Film crew hire/Birmingham/Director
Hire a director in Birmingham. One person deciding what the film is, from the treatment to the last take.
Directors for interviews, brand films, documentary and commercials across Birmingham and the West Midlands, from a boardroom on Colmore Row to a towpath in Brindleyplace or a street in Digbeth. Most of the films we make are directed in-house; on larger shoots we bring in an outside director and build the production around them. From £500 a day, paid to the director 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
- 2,800+ freelance crew on our books, across the UK
Photos: Here Now Films and Adam Jones
The role
What a director does on your shoot
A director decides what the film is and gets it on the day. Before the shoot they write the treatment, plan the interviews or the script with you, and agree the look with the DOP. On the day they run the contributors or the cast, call the takes and the set-ups, and keep a list of what the edit still needs.
The director says what the film should feel like; the DOP decides how that looks. On a small corporate crew the director often produces too, and in Birmingham that can mean the permissions as well: Production Central WM for the street, the Canal & River Trust for a towpath, Network Rail for New Street.
- A plan before the day. Treatment, interview questions or shot list, signed off with you.
- Contributors at ease. People who’ve never been filmed, settled enough to say it properly.
- The coverage the edit needs. Selects noted and gaps picked up before the crew wraps.
- One voice on set. The crew, the client and the contributors hear one set of calls.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- An 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch
- Directing the shoot: contributors or cast, camera and set-ups
- The shot list or interview plan for the day
- A walk-through with you before the first set-up
- Notes on selects and pick-ups at wrap
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- Prep: the treatment, recces and casting, quoted on the brief
- Edit days, if the director cuts or supervises the cut
- Travel from outside Birmingham, and mileage, parking and the Clean Air Zone charge where the day needs them, at cost
How our rates work, and the two ways to book: crew rates in Birmingham.
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 director for your own production and crew, or have us make the film with you.
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 director, call to wrap
A leadership film at a company’s offices in Brindleyplace: four contributors, then b-roll on the canal after lunch. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- 07:30 Before call At the security desk: every crew name and the kit list went ahead for passes, so the unit goes straight up.
- 08:00 Crew call The plan walked through with the DOP: the frames, the interview set-up, and where the second camera sits.
- 09:30 First contributor Settled and talked through it. The director runs the interview and listens for the line the film hangs on.
- 12:30 Lunch The morning’s answers checked against the plan; one question rewritten for the afternoon.
- 13:30 Towpath b-roll A handheld unit of five on the canal outside. The towpath is the Canal & River Trust’s, booked five working days ahead, from £196 an hour plus VAT for online video (checked October 2026).
- 15:30 Last contributor 20 minutes between meetings, so straight to the questions that matter.
- 18:30 Wrap Selects noted for the edit, pick-ups listed, rushes on two drives and on their way. Out by 19:00.
Which kind
Which director do you need?
“Director” covers different jobs on different shoots. Here’s how we match one to a brief.
Interview and corporate director Leadership films, customer stories, internal films From £500 a day
Plans the questions with you, runs the contributors and directs the camera team. It’s most of what we direct in-house.
Best for interview days with a few contributors and a fixed window with each, from an office on Colmore Row to a keynote speaker at the ICC.
Documentary director, or shooting producer-director Plans the story and finds it on the day Quoted on the brief
Researches and plans the film, runs the interviews and directs, sometimes with a camera in hand; on a small crew they produce too.
Best for branded documentary and interview-led films: a workshop in the Jewellery Quarter, a lab at one of the universities.
Commercials director Adverts and campaigns with a cast Quoted on the brief
Usually represented, and brought in for the job, with the production built round them. That’s how we ran AI for Empowerment.
Best for scripted work with a cast: in Birmingham that means an AD team, a unit base and Production Central WM’s permit, with four weeks’ notice for a large shoot (checked October 2026).
A director for your crew You bring the director, we crew the shoot Crew hire
When the director is yours, flown in or up from London, we put the crew and kit round them and they direct. Matt Dunstan, a US director, has worked with us that way in London and in Manchester. His note after the first, in London in February 2024: “We had one hell of a team.”
Best for agencies and overseas productions with a director already attached.
Us making the film We’re the producer of record From £9,500
If you want the whole film made, we produce it too: director, producer, crew, permissions and edit, quoted as a production at cost plus 15% and 5% for insurance and contingency.
Best when there’s no production team on your side. See video production in Birmingham.
What it’s for
What people book a director for in Birmingham
Leadership and customer films
Interview days in the business district around Colmore Row, with contributors who have half an hour between meetings.
Conferences and events
Keynotes and speaker interviews at the ICC on Centenary Square and the NEC, where the director gets minutes with each speaker, not hours.
Branded documentary
People filmed where they work: a jeweller’s bench in the Jewellery Quarter, a lab at one of the universities, a kitchen in Digbeth.
Commercials with a cast
A script, an AD team, and a stage at Curzon Street Studios or a street in Digbeth on Production Central WM’s permit.
