Film crew hire/New York/1st AC
Hire a 1st AC (focus puller) in New York. Sharp on the eyes, even wide open.
1st ACs (first assistant camera, or focus pullers) for commercials, brand films and drama across New York. They prep the camera at the rental house, keep every shot sharp, and run the camera department so the DP can light. From $700 a day, paid to the 1st AC in full.
- 54 five-star Google reviews
- 2 hrs for our team to read your brief, in working hours
- 10 hrs a New York crew day, plus a meal break
- 500+ productions, filmed in sixteen countries
Photos: ShareGrid, Voice + Video, Johannes Blenke and Here Now Films
The role
What a 1st AC does on your shoot
A 1st AC, or focus puller, keeps the picture sharp while the camera, the cast or both are moving. They measure distances, set marks at rehearsal and pull focus live on a wireless follow-focus, beside the camera or at a monitor. They also build the camera, change lenses and keep it running from call to wrap.
A large sensor and a fast lens make focus very shallow: on a close-up wide open on an Alexa Mini LF it can be a couple of centimetres. That’s why a commercial or a brand film needs a 1st AC, and a two-camera interview usually doesn’t.
In New York the job starts the day before, at camera prep: the 1st AC checks every lens, body and cable out of one of the rental houses in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island City, so nothing is missing at call.
- Sharp where it matters. Eyes, hands and product, held through every move and every take.
- A camera that works. Checked out at prep, built and tested at call; lenses cleaned, changed and logged.
- Fewer takes lost. Marks at rehearsal, and a quiet word to the DP if a move won’t hold focus.
- The DP’s right hand. Runs the camera team, so the DP can watch the light.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- A 10-hour day, plus a meal break
- Pulling focus on every take, live
- Building, testing and maintaining the camera
- Lens changes, cleaning and the lens log
- Marks and measurements at rehearsal
- Running the camera team: 2nd AC, DIT and video
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee, on the whole quote
- Payroll and insurance for the job, at cost
- A prep day at the rental house, if the package needs one
- Their own focus kit, if it’s not in the camera package
- Travel outside the five boroughs, and any cars or vans, at cost
How our rates work, and the two ways to book: crew rates in New York.
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 1st AC for your own camera team, or have us take the production on.
Crew hire
You run the shoot.
10% booking fee, on everything we book for you: crew, kit and travel. Payroll and insurance at cost, on their own line.
We do
- Find, book and brief the New York crew
- Every crew member employed for the job: payroll, workers’ compensation and COIs
- Book kit, vans and travel too, if you want them
- Send the full price, in dollars, before anything is booked
- One person to call all day
You do
- Run the shoot, or your producer does
- The plan, the schedule and the call sheet
- The location, its COI and any Mayor’s Office permit
- Responsibility for the production: you’re the producer of record
Payroll and insurance are their own line on the quote, at cost: payroll for each crew member, the insurance they need for the job, New York workers’ compensation included, and the certificates of insurance your location asks for.
Full production
We’re the producer of record.
From $20,000 for a New York production; most land between that and $75,000. One quote, in dollars, every line shown.
We do
- Our producer plans it with you and runs the job
- Locations, permits, kit, studio and travel, booked in the production’s name
- The production’s insurance, the COIs and the Mayor’s Office permit
- One quote and one contract with us, wherever you’re based
You do
- The creative calls
- Signing off the plan and the budget
The production’s insurance, the crew’s payroll and any permits are lines in the quote, so you see each one before you sign.
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 1st AC, call to wrap
A commercial on an ARRI Alexa Mini LF with cine primes, in a Brooklyn brownstone: a kitchen scene, then a walk down the stoop to the sidewalk, on a film permit. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- 07:00 Camera build In the hallway on the parlour floor: lenses checked, follow-focus calibrated, monitors and video transmitter paired. The package came out of prep the day before.
- 08:00 Rehearsal The actor walks the move round the kitchen island. Marks on the floor protection, distances measured, focus points set.
- 08:45 Rolling Pulling focus live as the actor walks towards a long lens, wide open. A word to the DP if a take was soft.
- 10:30 Lens change A 35mm to a 75mm for the close-up: changed, cleaned and logged in under two minutes.
- 13:00 Meal break Batteries on charge, filters cleaned, and a look at the afternoon’s set-ups.
- 14:00 The stoop Camera on a dolly on the sidewalk, as the permit allows. Focus pulled by wireless from a monitor as the actor comes down the steps.
- 17:30 Wrap Camera packed for the return to the rental house; the lens log and camera report handed to the 2nd AC.
Which kind
Which camera assistant do you need?
The camera department in order, and when each is worth booking.
1st AC Focus, the camera and the lenses From $700 a day
Pulls focus, builds and runs the camera, and leads the camera team, from prep at the rental house to the return.
Best for commercials, brand films and drama on large-sensor cameras with cine lenses.
Remote focus puller From a monitor, off the camera From $700 a day
Pulls focus by wireless from a monitor when the camera is on a crane, a car, a Steadicam or a gimbal.
Best for moving shots where nobody can stand beside the camera.
Union 1st AC On a signatory commercial Scale $1,098
Engaged at IATSE/AICP scale for a 10-hour call, with fringes and payroll on top.
Best for commercials that need a union camera team.
2nd AC Slate, cards and reports From $550 a day
Slates every take, changes cards and keeps the camera report. See 2nd ACs in New York.
Best alongside a 1st AC on any shoot with more than one camera, or on film.
Do you need one at all? Interviews and simple shoots Often not
A two-camera interview on Sony FX6s at a sensible stop, with the guest sitting still, holds focus without a 1st AC.
Book one when the lens is fast, the shot moves, or the picture is the point.
What it’s for
What people book a 1st AC for in New York
Commercials in cyc studios
Large-sensor cameras and fast primes in studios in Long Island City and Brooklyn, where a soft take is a lost take.
Overseas productions
A visiting DP who needs a New York 1st AC to check the package out of a rental house the day before. See filming in New York from abroad.
Brand films in brownstones and lofts
Moving shots in tight rooms, with focus pulled from a monitor in the next room.
Car and tracking shots
Focus pulled by wireless from a tracking vehicle, on a permit that lists every vehicle.
Film shoots
16mm and 35mm packages, with a 2nd AC beside the 1st AC loading the magazines.
Recent work
How we crew a 1st AC in New York
Our work · Upper East Side, New York · September 2026
Nevis × Focus, an announcement film
One afternoon in a panelled library on the Upper East Side, for Nevis and Focus Financial Partners: three half-hour interviews with Mark Swan, Adam Birenbaum and Justin Ferri, then the room reset for a three-way conversation on five cameras. The library came empty, so everything on screen was brought in. A New York crew shot it twelve days after the first email, and our own team cut it, five cuts in eight days, then graded and mixed it.
How we crew it · New York
A prep day, then the shoot
On anything with cine lenses we book the 1st AC for camera prep the day before. They check the package out of the rental house, body, lenses, follow-focus, monitors and cables, and build it so it’s ready at call. On our New York jobs an ARRI Alexa Mini LF package ran about $2,000 a day (checked October 2026): the prep day is what stops a missing cable costing an hour of it.
How we crew it · New York
Focus on the move, on a permit
A car shot or a dolly move on a New York street needs a film permit from the Mayor’s Office, with every vehicle listed and the permit processed 48 to 72 business hours ahead. The 1st AC pulls focus by wireless from the tracking vehicle or a monitor on the sidewalk. On a full production we apply; on a crew hire the permit is yours, and we tell you what goes on it.
Before you book
Things to know
The day
- 10 hours, plus a meal break.
- Any overtime is agreed with you before it happens.
- Camera prep at the rental house is quoted separately.
Kit
- The camera package comes from a rental house or the DP; the 1st AC checks it out, usually on a prep day.
- New York rental houses in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island City.
- On our New York jobs, ARRI Alexa Mini LF packages ran about $2,000 a day each.
- Wireless follow-focus and monitors are usually in the package. If not, theirs goes on the quote.
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the 1st AC.
- 50% when you book, 50% on receipt of the final rushes.
- Every line on the quote: day rate, booking fee, payroll and insurance, kit, travel.
- Cancellation terms are on every quote.
Employment and insurance
- Every 1st AC we book is employed for the job, on payroll, with New York workers’ compensation.
- Certificates of insurance (COIs) for your location or permit, naming whoever needs naming, on request.
- On a crew hire the location, its COI, the permit and your own general liability stay with you. When we’re the producer of record, the production carries them.
