Film crew hire/DIT
Hire a DIT, anywhere in the UK. Every card checked, copied twice, and on its way to the edit.
Digital imaging technicians and data wranglers for shoots across the UK: on a stage in west London, in a conference hall in Glasgow, or moving with the unit from city to city. They copy and verify every card, check the pictures while the crew can still fix them, and get the rushes to the edit, in Soho, in Salford or across the Atlantic. £527 a day, the APA/Bectu card rate, paid to the DIT 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, Vitaly Gariev, Samsung Memory and Aleksandrs Karevs
The role
What a DIT does on your shoot
A DIT (digital imaging technician) looks after the pictures between the camera and the edit. They work with the DOP on the camera settings and the look, check every take for focus, exposure and noise, run the verified backups, and often make the dailies the client watches that night.
The footage is the only thing a shoot makes. Copying it by drag and drop gives no checksum, so a corrupted file can go unnoticed until the card has been formatted and the original is gone. A DIT makes sure that never happens.
On a UK shoot the DIT also plans how the rushes travel, before the first card comes off camera: a shuttle drive on the train from a shoot in Manchester or Bristol to an edit in London, a courier across town, or proxies uploaded through the day to an editor in another time zone. When the unit moves city every night, the plan moves with it.
- Verified copies. Checksum-verified software such as Silverstack or ShotPut Pro, never drag and drop.
- Two copies, then three. Two verified copies before a card is reformatted; a third off set by the end of the day.
- Pictures checked. Focus, exposure and noise spotted while the crew are still there to reshoot.
- A chain of custody. A report for every card, with an MHL file of checksums travelling with the media.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- An 11-hour day: ten working hours and an hour for lunch
- Offloading every card with verified copies
- Spot checks for focus, exposure, sound and timecode
- The media log and checksum reports
- Working with the DOP on the camera settings and look
- The drives handed over at wrap
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- The DIT station or cart, at a day rate
- Drives, at cost, or bring your own
- Dailies, transcodes and colour, if the brief needs them
- Shuttle drives to the edit, by train or courier, 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?
One question sets the price: who’s the producer of record? Book a DIT for your own shoot anywhere in the UK, or have us take the production on, with the rushes delivered 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 DIT, call to wrap
An example: a two-camera advert on ARRI Alexa Mini LFs, on a stage in Manchester, with dailies for the agency that night and the edit in London. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- 07:30 Set up the station A cart at the edge of the stage, out of the traffic of the set: power, a calibrated monitor, card readers, three drives.
- 08:00 Camera check Settings agreed with the DOP and checked on both cameras: format, frame rate and look.
- 10:30 First cards Offloaded with checksum verification to two drives, then checked: focus, exposure, noise and timecode.
- 11:00 A note to camera A soft take spotted on B camera. The focus puller knows before the next set-up.
- 13:00 Lunch Cards go back to camera only once two verified copies exist.
- 16:00 Dailies Proxies with the look applied, uploading to the agency and the editor while the crew shoot on.
- 19:30 Wrap Last cards in, the third copy made. A shuttle drive goes on the train from Manchester Piccadilly to the edit in London; the masters stay with the production until it has arrived and been checked.
Which kind
DIT, wrangler or loader?
Jobs that overlap and get called different things on different sets, plus the way to start the edit before wrap.
DIT Pictures, settings, backups and dailies £527 a day, card rate
Works with the DOP on the camera and the look, checks every take, runs the backups and makes dailies.
Best for RAW, ARRI or RED, three or more cameras, or same-night dailies.
Data wrangler Backups and the log Quoted on the brief
Takes the cards, copies them with verified backups and keeps the log. On bigger shoots, the DIT’s assistant.
Best for multi-camera conference and event days without a colour pipeline.
Loader with verification On small shoots Card £355–448
The 2nd AC offloads cards with verification software between set-ups. See clapper loader hire UK.
Fine for one or two cameras on a single day; not for a multi-camera RAW day.
Camera to cloud Proxies as you shoot Quoted on the brief
Proxies sent from the camera to Frame.io through a Teradek or the camera itself, so the edit can start before wrap. It needs a connection: in an office, a venue or a hospital, a wired line booked before the day and checked at the recce.
Best when the client or the editor is in another city or another country.
What it’s for
What people book a DIT for across the UK
Cinema camera shoots
ARRI, RED or Sony Venice on stages in London, Manchester, Bristol or Cardiff, where RAW fills drives fast.
Overseas productions
Teams who fly in with their own cameras, shoot in several UK cities and fly home with verified drives.
Agencies who want dailies
The day’s pictures with the look applied, on the agency’s screens the same night.
Shoots you can’t repeat
Chief executives, surgeons between lists, athletes and one-off events.
