Film crew hire/Director
Hire a director, anywhere in the UK. The person who decides what the film is, and gets it on the day.
Directors for interview films, brand films, branded documentary and commercials, for agencies, brands and production teams shooting anywhere in the UK. Most of the films we make are directed in-house; when a shoot needs someone else, we bring them in and build the crew round them, wherever the shoot is. 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 Christian Harb
The role
What a director does on a UK shoot
A director decides what the film is, then gets it on the day. In prep they write the treatment, plan the interviews or break down the script with you, and agree the look with the DOP. On the day they run the contributors or the cast, call the set-ups and the takes, and keep a running list of what the edit still needs.
The director decides what the film should feel like; the DOP decides how that looks on camera. On a small corporate crew the director often produces as well, and on a UK shoot that can mean the permissions too, which change from one landowner to the next: a National Trust house wants a contract signed by both sides, a Canal & River Trust towpath its own application (checked October 2026).
- A plan before the day. Treatment, interview questions or shot list, signed off with you before anyone travels.
- 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, your 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: ten working hours and 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 and the DOP before the first set-up
- Selects and pick-ups noted at wrap, for the edit
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
- Permit and location fees, at cost
- Travel, mileage and hotels when the shoot is away from the crew member’s home city, at cost
How our rates work, overtime and the APA/Bectu card: film crew rates in the UK.
Two ways to book
Crew hire or full production: who’s the producer of record?
Book a director for your own production and crew, or have us make the film with you, from the treatment to the edit.
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 Bristol: four contributors in the morning, then street b-roll in the city centre after lunch. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- 07:30 Before call At reception: every crew name and the kit list went to the building the week before, so the passes are waiting.
- 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, talked through it, mic’d. 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, and one question rewritten for the afternoon.
- 13:30 Street b-roll A small handheld unit in the city centre on the Bristol Film Office’s permit, which covers all location filming on council land: at least seven days’ notice, and £84 plus VAT for up to ten crew (checked October 2026).
- 15:30 Last contributor Twenty minutes between meetings, so straight to the questions that matter.
- 18:00 Wrap Selects noted for the edit, pick-ups listed, rushes on two drives and on their way. Out by 18:30, inside the 11 hours.
Which kind
Which director do you need?
“Director” means 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, with a fixed slot for each person and no second chances.
Best for interview days with a few contributors and a fixed slot with each, in an office, a factory or a conference venue anywhere in the UK.
Documentary director, or shooting producer-director Plans the story and finds it on the day Quoted on the brief
Researches the film, runs the interviews and directs, sometimes with a camera in hand. On a small crew they produce too, which keeps the unit small enough to travel light.
Best for branded documentary and interview-led films, with people filmed where they live and work.
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 made our own campaign for Cohere, AI for Empowerment: an outside director, 35mm, four countries.
Best for scripted work with a cast, which on a UK street means an AD team, a unit base and the council’s permit.
Us making the film We’re the producer of record From £9,500
If you want the whole film made, we produce it as well: 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.
What it’s for
What people book a director for across the UK
Leadership and customer films
Interview days in offices from the City of London to Spinningfields in Manchester, with contributors who have half an hour between meetings.
Conferences and events
Keynotes and speaker interviews at venues like the ICC in Birmingham or the SEC in Glasgow, where the director gets minutes with each speaker, not hours.
Branded documentary
People filmed where they work: a lab in Cambridge, a farm in Cornwall, a workshop in Sheffield.
Commercials with a cast
A script, an AD team, and a stage or a street on the council’s permit.
Overseas productions
A UK director for a US or European team that can’t send its own, or a UK crew built round the director it does send.
How we crew it
How we crew a director across the UK
How we crew it · UK
In-house first, then the right outside director
When a brief comes in, the first question is whether one of our own directors fits it. When it needs someone else, a commercials director for a script with a cast, or a documentary director who already knows the subject, we bring them in for the job and build the producer, DOP and crew round them. Directors come to us the same way as the rest of our crew: a phone call, their past work and references. How we select our crew.
