Film crew hire/London/Grip
Hire a grip in London. The camera moves, smoothly, safely, and the same way every take.
Key grips and grips for adverts, brand films, studio days and car work across London, booked from our office on City Road, by Old Street. They build and push the dolly, lay the track, rig the camera to cars and cranes, and plan any car rig around the borough’s permission, or TfL’s on a red route. From £526 a day, paid to the grip in full.
- 54 five-star Google reviews
- 2 hrs for our team to read your brief, in working hours
- £10m employers’ liability on every crew member we book
- 1,400+ of our freelance crew live in and around London
Photos: sippakorn yamkasikorn, David Glessner, Here Now Films and Daniel
The role
What a grip does on your shoot
Grips move and hold the camera. They lay track and push the dolly, build sliders and jibs, rig the camera to a car, a crane or a wall, and make sure every rig is safe. A good dolly grip hits the same mark at the same speed, take after take.
In the UK, grips handle the camera support. Lighting stands and flags belong to the sparks, which is different from the US, where grips do those too. Worth saying when a US production brings its own DP to London: the grip here won’t be rigging the lights.
- Moves that repeat. The same push-in at the same speed, so the director can choose any take.
- Track laid level. On a stage floor, a pavement or an office carpet, levelled with wedges until it’s silent.
- Rigs that hold. Cameras on cars, cranes and walls, rigged and checked by someone who does it every week.
- Safety first. Weights, straps and a plan for every rig, before the camera goes on.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- An 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch
- Building and operating the dolly, slider or jib
- Laying and levelling track
- Rigging cameras to cars, cranes and structures
- Risk-checking every rig
- Striking and loading out the grip kit
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- The grip package: dolly, track, jib or car mounts, from £1,320 a day
- A tracking vehicle or crane, with its own crew
- Road closures and permits for car work, at cost
- Travel outside Greater London, at cost
How our rates work, and the two ways to book: crew rates in London.
Two ways to book
Crew hire or full production: who’s the producer of record?
One question sets the price: who’s the producer of record? Book a grip for your own camera team, or have us take the production on, road plans and permits with it.
Crew hire
You run the shoot.
10% + 2% booking fee and insurance, on everything we book for you: crew, kit and travel.
We do
- Find, book and brief the crew, and pay them
- Book kit, travel and hotels too, if you want them
- Send the full price before anything is booked
- One person to call all day
- Employers’ liability for the crew we book, and insurance on kit we hire in
You do
- Run the shoot, or your producer does
- The plan, the schedule and the call sheet
- The location, its permission and its public liability
- Responsibility for the production: you’re the producer of record
What the 2% insures: employers’ liability for every crew member we book, and the kit we hire in for you. Nothing else on the shoot. A large kit rental may need extra insurance, as its own line on the quote.
Full production
We’re the producer of record.
15% + 5% production fee, plus insurance and contingency, on the whole production budget. Quoted as a production.
We do
- Our producer plans it with you and runs the day
- Locations, permits, kit, studio, travel and hotels, booked and paid in our name
- Insurance for the whole shoot, public liability included, plus the risk assessment and the call sheet
- One contract and one invoice, so overseas teams need no UK company
You do
- The creative calls
- Signing off the plan and the budget
What the 5% pays for: our production insurance across the whole shoot, £10m public liability included, and the contingency.
Not sure which you need? If your own producer or director will run the day, it’s crew hire. If you want us to take the production on, it’s a full production quote.
On the day
A day with a grip, call to wrap
A product film and an interview on a drive-in stage in Acton: track in the morning, a jib and a slider in the afternoon. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- 06:30 Load in The grip truck through the stage’s drive-in doors, the package checked against the list from the kit house.
- 07:00 Track down 30ft of track laid across the stage floor, levelled with wedges, the dolly on and pushed until it’s silent.
- 08:30 First move A slow push-in on the product as the light comes up. Marks for start and stop.
- 10:30 Jib A jib built for a rising shot over the set.
- 13:00 Lunch The slider prepped for the afternoon interview.
