so the base hourly is $650 ÷ 14 ≈ $46.43 — not $650 ÷ 12. Getting this wrong under-prices every hour of overtime you approve, and the error compounds across the crew and the schedule.
Budgeting a whole shoot this way — per person, per day, with wrap times drifting — is exactly the arithmetic that eats a line producer's evening, and why the budget carries a contingency line for the days that run long. That's the part worth automating.
The common structure on film and video shoots: the first 8 hours are straight time, hours 8–12 pay time-and-a-half (1.5x), and hours past 12 pay double time (2x). A 12-hour day therefore pays 14 "payhours", and a 14-hour day pays 18. Union agreements and local rules vary — always check the governing agreement.
A day rate is quoted against a number of covered hours — commonly 10 or 12. Because those hours include overtime tiers, the base hourly rate is the day rate divided by the PAYHOURS the day contains (a 12-hour day = 14 payhours), not by the raw hours. That base hourly then prices any additional overtime.
A payhour is an hour weighted by its overtime multiplier: hours 1–8 count as 1 each, hours 8–12 count as 1.5, and hours past 12 count as 2. It's the unit that makes day-rate math consistent.
It models the widespread 8/1.5x/12/2x structure. Union agreements add meal penalties, turnaround violations, sixth/seventh-day premiums, and different thresholds — treat this as a baseline estimate, not a payroll system of record.
Production Slate tracks crew timesheets with this exact tiered-OT math, rolls them into the budget automatically, and flags the days that blew past estimate. Start free; timesheets are part of Pro.
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