Film crew hire/Bristol/Focus puller
Hire a focus puller in Bristol. Sharp where it counts, at a wide stop, while everything moves.
Focus pullers (1st ACs) for brand films, adverts and drama across Bristol and Bath, from the stages at The Bottle Yard to the streets of Clifton and the Harbourside. They prep the camera at the kit house, keep the shot sharp, and run the camera department so the DOP can light. From £461 a day, paid to the focus puller in full.
- 2,800+ freelance crew on our books across the UK
- 150+ of them in and around Bristol and Bath
- 54 five-star Google reviews
- 2 hrs for our team to read your brief, in working hours
Photos: ShareGrid, Here Now Films, Voice + Video, Johannes Blenke and Nathan Riley
The role
What a focus puller does on your shoot
A focus puller, or 1st AC (first assistant camera), keeps the picture sharp while the camera, the cast or both move. They measure distances, put marks down 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 all day.
A large sensor and a fast lens leave very little in focus: on a close-up at T1.5 the sharp zone can be a few centimetres deep. That’s why an advert or a brand film needs a focus puller, and a two-camera interview on a deeper stop usually doesn’t.
We’re a crew agency with 2,800+ freelance crew on our books across the UK, 150+ of them in and around Bristol and Bath, so we can scale a crew from one person for a morning to a full unit for a week. We book a focus puller from Bristol or Bath first. For a film package, or a date when the right one isn’t free, one comes from across the South West, Cardiff or London, and the travel and the prep day go on the quote before anything is booked.
- Sharp where it matters. Eyes, hands and product, held through every move and every take.
- A camera that works. Prepped at the kit house, built and tested at call; lenses cleaned, changed and logged.
- Fewer takes lost. Marks at rehearsal, and a quiet word with the DOP if a move won’t hold focus.
- The DOP’s right hand. Runs the camera team, so the DOP can watch the light.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- An 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch
- Pulling focus live on every take
- Building, testing and looking after the camera
- Lens changes, cleaning and the lens log
- Marks and measurements at rehearsal
- Running the camera team: loader, DIT and video
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- A prep day at the kit house, if the package needs one
- Their own focus kit, if it isn’t in the camera package
- Travel from outside Bristol, 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 Bristol.
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 focus puller for your own production, or have us take the whole film on.
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 focus puller, call to wrap
An advert on an ARRI Alexa 35 with cine primes: a walking shot on a Clifton street, then a car rig on a closed road. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- D–1 Prep The package checked out at the kit house: lenses projected and checked, the follow-focus calibrated, monitors and video sender paired. Films at 59 Rental, in Clifton and at The Bottle Yard, offers lens projection and collimation.
- 07:00 Camera build At the unit base: camera built, lenses on the cart, the follow-focus ring marked up.
- 08:00 Rehearsal The actor walks the move along a Clifton pavement, inside the area the Bristol Film Office permit covers. Marks down, distances measured, focus points set.
- 08:30 Turnover Focus pulled live as the actor walks towards a long lens. A word to the DOP 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 Lunch Camera on charge, filters cleaned, the afternoon’s set-ups talked through.
- 14:00 Car rig Camera on the car with the grip, focus pulled by wireless from the tracking vehicle. The road is shut on a Temporary Traffic Regulation Notice, applied for two weeks ahead at £721 plus VAT, with a traffic management company on the diversions (checked October 2026).
- 18:30 Wrap Camera packed for the kit house, the lens log and camera report handed to the loader.
Which kind
Which camera assistant do you need?
The camera department from the top down, and when each one earns a place on the crew.
Focus puller (1st AC) Pulls focus and runs the camera £461 a day
Pulls focus, builds and runs the camera, and leads the camera team, from the prep day at the kit house to the return.
Best for brand films, adverts and drama on large-sensor cameras with cine lenses.
Remote focus puller From a monitor, by wireless
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, such as a car rig on a closed road.
Clapper loader (2nd AC) Slate, cards and camera report £355 a day
Slates every take, changes cards or film magazines, and keeps the camera report. See clapper loaders in Bristol.
Best alongside a focus puller on any shoot with more than one camera, or on film.
Camera trainee An extra pair of hands
Carries, charges and learns: an extra pair of hands for the camera team.
Best on long or multi-camera days. On Cohere’s 35mm day on the Lizard, a camera trainee worked as 3rd AC beside the 1st and 2nd.
No focus puller When the operator can do it
A two-camera interview on Sony FX6s with autofocus or a deeper stop often doesn’t need one.
Book one when the lens is fast, the shot moves, or the picture is the point.
What it’s for
What people book a focus puller for in Bristol
Drama and short films
Bristol Film Office counted 29 major productions in 2024–25, and its list of recent ones runs from Industry to Young Sherlock (checked October 2026).
Studio days at The Bottle Yard
Eleven stages across two sites in Whitchurch, with VI Rental and Grip Services on site.
Adverts and brand films
Large-sensor cameras and fast primes in Clifton’s Georgian streets and on the Harbourside, where a soft take is a lost take.
Car and tracking shots
Focus pulled by wireless from a tracking vehicle, on a road shut on two weeks’ notice or held by a Stop/Go crew for five minutes at a time.
Overseas productions
A visiting DP who needs a UK 1st AC to prep the package at a Bristol kit house the day before.