How we crew it · UK
The director travels, the crew is local
The director goes where the film is. The crew round them comes from as close to the location as we can find, from the 2,800+ freelance crew on our books across the UK, so the travel on the quote is the travel that buys something. Our base is London, with bases in Manchester, Bristol and Cornwall, and the quote shows every line, from day rates to hotels, before anything is booked.
Before you book
Things to know
The day
- 11 hours, including an hour for lunch: ten working hours.
- Overtime by the hour at the APA card’s rate for the role, agreed with you before it happens.
- At least 11 hours between wrap and the next day’s call.
- Prep, recces and edit days are quoted separately.
Permission to film
- In Cornwall the whole foreshore belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall, and Cornwall Council wants ten working days’ notice for its land (checked October 2026).
- Edinburgh needs no permit for street filming that causes no obstruction; Bristol wants one for all location filming on council land (checked October 2026).
- Children in the cast need a performance licence from the council where the child lives: in England, apply 21 days ahead (checked October 2026).
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.
- Moving the date? Tell us as soon as you know.
- 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
The APA/Bectu card has no grade for directors.
| Day rate, 11 hours | £500 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £50 |
| Insurance, 2% | £10 |
| One day, before kit and travel | £560 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the director we book, and cover on kit we hire in. Insurance for a UK shoot
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, anywhere in the UK.
Tell us what the film is for, who’s in it, where you’re shooting 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 across the UK, booked the same way
One brief, one quote, every role on its own line. Our UK day rates, 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 09
- DOP From £850
- Camera operator £529–656
- Lighting camera operator £529–656
- Videographer £529–656
- Focus puller (1st AC) £461–575
- Clapper loader (2nd AC) £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 across the UK. In one city? London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cornwall have their own role pages.
Production support
Everything around the crew
A director’s prep is half permissions and places. Here are the UK guides, and anything in them can go on the quote if you’d rather we booked it.
01
Crew rates in the UK
Day rates for every role, the APA/Bectu card, overtime and what a day covers.
02
Kit and equipment hire
Rental houses across the UK, wet hire and dry hire, and the crew’s own kit.
03
Insurance for a UK shoot
Employers’ liability, public liability, kit cover, and what can leave you uninsured.
Questions
Hiring a director in the UK: questions
How much does a director cost in the UK?
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 travel. The APA/Bectu card has no grade for directors. If you want the whole film made, it’s quoted as a production instead, 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.
How long is a director’s day, and what about overtime?
A day is 11 hours, ten of them working and one for lunch. After that, overtime is paid by the hour at the APA card’s rate for the role: 1.5×, 1.25× or single time on an hourly rate of a tenth of the day rate, graded by day rate, and we agree it with you before it happens. Between wrap and the next call there are at least 11 hours. Film crew rates in the UK
Do you direct in-house, or book freelance directors?
Both. Most of the films we make are directed in-house. When a brief needs someone else, a commercials director for a cast or a documentary director who knows the subject, we bring them in for the job and build the production round them, as we did on our own campaign for Cohere, AI for Empowerment.
Do you have directors outside London?
Our directors travel to the shoot, wherever it is. Our base is London, at 124 City Road, with bases in Manchester, Bristol and Cornwall. The crew round them comes from as close to the location as we can find, with any travel on the quote before anything is booked. For one city’s detail, see our directors in London and Birmingham.
Do I need a permit to film on a street in the UK?
It depends where. In England there’s no national permit: the council covers its streets and land, and the landowner everything else. Councils differ. Bristol’s film office wants a permit for all location filming on council land, with at least seven days’ notice; the City of London charges even a small handheld crew; Edinburgh needs no permit for the street if the filming causes no obstruction, but does for parks, beaches and cemeteries (checked October 2026). Our guide to filming locations and permits in the UK has the rest, and the London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cornwall guides have each city’s detail.
Can you crew a UK shoot for a director flying in?
Yes: we crew it, book the kit and the 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, so your own team needs no UK company of its own. See how a UK production service company works.
How far ahead should I book a director?
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 usually someone else’s: at least seven days for a Bristol permit, ten working days for Cornwall Council land, at least 21 days for a NATS drone application, and 21 days for a child performance licence in England (checked October 2026).