- 14:00 Interview A slow slider move on the contributor, rigged so it doesn’t creak.
- 18:30 Wrap Track lifted, rigs struck and counted, the truck loaded for the run back to the kit house in Greenford.
Which kind
Which grip set-up do you need?
The camera support decides the grip. Here’s what each involves, and where London adds a rule.
Key grip Runs the grip department Card: Up to £575
Plans the camera support with the DOP and runs the grips.
Best on any shoot with dolly, crane or rigging work.
Dolly grip Track, dolly and repeatable moves From £526 a day + kit
Lays track, builds and pushes the dolly, and hits the marks every take.
Best for adverts, drama and slow, precise moves.
Slider and jib Small moves, small crews From £526 a day + kit
A slider, a Dana Dolly or a jib arm, set up and operated by one grip. On a Westminster pavement a jib means an application: the small-crew rule there is handheld only.
Best for interviews and brand films that need a bit of movement.
Car rigs and tracking vehicles Cameras on moving cars Quoted on the brief
Suction and hard mounts, a tracking vehicle with a crane, and a closed road or private land. On London’s public roads that means the borough, or TfL on a red route, and a word with the Met Police Film Unit. See locations and permits in London.
Best for car adverts and driving scenes.
Cranes and remote heads Big rising and sweeping moves Quoted on the brief
A telescopic crane with a remote head, operated by a crane crew and a camera operator at a wheels or a joystick, from a London grip house.
Best for big adverts, events and music videos.
What it’s for
What people book a grip for in London
Adverts and brand films
Dolly moves and jib shots on stages in Acton, Park Royal and Bow.
Car shoots
Tracking vehicles on closed roads and private land, planned around the borough’s notice, or TfL’s on a red route.
Interviews with movement
A slow slider move in a City boardroom, rigged so it doesn’t creak.
Overseas productions
A US crew lands at Heathrow with the DP and the camera; we add the grip and the package from Greenford or Wembley.
Drama and music videos
Track and dolly on the big stages at 3 Mills in Bow and West London Film Studios in Hayes.
Recent work
Grips on our jobs, in London and on the road
Crew hire · City of London and Uxbridge · September 2025
Four days, two offices, one grip line
Customer-story interviews for a chip maker, with a US production company, over four days: two at a law firm’s office on Cannon Street (EC4), two at an office in Uxbridge. The quote carried a grip, a swing and a grip package; in the end the grip line went to a grip/spark, saving money every day. In the City the crew unloaded from the car park off Dowgate Hill straight into the lift, and when a tube strike shut the Underground, they drove to Uxbridge. The job came in £498 under budget.
Full production · Cornwall · June 2026
A London tracking vehicle on the Cornish coast
For AI for Empowerment, shot on 35mm on the Lizard, the tracking vehicle and its two-person crew came down from London with the 1st and 2nd ACs: Cornwall couldn’t supply them. The grip kit came from Panavision Grip & Remote Systems in Greenford, with the camera package.
Before you book
Things to know
The day and the kit
- 11 hours, including an hour for lunch.
- Overtime at card rates, agreed with you before it happens.
- The grip package goes on its own line, from £1,320 a day.
Roads and permission
- A car rig on a public road needs the borough’s permission, and often a road closure. In the City that takes 12 weeks’ notice and £4,665 + VAT (checked October 2026).
- Red routes are TfL’s, whatever the crew size: seven weeks’ notice for now.
- Tell the Met Police Film Unit about any tracking vehicle, low loader or A-frame; in the Square Mile, the City Police, who want two weeks.
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the grip.
- 50% by card when you book, 50% on receipt of the final rushes.
- Every line on the quote: day rate, booking fee, kit, travel.
- Cancellation terms are on every quote.
What our insurance covers
- Employers’ liability for the grip we book: £10m.
- Kit we hire in for you is insured. A large kit rental may need extra insurance, as its own line on the quote.
- Nothing else on a crew hire. Public liability, the location and your own kit stay with you, and your venue will want your certificate. When we’re the producer of record, our policy covers the shoot.
