Film crew hire/Bristol/Clapper loader
Hire a clapper loader in Bristol. The slate, the mags and the camera report, right first time.
Clapper loaders (2nd ACs) for brand films, adverts and drama on Bristol’s stages and streets, from The Bottle Yard in Whitchurch to the Harbourside. They help prep the package at the kit house, slate the takes, load the cards or the film magazines, and keep the camera report the edit relies on. From £355 a day, paid to the loader 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: Here Now Films, Mike Bautista, Tyler Haehn, Voice + Video and Bradley Pritchard Jones
The role
What a clapper loader does on your shoot
A clapper loader, or 2nd AC (second assistant camera), looks after the paperwork and the media of the camera department. They mark every take with the slate, so picture and sound sync and the editor can find it; they load and unload cards, or film magazines on a film shoot; and they keep the camera report.
On film, the loader is the one person who handles the negative before the lab: loading magazines in a changing bag or a darkroom tent, canning the exposed rolls and labelling every can. A 400ft roll of 35mm runs about three and a half minutes, so a busy day fills a lot of cans.
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 loader from Bristol or Bath first, and they help the focus puller check the package out at the kit house the day before. A film package can come down from London, with the prep day and the travel on the quote.
- Every take marked. Scene, slate and take on the board, so the edit can find each one and sync it.
- Media accounted for. Cards or rolls logged in and out, and no card formatted until two checked copies exist.
- A camera report that’s right. Lens, stop, filter and notes for every take, for the editor and the colourist.
- The cart ready. Batteries charged, lenses cleaned, and everything where the focus puller reaches for it.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- An 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch
- Slating every take, with timecode where it’s used
- Loading and unloading cards, or film magazines
- The camera report, lens log and media log
- Handing cards to the DIT, or film cans to the lab
- Batteries, consumables and the camera cart
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- Film stock, processing and scanning, at cost, on a film shoot
- A prep day at the kit house, if the package needs one
- 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 clapper loader 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 clapper loader, call to wrap
A 35mm advert on a stage at The Bottle Yard: one set, two cameras. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- 06:15 On site The camera van into one of the 210 secure spaces at TBY1 on Whitchurch Lane (checked October 2026), so the cases go straight in on a trolley.
- 06:30 Load the mags Fresh rolls into the magazines in a darkroom tent off the stage, each labelled with the stock and the roll number.
- 07:30 Camera cart Batteries charged, lenses on the cart, the slate and the camera report ready.
- 08:30 First take Slate in, a clear call, out of shot. Every take written up: roll, slate, take, lens and stop.
- 10:00 Mag change A 400ft roll runs out after about three and a half minutes. A fresh mag on in seconds, the exposed roll canned and labelled.
- 14:00 Second camera Two cameras slated at once, with a mark for each.
- 18:30 Wrap Every can taped, labelled and on the lab sheet, the camera report signed. The cans go to the lab by hand or courier, never through an X-ray scanner.
On a digital shoot the day is the same with cards instead of film: logged out, handed to the DIT, and formatted only once two checked copies exist. At The Bottle Yard, Films at 59 offers ingest and media management on site.
Which kind
Which loader do you need?
Film, cards or both: the medium decides what the loader does all day.
Digital loader Cinema cameras on cards £355 a day
Slates, changes and logs cards, hands them to the DIT or data wrangler, and keeps the camera report.
Best for brand films, adverts and drama on cinema cameras.
Film loader 16mm and 35mm Card £355–448
Loads and unloads magazines in the dark, cans and labels every roll, keeps the stock and lab sheets, and gets the cans to the lab.
Best for anything shot on film. Book someone who has loaded film recently: it’s a skill you keep by doing it.
Loader and DIT One person, two jobs
On a one-camera digital shoot the 2nd AC can offload cards with checksum software between set-ups, or take over as DIT at wrap. See DITs in Bristol.
Best for small crews where a separate DIT would sit idle.
Focus puller (1st AC) The senior assistant £461 a day
Pulls focus and runs the camera. See focus pullers in Bristol.
Best booked alongside the loader on any cinema camera shoot.
What it’s for
What people book a clapper loader for in Bristol
Drama at The Bottle Yard
Scene and take numbers for the edit, on stages that have hosted Rivals, The Crow Girl and Down Cemetery Road.