- In New York, Here Now Films books its crews through established New York production companies, so every crew member is employed, on payroll and fully insured for the job.
$700 a day
Union scale in New York: $1,098 a day for a 1st AC, before fringes.
| Day rate, 10 hours | $700 |
| Booking fee, 10% | $70 |
| One day, before payroll, kit and travel | $770 |
Every 1st AC we book in New York is employed and insured for the job. Payroll and insurance are their own line on the quote. What that covers
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the 1st AC.
- Every crew member employed and insured for the job
- 50% at booking, 50% on the final rushes
- Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours
Or call us on +44 7412 543822.
Reviews
What clients say about our crews
Straight from our Google Business Profile.
Book a 1st AC in New York.
Tell us the date, the camera and lenses, the rental house, and what moves. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Or call us on +44 7412 543822.
Check availability
The whole crew
Every role in New York, booked the same way
One brief, one quote in dollars, every role on its own line. Our day rates in New York, paid to the crew member in full:
Production 06
- Director From $1,500
- Producer From $750
- Production manager $650
- 2nd AD $600
- Production assistant $250
- Runner $250
Camera 07
- DP From $1,200
- Camera operator $750
- 1st AC This page $700
- 2nd AC $550
- Steadicam operator From $1,500
- Gimbal operator $750
- Drone operator From $1,000
Data and playback 02
- DIT $750
- Video playback $650
Sound 01
- Sound mixer $850
Hair, make-up and costume 02
- Hair and make-up $650
- Costume $700
Art department 02
- Art director $750
- Set builders $550
Post-production 01
- Editor From $600
How our rates work: crew rates in New York. Or start from a set-up: interview crews and units in New York.
Questions
Hiring a 1st AC in New York: questions
How much does a 1st AC cost in New York?
Our 1st ACs in New York start at $700 for a 10-hour day, and the 1st AC is paid all of it. Union scale for a 1st AC under the IATSE/AICP commercial agreement is $1,098 a day, before fringes. On top goes our 10% booking fee, so one day comes to $770, before payroll and insurance (at cost, on the quote), kit and travel. A prep day at the rental house is quoted separately.
Who employs the crew, and are they insured?
Every crew member we book in New York is employed for the job and fully insured: payroll, New York workers’ compensation, and certificates of insurance for your location or permit. Payroll and insurance show as their own line on the quote, at cost. On a crew hire, the location, its COI and the permit stay with you, because you’re the producer of record. If you’d rather we were, it’s quoted as a full production.
Is a focus puller the same as a 1st AC?
Yes: a focus puller and a 1st AC (first assistant camera) are the same job. New York, and the US generally, says 1st AC; Britain says focus puller. The second assistant camera is the 2nd AC, which Britain calls the clapper loader. On a New York call sheet you’ll see 1st AC and 2nd AC, and union scale is set for each of them separately.
Do I need a 1st AC for an interview?
Usually not. A two-camera interview at a sensible stop, with the guest sitting still, holds focus on its own, and the camera operator can manage it. Book a 1st AC for fast lenses, moving shots, a large-sensor cinema camera, or anything you can’t shoot twice. On a fireside chat with a DP and three cameras, a 1st AC can earn their day keeping all of them prepped and powered.
Where does a New York 1st AC prep the camera?
At the rental house, usually the day before the shoot. New York has rental houses in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island City, and the 1st AC checks the whole package out there: body, lenses, follow-focus, monitors, cables and media. The prep day goes on the quote. A first rental from a big house can mean a credit application and a certificate of insurance for the hired-in kit, so allow time for the paperwork.
Are your New York crews union or non-union?
Non-union by default, on corporate, branded and documentary work. If your production is signatory to a union agreement, or you need union crew for a commercial, we quote at scale: the IATSE/AICP commercial agreement for camera and make-up, Local 52 for grip, electric and sound, USA 829 for the art department, and the DGA for directors and ADs. Scale is wages only: fringes and payroll go on top.
How far ahead should I book a 1st AC in New York?
Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours and comes back with a 1st AC and a price. Our latest New York shoot, Nevis × Focus, was filmed twelve days after the first email. Then allow for the prep day, and for the permit the shot needs: the Film Office processes most permits 48 to 72 business hours before the shoot, and Times Square takes seven business days.