Film crew hire/Cornwall/Producer
Hire a producer in Cornwall. One person to call all day, from the car park at dawn to the last drive home.
Freelance producers for shoots across Cornwall. They know how much notice Cornwall Council’s FilmApp wants, who owns the clifftop and the foreshore below it, when the lifeguards need telling, and which hotels still have rooms in August. From £450 a day, paid to the producer in full.
- 2,800+ freelance crew on our books across the UK
- 30+ of them in and around Cornwall
- 54 five-star Google reviews
- 2 hrs for our team to read your brief, in working hours
Photos: Here Now Films, Nevels Media, Nathan Dumlao, Asso Myron and Carl Beech
The role
What a producer does on your shoot
A producer turns a plan into a day that runs. Before the shoot they build the schedule, book the crew, the kit and the location, sort the permissions, releases and hotels, and send the call sheet. On the day they run the clock, look after your client and your contributors, and make the calls nobody behind the camera has time for.
After wrap they check the rushes are safe and on their way. In Cornwall a good part of the job is knowing who has to say yes, and in what order: Cornwall Council through FilmApp for its beaches, woods and parks, the National Trust for much of the coast, the Duchy of Cornwall for much of the foreshore, a harbour master on the quay. On our Cohere shoot on the Lizard, one sequence needed three landowners’ permissions.
The weather is the producer’s call too, and it goes in writing. On that same shoot, a fortnight of sunny forecasts fell apart into fog the evening before. The options, and what each would cost, went to the client in writing; the client chose to go, and the call moved to 07:00 to work while the mist was thickest.
- One person to call. Your client, your contributors and the crew all go through the producer.
- The schedule holds. Built round the tide and the light, run on the day, and you’re told early when a set-up is running long.
- Every yes in writing. FilmApp, the landowner, the harbour master and the releases, sorted before the day.
- No surprises on the invoice. Overtime, parking, hotels and weather days agreed with you before they happen.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- An 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch
- The schedule and call sheet for the day
- Running the set: timings, crew, contributors and your client
- Contributor release forms, signed and filed
- A risk assessment for the location
- A rushes check at wrap, and the handover
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- Prep days before the shoot, if it needs them
- Permit and location fees, from FilmApp to the landowner, at cost
- Travel from outside Cornwall, hotels where the day needs them, mileage and parking, at cost
How our rates work, and the two ways to book: crew rates in Cornwall.
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 producer to run the day inside your production, or have us take the whole production 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 producer, call to wrap
A brand film on a lifeguarded beach on the north coast, with the unit base in the council car park above it. Times are an example; your producer’s call sheet sets the real ones.
- 06:30 Unit base First in: the vans into the council car park, on the base agreed with Cornwall Council’s parking team, and the kit staged at the top of the path.
- 07:00 Crew call A safety briefing, the order of the day, radios out, and who’s who on the client side. The crew who came down from Bristol stayed nearby last night.
- 07:30 The lifeguards Told the unit is there before the first set-up, as Cornwall Council’s FilmApp terms ask on a patrolled beach.
- 09:00 First set-up Contributors met in the car park, settled, mic’d up, release signed. The producer watches the time and the sky.
- 12:30 Lunch An hour, as the card sets it, carried down to the sand rather than the unit going up to it.
- 14:00 Low water The shots on the open sand, timed off the tide tables. The producer calls the move off the beach before the tide does.
- 18:30 Wrap Kit back up the path, the car park handed back as it was found, rushes checked and on their way. Out by 19:00.
ADMIRALTY EasyTide gives free tide predictions for today and the next six days (checked October 2026).
Which producer
Which producer do you need?
“Producer” covers a few different jobs. Here’s how we match one to a brief.
Shoot producer Runs the days From £450 a day
The booking most clients mean. The film’s already planned; you need someone to run the days: crew, timings, contributors, your client and the weather call.
Best for interview days, events, and agency shoots where your own producer is in London or on another job.
Production manager Books and tracks everything
Books the crew, kit, vans, hotels and sleeper berths, and keeps the paperwork straight, working to your producer. See production managers in Cornwall.
Best on multi-day shoots along the coast, where the logistics are a job on their own.
Producer-director Plans it, runs it and directs it
Plans the story, runs the interviews and directs the shoot, sometimes with a camera in hand. See directors in Cornwall.
Best for documentary interviews and small crews: a farmer on Bodmin Moor, a skipper in Newlyn.
Production service producer For productions coming in from abroad Quoted as a production
Runs the ground for a production flying into Newquay or arriving on the sleeper: crew, permits, kit, vans and hotels, on one UK contract. That makes us the producer of record, so it’s a production quote: 15% plus 5% for insurance and contingency.
Best for teams from the US and Europe. Here’s how a UK production service company works.
Production assistant Works to the producer £400 a day
Releases, runs, kit, parking and the call sheet, working to the producer. See production assistants in Cornwall.
Best alongside a producer on busy days with lots of contributors.
What it’s for
What people book a producer for in Cornwall
Interview and customer films
Offices in Truro, boatyards in Falmouth, workshops in Penryn and Redruth, with the contributors’ day planned round their own.
Shoots on the coast
A beach below a council car park, a clifftop above it and the foreshore in between: one shot, several owners to ask.
