# Day out of days (DOOD) > A production report that shows, for each cast member, which shoot days they start, work, hold, and finish — so a production can see how many days each actor is booked and paid. Also known as: DOOD, day-out-of-days report ## In practice A day out of days is built from the schedule. The cast run down the side, the shoot days run across the top, and each cell carries a code: SW for the day an actor starts, W for a work day, WF for the day they finish, SWF for someone who starts and finishes the same day, and H for a hold day between work days. Its job is money and availability. Hold days are paid, so a line producer reads the report to find actors whose scenes are spread across the schedule and asks whether the board can pull them closer together. It also tells casting and business affairs exactly which dates to book. For a writer, the day out of days is where a small moment becomes expensive: one line from a character who otherwise works in week one can hold that actor until week five. That is rarely a reason to cut a good scene from a spec, but it is often why a production rewrite moves a line to a character who is already working that day. ## Common questions ### What do SW, W, WF, and H mean on a day out of days? Start work, work, work finish, and hold. SWF marks an actor who starts and finishes on the same day, and productions add codes such as travel or rehearsal as they need them. ### Who makes the day out of days? The assistant director or the production office, from the schedule. It changes whenever the stripboard does. ### Why does a day out of days matter to a writer? It shows what a scene costs in actor days. A single late appearance can hold an actor for weeks, which is why production rewrites sometimes give a line to a character who is already working that day. ## Related terms - [Stripboard](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/stripboard): The production schedule laid out as strips — one per scene, carrying its number, set, day or night, length in eighths, and cast — ordered by shoot day rather than by story order. - [Call sheet](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/call-sheet): The plan for one shoot day: call times, the location, the scenes and pages being shot, which cast and crew are called and when, and notes such as weather, parking, and safety. - [Script breakdown](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/script-breakdown): The production process of tagging a locked (or near-locked) script for cast, locations, props, vehicles, SFX, and other elements so schedules and budgets can be built. - [Sides](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/sides): Excerpt pages of a script prepared for a specific day, audition, or work session -- usually only the scenes and lines the actors or crew need, not the full book. --- Canonical page: