Show dictionary · Production Management
Per Diem
Also: PDs · per diems
Per diem (Latin: "per day") is the daily cash allowance paid to touring crew and artists for meals and incidental expenses on the road. It is separate from salary, typically handed out weekly by the tour manager, and exists so nobody submits receipts for breakfast.
In practice
Rates vary by tour level and by what the production already provides: a tour with full catering pays a smaller per diem than a fly tour where crew eat every meal in airports. Day-off per diems often run higher than show-day per diems for the same reason.
In corporate production the same concept appears through the client or agency travel policy, often pegged to government (GSA) rates by city. On tours it is simpler: an envelope of cash or a payment-app transfer, listed on the day sheet, defended like territory.
How you’ll hear it
"PDs at bus call. Day off tomorrow, so it is the higher rate."
Related resources
Part of the eventools.io Show Dictionary, a free glossary of live event production terminology.