A film set coffee cart in NYC, on the call sheet.

What’s included.

A barista on the call sheet

One or two trained baristas who arrive before crew call and stay through the turnaround. Coffee that is ready when the AD says it is, not when a café across the street opens.

Espresso, drip, and volume

A commercial espresso setup for the department heads who want a real cortado, and batch brew in quantity for the eighty people who want it hot and now. Iced and cold brew for a summer exterior.

Generator-free for stages

A compact cart on standard power for a sound stage or a quiet interior. No hum on the recording, no cable run across a live set.

The truck for exteriors

A self-powered espresso truck for a base camp, a lot, or a closed street, where there is no house power and the crew is spread across a block.

Permits, parking, and the location

A cart on a New York street needs the same paperwork as any other vehicle on a permit. We coordinate with the location manager so the cart sits where the crew is and not where the film office says it cannot.

Certificates naming the production

COIs issued to the production entity, the studio, and the location owner, to the wording their agreements require, ahead of the shoot day.

Milks, syrups, cups

Whole, skim, oat, almond, and soy as standard. Cups and lids included; branded cups for a client shoot or a wrap party if the production wants them.

Multi-day and moving

A shoot that changes location three times in a week keeps one cart and one crew; the paperwork moves with it and the per-day rate drops across the run.

Why a coffee cart on set.

Crew coffee is the cheapest morale on a production and the first thing that goes wrong. A five-thirty call on a February exterior with two urns of lukewarm drip is a set that starts the day grumpy. A barista pulling real espresso beside craft services at the same hour is, per head, one of the smallest line items on the budget and one of the few a crew notices and remembers.

The reason productions call us rather than a café is the schedule. A café opens at seven; a call sheet does not care. A staffed cart works to the same clock as the crew, keeps serving through a turnaround that lands ninety minutes late, and does not close because the shoot ran long. The day rate is the day rate; it does not reset because the schedule slipped.

And it fits the set. A compact cart on house power sits on a stage without a generator hum on the track. A self-powered truck takes the base camp on a closed block where there is no power at all. Which one your location needs is decided with the location manager before the day, along with where it can legally park.

How coffee cart service works on a shoot day.

The cart or truck arrives 60 to 90 minutes before crew call to park, set up, and bring the machine to temperature, so the first espresso is ready when the first crew member walks up. Through the morning it runs continuously rather than in a window: espresso to order, batch brew kept topped, iced on a hot day. At the turnaround it is where the crew is, and at wrap it packs out clean without touching the set.

A day rate covers a normal shooting day. A split day, a night shoot, or a call that moves after the paperwork is filed is the normal condition of production, and we staff and quote on that basis rather than treating a changed call time as a variation. For a multi-day shoot, tell us the pattern of dates and locations and we price the run rather than the days.

Coffee cart or crew catering?

They are separate bookings and often both. Crew catering is a food truck that has to feed sixty people at an hour that keeps moving. A coffee cart is a barista and a machine that keep serving all day. A production that wants both gets one point of contact, one set of certificates, and two vehicles that already know each other’s call sheet.

Food trucks for film and TV production →

Planning coffee for a production.

Tell us the call, not the date

A 5am call in Red Hook and an 11am call on a stage in Astoria are different jobs with the same date. The call time and the location decide the vehicle, the staffing, and the paperwork, so send the call sheet or its draft rather than a booking form.

Stages want the cart, base camps want the truck

A sound stage will not have a generator running outside its door and does not need one; the cart runs off house power. A base camp on a closed street has no house power and a crew spread along a block; the truck brings its own. Mixed days can run both.

Where the coffee can sit is a location decision

On a public street the cart is a vehicle on the production’s permit like any other, and the film office has opinions about which kerb. We settle that with the location manager before the day rather than with a PA at 5am.

Headcount sets the machine, not the menu

A crew of thirty and a crew of a hundred and twenty both want espresso; the difference is how much batch brew runs alongside it and whether one barista or two is on the cart. Tell us the crew size and we size the setup to it.

Where we are not the cheapest option

A single-cart coffee company will quote less for a one-day stage shoot with house power and no permit. For that job they are the right call and we will say so. We earn the difference when the location moves, when the production needs certificates and street permits, or when the coffee is running alongside a truck we are already staffing for the same crew.

FAQs

How much does a coffee cart cost for a film set?

From $1,500 for the day, which covers the cart or truck, the barista, the espresso and drip program, milks, cups, and the certificates the production needs. Multi-day shoots are priced as a run and the per-day rate drops. A branded truck as a picture vehicle is a different tier and starts at $10,000.

Can the cart be on set for a 5am call?

Yes. Any call time, any borough. The cart arrives 60 to 90 minutes before crew call so the machine is at temperature when the first person walks up, and it keeps serving through the day rather than in a fixed window.

Do you need a generator on a sound stage?

No. The compact cart runs off standard house power and sits on a stage without a generator hum on the track. The self-powered espresso truck is for exteriors and base camps where there is no house power.

Can you provide a certificate of insurance naming the production?

Yes. COIs are issued to the production entity, the studio, and the location owner, to whatever wording their agreements require, ahead of the shoot day.

What if the schedule moves after we book?

It usually does. Weather holds, overruns, and a turnaround that lands late are the normal condition of a shoot, and the day rate does not reset because the call moved. Tell us as soon as the call sheet changes and the cart follows it.

Do you serve iced coffee and non-coffee drinks on set?

Yes. Iced espresso drinks and cold brew for a summer exterior, plus tea, matcha, and hot chocolate for the crew members who do not drink coffee. Whole, skim, oat, almond, and soy milk come as standard.