Production shoots for TV, film, music videos, commercials and photo shoots can last up to 14 hours or longer. While union rules require hot meals every 6-hours, your crew needs nourishment throughout the day. Craft service for low budget film usually work with just the bare basics to save money. Having a craft service attendant on-duty will allow for the management of your budget for food each day, maintain food safety, and keep the craft services table looking presentable and well stocked. Aside from the basic, it’s always a good idea to add a few platters of grab-and-go snacks like PBJs or turkey sliders for the crew, it budget permits. Below is a list of the basics in order of priority:

• Bottled Water
• Coffee
• Gatorade
• Variety of nuts like almonds, pecans, trail mix and walnuts
• Fresh Fruit like bananas, apples and oranges
• Packaged snacks like chips, cookies, granola bars
• Sweets like chocolate bars, M&Ms, licorice
• Gum and mints
• Perishable items like plates, napkins, cups
• Soda & juice variety
• Ice

BUDGET BACKYARD BBQ

When you’re ready to plan your next backyard BBQ on a budget, delegate to save time and money. The ideal BBQ allows everyone to relax, eat, play games and have a good time. Feel free to invite all your friends and relatives to help you out. Arrange for games that allow guests to play as a team or one on one.

Choose a few games for team building:

• Cornhole or Beanbag toss
• Bocce Ball
• Dominos
• Twister
• Potato Sack Race (use large garbage bags as a substitute)
• Drunk Limbo (Play this late in the day after everyone has had a few drinks. Things get interesting)

It’s also a good idea to include exclusive one-on-one games like chess, checkers and a deck of cards. The idea of the games is to allow people to interact with each other in the spirit of competition.

You can also save money by planning your own playlist instead of hiring a DJ. Choose upbeat music that you’re sure the crowd will enjoy. You don’t have to wire sound throughout your backyard if you use wireless speakers. Simply connect to your Ipod or computer playlist.

Hire a personal chef to prepare the meal. This will give you time to enjoy with your guests. Call Dine With 9 Catering for an estimate. Our chefs will plan a menu within your budget to make sure the pickiest eaters are satisfied.

Decoration is also something you can delegate to the kids or those guests who arrive early. Use your favorite color Gingham linen to cover the tables. Gather things like sea shells, lanterns and ornate objects for your tablescape. Use streamers across the back gate and as a way to encompass the party area. Don’t forget to also use colorful disposable plates, napkins and cutlery to continue the theme of your BBQ.

The last item you can delegate is the bar. Ask guests to bring a bottle of their favorite spirit. You can save money by purchasing all the disposables, non-alcoholic beverages and ice for the bar. It’s also a good idea to create a non-alcoholic house drink that can be spiked with alcohol. Try our recipe for Ginger-Mint-Lemonade. Add this beverage to a large self-serve container. Now you’re ready to party!

When you order from a caterer, it’s not the same as ordering off a menu at a restaurant.  Caterers prepare food in volume and discount the price in comparison to ordering individual dishes a la carte.  Most caterers have minimum orders of 30, 50 or 100 servings.  Once you determine your event date and a budget, contact a caterer and request a quote.  Most caterers will request the basics for a quote:

• Date and time of event
• Number of guests
• Type of event
• Service type (ie: tray passed appetizers, buffet, sit-down, family style, or drop-off)
• Budget per person

This information will allow the caterer to customize a menu to suit your budget or provide you with research to help you decide on a budget.

Every TV, film or live event production needs craft service. In Los Angeles, you can expect to see production catering on most movie sets. At Dine With 9 Catering, not only do we provide production catering, we also provide craft service too. Craft service and production catering are not the same. Catering includes meals such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Craft service includes a variety of snacks, beverages, appetizers and other refreshments to keep your crew nourished between meal breaks. Our craft service team will provide tray passed appetizers, smoothies, lattes, vegetarian and vegan snacks, a variety of fresh fruit, nuts, candies and much more.

On larger production sets, you may see more than one craft service buffet. Each VIP talent on TV and film sets, may also have a separate craft service setup. In LA, photo shoots, commercials and live event productions often set up separate craft service buffets for their VIP clients. The food budget for VIPs are usually much higher than cast and crew. You can expect to see specific requests from the talent like specialty food and even alcoholic beverages. Some celebrity VIPs provide a “rider” to the production with specific items they expect in their green room. Crafty would be responsible for securing these items.

Craft service is like the break room at an corporate office, but with a friendly attendant waiting there to cater to you. It’s an area of the set where people can go to relax, refuel or just hang out and share a laugh with their favorite crafty. Everybody loves crafty!

Even if you don’t have a million dollars to complete your short film or TV production, you still have to feed your crew. At Dine With 9 Catering we provide complete meal packages for low budget productions. Most television, music video, film or live event productions work for about 12 to 14 hours. Union rules usually require meals at every 6-hours.

The first hour of the day starts with breakfast; however, low-budget productions might skip this meal. Your cast and crew will usually check their call-sheet each day to find out what meals will be included and at what times. At the 6th hour of the day is lunch, which is the most important meal of the day. Some low budget production catering might include a skimpy breakfast and a skimpy lunch, but it’s smarter to simply skip breakfast and do a hearty lunch. Two skimpy meals mean you won’t be satisfied at either meal break. If your crew is notified that they’ll be NO breakfast, they’ll likely eat before leaving home on their way to set. At the 6th hour, people expect to be well nourished with a hearty meal. After a 12-hour day, another meal break is required if your production continues working. The 12thhour meal would be dinner, sometimes referred to as 2nd meal. This meal usually isn’t as substantial as the 6th hour meal. It often consists of sandwiches, wraps or even pizza on some sets.

Menu options for low budget production catering may include chicken, pasta and less expensive red meat and seafood options. These menu options don’t mean you have to sacrifice overall quality and taste. You can save more by ordering drop-off service. A driver will deliver the order to your production set and setup the buffet for self-service. In cases, where you have a large crew, self-serve is not recommended. We provide servers to manage food portions and keep the buffet clean for everyone to enjoy. If adding servers is out of budget, consider ordering extra servings for larger crews. Contact Dine With 9 Catering for LA production catering. We’ll discuss your budget and find a menu and service option to make your project a success.