Catering is and always has been an important part of a shoot. Cast and crew require food and drink to keep working hard and to have enough energy to make a film we are proud of. The physical and mental effort the whole crew put into the production is so important for us to make the best films we can.

The production teams are all aware that the generous budgets we receive should be spent 'on the screen' and production design / actors' expenses / equipment comes first, but having a meal or even just snacks and some drinks on set is also so important. We never spend excessive amounts, with most shoots just enough food is bought so that by the time we wrap there is little/no food left.

We are students, we are already in debt and when we are busy filming on set we don't want to worry about where our money is going or concerned that the food needs to be equally split between each crew member because we have all put the same amount of money into the 'kitty' approach.

Instead of restricting the budget so no catering can be claimed, maybe there could be a limit implemented, or certain restrictions e.g. can't buy takeaways for every meal. However, we are students trusted to spend a budget for the films we make, if we choose to spend it on something that hinders the production of the film, it is a mistake we have made and a lesson we will learn.

We hope you listen to our concerns about this and allow the budget to be spent on catering.