Recent work
Focus pullers on our jobs, and how we crew them in Bristol
Our work · the Lizard, Cornwall · June 2026
A 1st AC on 35mm, along a mile of cliff path
Cohere’s AI for Empowerment was shot on 35mm, on an Arricam LT with an Angénieux zoom and Canon K-35 primes. For the Lizard our 1st AC and 2nd AC travelled in, with a camera trainee working as 3rd AC, and the call moved up to 07:00 to work in the fog. With no phone signal on the headland, the unit ran on twelve radios along a mile of cliff path, and wrapped at 21:00.
How we crew it · Bristol
A 1st AC for a Bristol camera package
We book a focus puller from Bristol or Bath where we can, for the prep day as well as the shoot. Local packages come from Films at 59 Rental, whose Clifton and Bottle Yard bases project and collimate lenses, or from VI Rental at The Bottle Yard. Since VMI closed its Bristol branch in September 2025, some specialist kit comes down from London, and the 1st AC checks it out there the day before, with the travel on the quote. For a car rig, a road closure of up to two days needs two weeks’ notice.
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.
- A prep day at the kit house is quoted separately.
Kit
- The camera package comes from a kit house or the DOP; the focus puller checks it out, usually on a prep day.
- Kit houses in Bristol include Films at 59 Rental in Clifton and at The Bottle Yard, VI Rental and Grip Services at The Bottle Yard, and Floating Harbour Studios on Welsh Back.
- Wireless follow-focus and monitors are usually in the package. If not, theirs goes on the quote.
Filming in Bristol
- Bristol Film Office asks for at least £5m public liability and a full risk assessment with every application.
- A road closure of up to two days is a Temporary Traffic Regulation Notice: two weeks’ notice and £721 plus VAT. A Stop/Go hold needs seven days’ notice and an accredited traffic management company, holds traffic for five minutes at most, and has no charge (checked October 2026).
- Bristol’s Clean Air Zone is Class D, so it charges cars as well as vans: £9 a day for a car or van below Euro 6 diesel or Euro 4 petrol, £100 for an HGV or coach, around the clock. Bath’s zone is Class C and doesn’t charge private cars (checked October 2026).
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the focus puller.
- 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 focus puller 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.
£461 a day
APA/Bectu card: £461–575 a day for a focus puller.
| Day rate, 11 hours | £461 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £46.10 |
| Insurance, 2% | £9.22 |
| One day, before travel | £516.32 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the focus puller we book, and cover on kit we hire in. What it covers
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the focus puller.
- 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 focus puller in Bristol.
Tell us the date, the camera and lenses, the kit house, and which shots move. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Check availability
The whole crew
Every role in Bristol, booked the same way
One brief, one quote, every role on its own line. Our day rates in Bristol, 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 This page £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 Bristol. Or start from a set-up: interview crews and units in Bristol.
Production support
Everything around the crew
A focus puller works inside a camera package, so the kit house, a stage at The Bottle Yard and a road closure each get their own line on the quote, or you can sort them yourself.
02
Locations and permits
Bristol Film Office, Bath Film Office, the harbour, the bridge and the drone rules.
03
Studios and set builds
The Bottle Yard’s stages, green screen and blackout studios, and set builds.
Questions
Hiring a focus puller in Bristol: questions
How much does a focus puller cost in Bristol?
The APA/Bectu card puts a focus puller at £461–575 for an 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch, and we pay that to the focus puller in full. On top go our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, so a day starts at £516.32 + VAT, before travel from outside Bristol. A prep day at the kit house is quoted separately.
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.
Is a focus puller the same as a 1st AC?
Yes. In the UK the first assistant camera is usually called the focus puller, and the second assistant camera the clapper loader.
Where do Bristol focus pullers prep the camera?
At the kit house, usually the day before. Films at 59 Rental has two Bristol bases, Barley House in Clifton and The Bottle Yard Studios in Whitchurch, and offers lens projection and collimation; VI Rental’s south of England office is at The Bottle Yard too. When a cinema or film package comes down from London, the 1st AC preps it there. The prep day goes on the quote.
Can a focus puller work on a car rig in Bristol?
Yes, from a monitor on a wireless follow-focus. On Bristol’s roads that means a road closure or a Stop/Go hold. A closure of up to two days is a Temporary Traffic Regulation Notice, with two weeks’ notice and £721 plus VAT; three days or more is an Order, usually eight to ten weeks. A Stop/Go hold needs seven days’ notice and an accredited traffic management company, and holds traffic for five minutes at most (checked October 2026). Grip Services, at The Bottle Yard, hires tracking vehicles.
Are your focus pullers from Bristol?
We’re a crew agency with 2,800+ freelance crew on our books across the UK, 150+ of them in and around Bristol and Bath, so we can scale a crew from one person for a morning to a full unit for a week. We book focus pullers from Bristol and Bath first; when the brief or the date needs someone else, they come from across the South West, Cardiff or London, and the travel goes on the quote before anything is booked. Temple Meads is 1 hour 19 minutes from London Paddington on the fastest trains, 11 minutes from Bath Spa, 48 minutes from Cardiff Central and about 1 hour 25 from Birmingham (checked October 2026).
How far ahead should I book a focus puller in Bristol?
Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours, and comes back with a focus puller and a price. Then allow for the prep day, and for the permission the shot needs. Bristol Film Office asks for at least seven days’ notice and a letter to neighbours and businesses seven days before the shoot; a road closure of up to two days needs two weeks, and one of three days or more usually eight to ten weeks (checked October 2026).