Guide · Shooting in the UK from abroad
Working with a UK production service company
Based outside the UK and planning a shoot here? You can work with us in two ways: we book the crew and your own producer runs the shoot, or we run the shoot in the UK for you. This guide explains who is responsible for what, and the UK rules that apply.
Updated 12 October 2026
Two ways to work with us
Your producer runs the shoot, or ours does
Either way, you don’t need a UK company, and you get one invoice from us.
With crew hire, we supply the crew and your producer runs the shoot. As a production service company, we run the shoot in the UK for you: we organise the crew, permits, kit, transport, and hotels, and insure our part of the work.
The rest of this page sets out who is responsible for what, gives an example job for each, and explains the UK rules that apply.
Comparison
Who does what
Crew hire
Your producer runs the shoot. We find, book and brief the crew, and send you the full price before anything is booked.
- Who directs the crew on the day Your producer
- Who contracts and pays the UK crew We do
- Permits and location agreements You, or us if you ask
- Risk assessment You write it. We give you what we know about the crew, kit, and locations
- Public liability insurance for the shoot Yours
- Kit Ours, hired for you, or your own
- Transport, hotels, and catering We can book them if you ask
- Your own travelling team Stays employed and paid by you
- How it’s priced Crew at the APA/Bectu card rate (the standard UK industry rates), plus our booking fee and any kit
- Do you need a UK company? No
Best if your own producer will run the shoot.
Production service company
Our producer runs the shoot. We organise the crew, permits, kit, transport, and hotels, and our insurance covers our part of the work.
- Who directs the crew on the day Our producer, working to your director’s brief
- Who contracts and pays the UK crew We do
- Permits and location agreements We get them
- Risk assessment We write it and agree it with your team
- Public liability insurance for the shoot Ours (£10m)
- Kit We source it
- Transport, hotels, and catering We plan and book them
- Your own travelling team Stays employed and paid by you
- How it’s priced The same crew costs, plus our producer’s time and everything we book for you, on one quote
- Do you need a UK company? No
Best if you’re flying in without a UK company or a UK producer.
Crew hire
How crew hire works
Your producer runs the shoot. We supply the crew.
You send the brief: dates, places, who you need, any kit. We come back with names and the full price, line by line. Once you confirm, we book the crew, brief them, and send the call sheet.
On the day, the crew take direction from your producer, so the schedule and the safety plan are yours. One person at our end is on the phone all day if you need anything.
Example job
Valentine Global booked a London crew this way for a Nike shoot that ran at the same time as one in New York. We supplied a gaffer, a key grip, two camera assistants, a sound recordist, and a production assistant for a recce day and a shoot day.
Production service company
How a production service company works
Our producer runs the shoot in the UK. Your director stays in charge of the creative decisions.
Our producer plans the shoot with your director. We then handle the practical side in the UK: we contract and pay the crew, get the permits, source the kit, and book transport and hotels. Our insurance covers our part of the work. You deal with one person and get one invoice.
Example jobs
Swanson Studios, from Oregon, came to us to run a shoot for their client Intuitive Surgical in three cities over three days: Southampton, London, and Oxford. We built a sound-proofed studio inside each hospital and organised the crew, kit, transport, and hotels. Their team flew in to shoot.
NYT Studios brought us in to run a pilot shoot for The Athletic, on location in Cheshire. Our head of production, Morgan Cartlidge, ran the shoot with a producer, two camera operators, and a sound recordist.
The rules
The UK rules that apply
A plain summary, with links to the official sources. It’s general information, not legal advice: see the small print at the bottom of the page.
You don’t need a UK company
With either option, your contract is with us, a UK company, and we invoice you.
Your own team can come as visitors
Film crew employed by an overseas company can come to the UK as visitors to work on a location shoot, as long as the film is made and paid for outside the UK. Visitors can’t be paid from a UK source, such as a UK company, apart from reasonable travel and living costs. So your team stays on your payroll, and we only contract the UK crew.
Most visitors from Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia also need an ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation). It costs £20, lasts two years, and you should apply at least three working days before you travel.
Working on a UK production is different. That usually needs sponsorship through the Creative Worker visa route.
Sources: Immigration Rules, Appendix Visitor: Permitted Activities (PA 14.3); GOV.UK, ETA; British Film Commission.
Whoever runs the shoot is responsible for health and safety
This responsibility can’t be passed to someone else in a contract. On a crew hire job, your producer runs the shoot, so you write the risk assessment. We’ll ask to see it, and tell you anything we know about the crew, kit, and locations that affects it. On a service company job, our producer writes the risk assessment and agrees it with your team.
Source: HSE, film and TV production.
Self-employed or on payroll: we follow HMRC’s rules
Most UK camera, sound, and lighting crew are freelance. HMRC publishes a list of behind-the-camera roles it normally treats as self-employed, and the conditions for each. When we contract crew, we check each person’s role against that list. Anyone who doesn’t qualify is paid through our payroll, with tax and National Insurance taken off.
Sources: HMRC ESM4115 and ESM4120.
Insurance: what we hold, and what you need
We have £10m employers’ liability insurance (the legal minimum is £5m), £10m public liability insurance, and insurance on the kit we hire in, though a large kit rental may need extra cover. Locations set their own minimum cover: Screen Manchester, for example, asks for £5m public liability, or £10m in city-centre event spaces. On a crew hire job you run the shoot, so its public liability insurance is yours to arrange.
Sources: Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Regulations 1998; Screen Manchester.
UK VAT for overseas clients
If your business is based outside the UK, you usually won’t pay UK VAT on crew or production services. Some costs carry UK VAT wherever you’re based: kit hire used in the UK, vehicle hire, hotels, catering, and location fees. We’ll ask for your VAT or tax number, and the quote shows the VAT on each line.
Source: HMRC VAT Notice 741A.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is a production service company the same as an employer of record?
Not quite. An employer of record is the legal employer of staff on its payroll. Most UK film crew are freelance, so as your service company we contract and pay them directly, and anyone who has to be on a payroll goes on ours. For you, the result is the same: you don’t need a UK company or a UK payroll, and you get one invoice.
Do I need a UK company to shoot in the UK with you?
No. With either option, your contract is with us, and we send you one invoice.
Can my own crew work on the shoot?
Yes, as visitors, if they’re employed by your company and the film is made and paid for outside the UK. They stay on your payroll; we only contract the UK crew. Most will need an ETA before they travel.
Do you charge UK VAT to overseas clients?
Usually not on crew and production services, if your business is based outside the UK. Kit hire used in the UK, vehicle hire, hotels, catering, and location fees can carry UK VAT wherever you’re based. Your quote shows the VAT on each line.
Where in the UK can you supply crew?
Anywhere. We crew shoots across the UK from our bases in London, Manchester, Bristol, and Cornwall, and we take crews abroad from London.
Useful pages for overseas productions
Small print
This guide is general information, correct on 12 October 2026. It isn’t legal, tax, or immigration advice. How the rules apply depends on the details of each production, including who runs the shoot. On every job, what each side is responsible for, and the insurance, are as set out in our written terms for that job.
Send us the brief.
Tell us the dates, the places and who you need. We’ll come back with who’s free and the full price, line by line. Or call us on 07412 543822.