- London asks for public liability before it says yes: £5m for the boroughs and the Royal Parks, £10m for TfL and Canary Wharf. On a crew hire that certificate is yours; on a full production, ours covers it.
From £526 a day
APA/Bectu card: £526–575 a day, grip to key grip.
| Day rate, 11 hours | £526 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £52.60 |
| Insurance, 2% | £10.52 |
| One day, before kit and travel | £589.12 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the grip we book, and cover on kit we hire in. What it covers
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the grip.
- 1,400+ crew living in and around London
- 50% by card at booking, 50% on the final rushes
- Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours
Or call us on 07412 543822.
Reviews
What clients say about our crews
Straight from our Google Business Profile.
Book a grip in London.
Tell us the moves, the camera weight and the location. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Check availability
The whole crew
Every role in London, booked the same way
One brief, one quote, every role on its own line. Our day rates in London, paid to the crew member in full:
Production 06
- Director From £500
- Producer From £450
- Production manager £504–627
- 2nd AD £355–448
- Production assistant £400
- Runner £245
Camera 07
- DOP From £850
- Camera operator £529–656
- Focus puller £461–575
- Clapper loader £355–448
- Steadicam operator From £950
- Gimbal operator £529–656
- Drone operator From £750
Data and playback 02
- DIT £527
- Video playback £334–518
Sound 01
- Sound recordist £550
Hair, make-up and costume 02
- Hair and make-up £398
- Costume £519–694
Art department 02
- Art director £675–878
- Set builders £341–512
Post-production 01
- Editor From £350
How our rates work: crew rates in London. Or start from a set-up: interview crews and units in London.
Production support
Everything around the crew
Grip work often needs a location, a road plan or a stage floor. Each gets its own line on the quote, or use the guides to sort them yourself.
02
Locations and permits
Borough film services, the Royal Parks, TfL, the private estates and the drone zones.
Questions
Hiring a grip in London: questions
How much does a grip cost in London?
The APA/Bectu card puts a grip at £526–575 for an 11-hour day, from grip to key grip, and we pay that in full. On top go our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, so a day starts at £589.12 + VAT. The grip package is priced on its own line, from £1,320 a day in London.
What does the insurance on a crew booking cover?
Two things. Employers’ liability for every crew member we book, up to £10m, and insurance on the kit we hire in for you. That’s what the 2% pays for. A large kit rental may need extra insurance, as its own line on the quote. The 2% doesn’t insure the rest of the shoot: public liability, the location, your own kit and anything you book yourself stay with you, because you’re the producer of record. If you’d rather we were, it’s quoted as a full production, and our insurance covers the whole shoot, public liability included.
What’s the difference between a grip and a gaffer?
In the UK, the gaffer runs the lighting and the grip runs the camera support. In the US, grips also handle lighting stands and flags.
Can you rig a camera to a car in London?
Yes. On private land, with the owner’s permission. On public roads, with a plan, the borough’s permission and usually a closed road: allow 6–12 weeks in most boroughs, 12 in the City and three months in Westminster. Red routes need TfL’s permission, currently with seven weeks’ notice, a temporary measure after a cyber security incident.
Can I use a dolly or a jib on a London street?
With permission. Westminster’s small-crew rule is handheld only, with no tripods, drones or jibs, so track on a Westminster pavement means an application. Private estates have their own rules on top: Canary Wharf wants a method statement and a site-specific risk assessment for anything beyond a camera on a tripod, with 12 working days’ notice, and Battersea Power Station needs a permit for any tripod, mount, gimbal or lighting.
Where does grip kit come from in London?
From the grip houses out west. Panavision Grip & Remote Systems moved into a bigger building across the road from Panavision London in Greenford in April 2025; ARRI Rental has a grip department in Uxbridge; Sunbelt Rentals Film & TV, which took over Alpha Grip, is in Wembley.
How far ahead should I book a grip in London?
Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours, and the grip is rarely what sets the date. A road closure usually does: 6–12 weeks’ notice in most boroughs, 12 in the City.