DIY Craft Service for one location feature

C

Craig_Tarry

Active member
Hello, I'm considering a one location feature shoot, and I thought I might try to save some bucks by renting a mobile kitchen, buying food in bulk and using volunteer cooks. The location will be a couple of miles from town and I thought it would be cheaper than a craft services company.
I'm talking about feeding 40 people, tops. 3 times a day, for a month.

My questions are these:

1.Anyone know about any permits (if any) I would need to do this?
2.Anyone know a SF Bay Area Mobile Kitchen Rental Service? I'm in the East Bay, about 40 miles east of San Francisco.
 
dwelter said:
Good Thinking. Cheap out on the food for your crew. I'm sure they'll really want to work hard up until lunch knowing that some "volunteer" cook is figuring out what to do with 17 lbs. of bulk chicken gizzards.

I think you'll find that the craft service and caterers can be the most important phone numbers in your book.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Production-Managers---The-Importance-of-Craft-Services&id=5897220
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OK,
1. Cheap doesn't have to be poor quality or quantity.
2. Volunteer cooks don't have to be bad cooks. I spent 11years in the restaurant business and I know the difference
 
dwelter said:
Good Thinking. Cheap out on the food for your crew. I'm sure they'll really want to work hard up until lunch knowing that some "volunteer" cook is figuring out what to do with 17 lbs. of bulk chicken gizzards.
Click to expand...

You certainly could have phrased this with less hostility.
 
dwelter said:
Good Thinking. Cheap out on the food for your crew. I'm sure they'll really want to work hard up until lunch knowing that some "volunteer" cook is figuring out what to do with 17 lbs. of bulk chicken gizzards.

I think you'll find that the craft service and caterers can be the most important phone numbers in your book.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Production-Managers---The-Importance-of-Craft-Services&id=5897220
Click to expand...

No reason to be rude, he's just looking for ways to cut costs. I can't say I blame him. money's tight these days. Not to mention "volunteer" doesen't mean inexperienced, there's lots of good cooks that may be willing to help out by donating time. god, some people.
 
Have you ruled out the possibility of having people make the food for the crew at home and just driving it out there? I think that would probably be even more cost effective and volunteer cooks would be more familiar with their own home kitchens... I mean it doesn't sound like it way too far out in the boonies... If you could get 5 or 6 people to volunteer to cook for the crew one day a week for a month that would cover it...
 
Pizza!

Catering to one location can be kinda cheap for good food.
Might be cheaper than renting a truck and cooking and any city ordnance that go with that sort of thing
 
seanmcleod said:
Have you ruled out the possibility of having people make the food for the crew at home and just driving it out there? I think that would probably be even more cost effective and volunteer cooks would be more familiar with their own home kitchens... I mean it doesn't sound like it way too far out in the boonies... If you could get 5 or 6 people to volunteer to cook for the crew one day a week for a month that would cover it...
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Good idea! I hadn't thought of that.
 
seanmcleod said:
Have you ruled out the possibility of having people make the food for the crew at home and just driving it out there? I think that would probably be even more cost effective and volunteer cooks would be more familiar with their own home kitchens... I mean it doesn't sound like it way too far out in the boonies... If you could get 5 or 6 people to volunteer to cook for the crew one day a week for a month that would cover it...
Click to expand...

The problem with this is the food will often times be cold by the time you get to set, and if it's not cold then, it's cold by the time the last man gets his meal. You also can't do things like make omlettes in the morning, or scrambled eggs and other things like that that are catered the what that particular crew member wants. I can't tell you how much happier it makes me to get there on time then knowing that I'll be able to tell someone that I'm feeling like a breakfast burrito today with bacon and green onions, instead of a omlette with onions and peppers. It's honestly not that big of a thing, but it makes a huge difference in crew moral.

And please please, no pizza. As a guy who gets probably 10-20 meals a month on set, I actually really like this idea, as this means the food will always be hot and probably won't be cold cuts and sandwiches.