Overseas productions
A director for a US or European team landing at Birmingham Airport, a short train ride from New Street.
Recent work
Directing on our jobs, north-east of Birmingham and further afield
Full production · Twycross Zoo, Leicestershire · Easter 2025
Twycross Zoo’s Easter TV ad
A 30-second national TV ad for Twycross Zoo, north-east of Birmingham: the idea, a two-day shoot, a child’s voiceover, Clearcast and delivery to Sky AdSmart, licensed for 2.8 million impressions. Our own team cut, graded and mixed it.
Full production · Canada, Norway, the UK and Portugal · 2026
An outside director, our production round them
Cohere’s AI for Empowerment, shot on 35mm in four countries. The director was brought in for the job, as a commercials director usually is, and we built the production round them: a Panavision film package, a tracking vehicle and a local crew in each country, run on one budget.
Before you book
Things to know
The day
- 11 hours, including an hour for lunch.
- Overtime at card rates, agreed with you before it happens.
- Prep, recces and edit days are quoted separately.
Permissions in Birmingham
- Private property: the owner’s permission in writing, with the usage agreed.
- Streets and council land: Production Central WM, the West Midlands film office, through its Open Brolly portal. Towpaths: the Canal & River Trust. New Street: Network Rail.
- Production Central WM asks for at least £5m public liability and a risk assessment before it issues a permit. On a crew hire that certificate is yours; on a full production it’s ours.
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the director.
- 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 director 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.
From £500 a day
There’s no APA/Bectu card rate for directors.
| Day rate, 11 hours | £500 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £50 |
| Insurance, 2% | £10 |
| One day, before travel | £560 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the director we book, and cover on kit we hire in. What it covers
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the director.
- 50% by card at booking, 50% on the final rushes
- Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours
- Every line on the quote before anything is booked
Or call us on 07412 543822.
Reviews
What clients say about our crews
Straight from our Google Business Profile.
Book a director in Birmingham.
Tell us what the film is for, who’s in it, and whether you need a crew as well. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Check availability
The whole crew
Every role in Birmingham, booked the same way
One brief, one quote, every role on its own line. Our day rates in Birmingham, paid to the crew member in full:
Production 06
- Director This page 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 Birmingham. Or start from a set-up: interview crews and units in Birmingham.
Production support
Everything around the crew
A Birmingham shoot’s prep is half permissions and places, from Production Central WM to the canals and New Street, and each item can go on the quote if you want us to book it.
02
Locations and permits
Production Central WM, the canals, New Street, the parks and the airport’s drone zone.
03
Studios and set builds
Digbeth Loc., Curzon Street, blackout and green screen studios, and set builds.
Questions
Hiring a director in Birmingham: questions
How much does a director cost in Birmingham?
Our directors start at £500 for an 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch, and the director is paid all of it. Prep, recces and edit days are quoted on the brief. On top go our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, so one day comes to £560 + VAT, before any travel from outside Birmingham. If you want the whole film made, it’s quoted as a production, and every production starts at £9,500.
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.
Do you direct in-house, or book freelance directors?
Both. Most of the films we make are directed in-house: Twycross Zoo’s Easter TV ad was ours from the idea to the delivery to Sky AdSmart. On larger shoots we bring in an outside director and run the production around them, as we did on AI for Empowerment.
Do I need a permit to film on a street in Birmingham?
If it’s a street or council land, yes. Filming on council land in Birmingham goes through Production Central WM, the West Midlands film office, which took over from Film Birmingham and covers the seven combined-authority councils: Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Dudley. The street filming permit is £84 plus VAT for a crew of up to ten and £191 for 11 to 24, with five working days’ notice for a small-scale shoot and four weeks for a large one (checked October 2026). Production Central WM asks for at least £5m public liability and a risk assessment before it issues a permit. See filming permits in Birmingham.
Can you crew a Birmingham shoot for a director flying in?
Yes: we crew it and book the kit and locations, and your director directs. If you need a UK company to contract, we become the producer of record and it’s a production quote. Birmingham International, for the airport, is ten minutes from New Street by train (checked October 2026). See how a UK production service company works.
Where are your directors based?
Our base is London, at 124 City Road, with bases in Manchester, Bristol and Cornwall. Our own directors travel to Birmingham shoots from there; New Street is 1 hour 17 minutes from London Euston on the fastest trains (checked October 2026). We crew Birmingham shoots with freelance directors and crew who live in Birmingham where we can, and bring them in from Manchester, London or Bristol where the brief needs them, with the travel on the quote before anything is booked.
How far ahead should I book a director in Birmingham?
As early as you can: the prep is where the film gets decided. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. The dates that bind are the notice periods: Production Central WM wants five working days for a small-scale shoot and four weeks for a large one, the Canal & River Trust five working days for a towpath, and Birmingham Airport’s air traffic control at least 14 days for a drone inside its flight restriction zone (checked October 2026).