Multi-camera days
Conferences, podcasts and events with three or more cameras rolling.
Recent work
DITs on our jobs, across the UK
Production service · Portsmouth, London and Oxford · November and December 2023
A DIT in three cities on three days
Swanson Studios, from Oregon, came to interview and photograph surgeons and the people around them for its client Intuitive, on two of its own REDs, with 17 interview slots across three days. We ran the UK side, a DIT among the crew. Each day our DIT ingested the RED footage and the sound, made proxies and backed up to two mirrored drives, one for Swanson and one for its client, before the unit struck both sets and drove on: a hospital in Portsmouth, a hospital in London, then Intuitive’s office at Oxford Science Park.
Crew hire · Woolwich, London · January 2025
A 2nd AC who doubled as DIT
Valentine Global brought its own director, DOP and camera kit to London for a social spot for a sportswear brand, after a sister shoot in New York, and booked us eight days out. We crewed the rest: a gaffer, a spark, a 1st and 2nd AC, a sound recordist and the van. After the hero video in an artist’s studio in Woolwich and B-roll at a second location, our 2nd AC doubled as DIT at the end of the day.
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 and travel days are quoted separately.
Drives and the rushes
- Three copies, checksum-verified, one off site: tell us whose drives they go on.
- A shuttle drive can go by train or courier. Send a copy, never the only one.
- For a DIT the APA/Bectu card sets a maximum and no minimum (APA terms, 1 September 2026).
- Flying in or out with drives and kit: our guide to importing film kit covers the carnet.
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the DIT.
- 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 DIT 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.
£527 a day
APA/Bectu card benchmark: Up to £527 a day, the card’s maximum for a DIT.
| Day rate, 11 hours | £527 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £52.70 |
| Insurance, 2% | £10.54 |
| One day, before the station and drives | £590.24 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the DIT we book, and cover on kit we hire in. Insurance for a UK shoot
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the DIT.
- 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 DIT, anywhere in the UK.
Tell us the cameras, the formats, how much you’ll roll, and where the rushes need to go, in the UK or abroad. 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 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 This page £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 DIT sits between the camera and the edit, and on a UK shoot the edit could be in the next room, in another city or in another country. The guides cover everything around them.
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 DIT in the UK: questions
How much does a DIT cost in the UK?
The APA/Bectu card puts a DIT at £527 for an 11-hour day, and we pay that in full. On top go our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance: £590.24 + VAT for the day. The DIT station, drives, shuttle drives and any travel are priced separately. Film crew rates in the UK
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 day, and when does overtime start?
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
What’s the difference between a DIT and a data wrangler?
A data wrangler copies and logs the cards. A DIT does that and works with the DOP on the pictures themselves: the settings, the look, the checks and the dailies. For a one- or two-camera day, a camera assistant with verification software is often enough: on Valentine Global’s shoot in Woolwich, our 2nd AC doubled as DIT at the end of the day.
Can a DIT travel with the unit across several cities?
Yes. On Swanson Studios’ shoot for Intuitive, our DIT backed up every card twice in a hospital in Portsmouth, then one in London, then at Oxford Science Park, on three consecutive days, with the unit driving to the next city each night. Travel and hotels go on the quote.
Can you get rushes to our editor the same day?
Usually. Across town, a same-day courier takes a shuttle drive; between cities it goes on the train; overseas, proxies upload while you shoot and the drives follow. The masters stay with the production until the copy has arrived and been checked. City detail: getting rushes to the edit in London, and DIT and data in Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cornwall.
What does a DIT need from a location?
Power, a corner for the cart out of the traffic of the set, and a way in for the kit: in offices and hospitals, usually a loading bay and a booked room. If anyone is watching or editing remotely, a wired line booked before the day. If the DIT drives the cart into a city with a clean air zone in a van that isn’t compliant, the daily charge goes on the quote: £12.50 for London’s ULEZ, £9 in Bristol, £10 in Sheffield, while Glasgow and Edinburgh fine rather than charge (checked October 2026). Travel, hotels and vans
We’re flying in with our own cameras. Can you supply the DIT?
Yes. Swanson flew in from Oregon with its REDs, lenses and hard drives as carry-on, and we supplied the DIT with the rest of the UK crew. You contract with us, a UK company, so you don’t need one of your own. Bringing kit in? Start with the carnet: importing film kit into the UK. More in working with a UK production service company.
Are your DITs near us?
We crew from near the shoot where we can, from the 2,800+ freelance crew on our books across the UK. Where the right DIT lives in another city, the travel goes on the quote before anything is booked. Our team books from London, with bases in Manchester, Bristol and Cornwall. City detail, from local permits to kit houses: DITs in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cornwall, and in New York if the shoot goes there too.