Film shoots
16mm and 35mm packages, with the magazines, the cans and the run to the lab.
Adverts and brand films
Two-camera days on a stage or a cove, with slated takes and a camera report the grade can trust.
Multi-camera events
Two or three cameras on a keynote or a concert at a venue like Bristol Beacon, slated and logged together.
Music videos
Playback synced to the slate, take after take, in small studios in Bedminster and Barton Hill.
Recent work
Loaders on our jobs, on 35mm and on a London studio day
Our work · Canada, Norway, Cornwall and Portugal · 2026
Nine reels of negative, all accounted for
Cohere’s AI for Empowerment was shot on Kodak Vision3 35mm through an Arricam LT, one day in each of four countries. For the Lizard, in Cornwall, our 2nd AC travelled in with the 1st AC. Exposed negative can’t go through airport X-ray: Cinelab in Slough processed and scanned it in 4K, and in Oslo, where the airline refused to carry it, it was processed and scanned locally and came home by courier. Nine reels came back, every one of them.
Crew hire · Woolwich, London · January 2025
A 2nd AC who doubled as DIT
Valentine Global brought its own director, DOP and camera for a sportswear brand’s social spot, and booked the London crew around them eight days out. Our 2nd AC worked with the 1st AC through the day, in an artist’s studio in Woolwich and at a second location nearby, then took over as DIT at the end of it. There was no separate DIT on the crew.
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 and film
- Stock, processing and scans at cost, each on its own line.
- 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.
- Exposed film never goes through an airport X-ray scanner, so the lab run is planned before the travel.
Filming in Bristol
- Bristol Film Office asks for at least £5m public liability and a full risk assessment with every application.
- The Bottle Yard Studios in Whitchurch, the largest film and TV studio in the West of England, has 11 stages across two sites, the biggest 21,700 sq ft, plus a 5,000 sq ft green screen studio (checked October 2026).
- A loader from Bristol or Bath first; from across the South West, Cardiff or London where the brief needs one, with the travel on the quote.
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the loader.
- 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 loader 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.
£355 a day
APA/Bectu card: £355–448 a day for a clapper loader.
| Day rate, 11 hours | £355 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £35.50 |
| Insurance, 2% | £7.10 |
| One day, before travel | £397.60 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the loader we book, and cover on kit we hire in. What it covers
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the loader.
- 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 clapper loader in Bristol.
Tell us the date, the camera, the kit house, and whether it’s cards or film. 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 £461–575
- Clapper loader This page £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 loader works inside the camera package: the kit house, the stock and the lab, and a stage at The Bottle Yard 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 clapper loader in Bristol: questions
How much does a clapper loader cost in Bristol?
The APA/Bectu card puts a clapper loader at £355–448 for an 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch, and the loader is paid that in full. On top go our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, so a day starts at £397.60 + 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 clapper loader the same as a 2nd AC?
Yes. In the UK the second assistant camera is usually called the clapper loader, a name from the days when the job was mostly loading film.
Do I need a loader on a digital shoot?
On a cinema camera shoot with a focus puller, yes: someone has to slate, log and look after the cards. On a small crew the loader can double as the DIT, as ours did on a studio day in Woolwich, London. On a small interview day the camera operator can do it.
Can your loaders load film?
Yes. We book loaders who have loaded 16mm or 35mm recently, which is the thing to ask for. For the Cornish leg of Cohere’s AI for Empowerment, shot on 35mm, our 2nd AC travelled in with the 1st AC. Tell us the camera and the stock when you book.
Where does the film go after a Bristol shoot?
To a motion picture lab, by hand or by courier, and never through an airport X-ray scanner, which destroys exposed negative. Cohere’s 35mm was processed and scanned in 4K at Cinelab in Slough. The stock, the processing, the scan and the courier each go on the quote at cost.
Is there a studio in Bristol for a shoot like this?
The Bottle Yard Studios in Whitchurch, the largest film and TV studio in the West of England, has 11 stages across two sites, the biggest 21,700 sq ft, plus a 5,000 sq ft green screen studio (checked October 2026). Films at 59 Rental has a base there too, with ingest and media management for the cards.
Are your loaders 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 loaders 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).