P.S. If you haven't noticed by now, my biggest pet peeve about food on set is that it's cold, most of the time unnecessarily so.
 
seanmcleod said:
Have you ruled out the possibility of having people make the food for the crew at home and just driving it out there? I think that would probably be even more cost effective and volunteer cooks would be more familiar with their own home kitchens... I mean it doesn't sound like it way too far out in the boonies... If you could get 5 or 6 people to volunteer to cook for the crew one day a week for a month that would cover it...
Click to expand...

I totally agree. This would be the way to go. We have done this many many times. When I worked in Eastern Europe our casting/location agent's wife did the cooking and catering for us. She and her daughter would bring the meals to the location or the little studio we sometimes worked in. They made great home cooked meals in big batches i.e. baked chicken, stews and soups, casseroles etc. Good healthy snacks/drinks were available all the time. This arrangement worked out very well for us. Everyone was happy and never had a complaint. We bought everything in bulk. Economizing is the name of the game. This doesn't mean you have to sacrifice quality... we never did.

To dwelter: Your post was wrong on a couple different levels. Why the hostility to the OP? Part of making a successful Indie/low budget production of any type is being clever and creative with all aspects of the production.
 
RyanT said:
The problem with this is the food will often times be cold by the time you get to set, and if it's not cold then, it's cold by the time the last man gets his meal. You also can't do things like make omlettes in the morning, or scrambled eggs and other things like that that are catered the what that particular crew member wants. I can't tell you how much happier it makes me to get there on time then knowing that I'll be able to tell someone that I'm feeling like a breakfast burrito today with bacon and green onions, instead of a omlette with onions and peppers. It's honestly not that big of a thing, but it makes a huge difference in crew moral.

And please please, no pizza. As a guy who gets probably 10-20 meals a month on set, I actually really like this idea, as this means the food will always be hot and probably won't be cold cuts and sandwiches.

P.S. If you haven't noticed by now, my biggest pet peeve about food on set is that it's cold, most of the time unnecessarily so.
Click to expand...

Yes, that was my original thinking, especially with a cast and crew of 35-40. Preparing everything right there would be the way to go. Pizza could be a novelty.
 
If you're asking for volunteers I sure hope you're one of them and the project is a passion project, not a commercial venture.
 
Snazzy Flapper said:
If you're asking for volunteers I sure hope you're one of them and the project is a passion project, not a commercial venture.
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I'm sure all will be paid. Even when I was just running afternoon workshops, I paid gas money and lunch. I'm in the San Francisco East Bay and most cast and crew have always driven in from S.F. or Oakland.
 
I suggest you make spagetty. Its so cheap! You just use some burger and cheap tomato sauce and noodle. You calculate 100 gram of noodle per man. For woman you give little bit less. 75 gram maybe..
 
ghosttv said:
I suggest you make spagetty. Its so cheap! You just use some burger and cheap tomato sauce and noodle. You calculate 100 gram of noodle per man. For woman you give little bit less. 75 gram maybe..
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Haha, 30 days of 100g's of spaghetti, your crew will be happier than pigs in you know what!
 
You don't have to have every day! Lol! Everybody love pizza! Also you boughted big giant cocked ham already slice! You can buy for 14 dollar! Then you get bread and mustard and chess. Just get the cheap one. Feeds plenty lol! And then big ice chest with softdrink and lots of ice. Plenty ice will make them happy face! Omg!
 
Ramen noodles with tomato sauce, ramen noodles fried, ramen noodles with spam, ramen noodles with spice packet, ramen noodles with ketchup, ramen noodles with teryaki, ramen noodles with egg, ramen noodles with peanut butter and jelly, ramen noodles with pickles, ramen noodles with soy sauce, ramen noodles with hot sauce, ramen noodles with oatmeal, ramen noodles with vodka, ramen noodles with maple syrup, ramen noodles with meatballs, ramen noodles with pork and beans, ramen noodles with cheese, ramen noodles with beer, ramen noodles with barbacue sauce, ramen noodles with maynasse, ramen noodles with nipple milk. Then repeat on day twenty in reverse order.:)
 
If I had to eat Ramen noodles everyday, I'm pretty sure I'd stop showing up. I don't care how friendly I was with the director or how much I believed in the project.

An essential craft services tip for any budget: ALWAYS get a list of possible ethical and religious diet preferences. You never want to insult your crew in the middle of a big day when you need their trust.
 
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