Agency shoots, white-label
Your producer is in London or on another job; ours runs the Cornish day as part of your team.
Adverts with families and children
Licences, a chaperone and a schedule built round the people in front of the camera.
Teams coming down
London and overseas productions on the sleeper or flying into Newquay, who need a producer on the ground and a UK company to contract.
Recent work
Producers on our jobs, from Talland Bay to Cheshire
Our work · Talland Bay and Lostwithiel, Cornwall · August 2025
Whistlefish’s first TV ad
A 30-second ad for Whistlefish, the Cornish card and gift company, produced by us from the idea to broadcast: two professional leads beside real families, two days in one house and on the coast, a hair and make-up artist we booked and a chaperone for the children, then Clearcast compliance and delivery through Peach to ITV in the West and Sky AdSmart.
Crew and production support · Alderley Edge, Cheshire · 2025 and 2026
A producer on every shoot day, for The Athletic
A producer, two camera operators and a sound recordist for the pilot of Truth or Padel, The Athletic’s interview series, on a private court in Alderley Edge in April 2025. The series came back to the same court in April 2026: our head of production ran the day, and asked for an hour and a half to set the court before the guest arrived. We planned the cameras, crewed and produced the shoots, and handed over the rushes; The Athletic edits the series itself.
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 days before the shoot are quoted separately.
Filming in Cornwall
- Filming on Cornwall Council land, its beaches, woods, parks, gardens and old mining sites among them, needs a permit through FilmApp. Screen Cornwall’s Film Office gives advice, locations and introductions to landowners, but doesn’t issue the permits.
- Cornwall Council asks for £5m public liability and a location-specific risk assessment with every application.
- The National Trust signs a contract for any commercial shoot on its land, and on a Site of Special Scientific Interest the landowner needs Natural England’s written consent (checked October 2026). On a crew hire, the certificates are yours; on a full production, our policy covers them.
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the producer.
- 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 producer 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 £450 a day
APA/Bectu card benchmark: £961 a day.
| Day rate, 11 hours | £450 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £45 |
| Insurance, 2% | £9 |
| One day, before travel | £504 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the producer we book, and cover on kit we hire in. What it covers
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the producer.
- 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 producer in Cornwall.
Tell us the dates, the locations and who’s in front of the camera. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Check availability
The whole crew
Every role in Cornwall, booked the same way
One brief, one quote, every role on its own line. Our day rates in Cornwall, paid to the crew member in full:
Production 06
- Director From £500
- Producer This page 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 Cornwall. Or start from a set-up: interview crews and units in Cornwall.
Production support
Everything around the crew
Your producer can book any of these, from a FilmApp permit to a unit base in a council car park, each on its own line of the quote, or you can sort them yourself.
01
Kit rental
Kit in West Cornwall and Falmouth, the crew’s own kit, and what comes down from Bristol and London.
02
Locations and permits
Cornwall Council, the National Trust, Natural England, the harbours and the drone rules.
Questions
Hiring a producer in Cornwall: questions
How much does a producer cost in Cornwall?
Our producers start at £450 for an 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch, and the producer is paid all of it. The APA/Bectu card benchmark for a producer is £961. On top go our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, so one day comes to £504 + VAT, before any travel from outside Cornwall. If you want us to take on the whole production as producer of record, it’s quoted as a production instead: everything at cost, plus 15% and 5% for insurance and contingency, 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 I need a producer or a production assistant?
If someone has to make decisions on the day, book a producer. A production assistant, at £400 a day, works to them on releases, runs, kit and the call sheet. Busy contributor days often have both.
Who gives permission to film in Cornwall?
It depends whose ground it is, and on the coast that can be several owners at once. Filming on Cornwall Council land, its beaches, woods, parks, gardens and old mining sites among them, needs a permit through FilmApp. Screen Cornwall’s Film Office gives advice, locations and introductions to landowners, but doesn’t issue the permits. Cornwall Council’s 2026–27 location fee for a commercial is £1,500 a full day, £660 for documentary and daytime TV and £180 for online content, with drone permission £216 a full day on top and a £10 admin fee on every application, all paid upfront (checked October 2026). Much of the coast has other owners: the National Trust signs a contract for any commercial shoot and doesn’t allow unauthorised drones; the Duchy of Cornwall holds over 160 miles of Cornish foreshore; and on a Site of Special Scientific Interest the landowner needs Natural England’s written consent, which can take up to four months (checked October 2026). Harbours have their own say: Cornwall Council’s harbour masters run harbours including Newquay, Truro, Penzance and St Ives, and Falmouth and Padstow have harbour commissioners (checked October 2026). See filming permits in Cornwall.
Can a producer sort the unit base and the parking?
Yes. A unit base in a council car park is agreed with Cornwall Council’s parking team, outside FilmApp, and the car park has to be the council’s own (checked October 2026). A parking dispensation for vehicles essential to filming is £20 a day per vehicle from Cornwall Council, with at least five working days’ notice (checked October 2026). A road closure goes to the council’s Street Works team with at least 12 weeks’ notice, and an application still missing information six weeks before the date is declined (checked October 2026). On a crew hire those bookings are yours unless you want us to make them; on a full production, they’re ours.
Can your producer run a Cornish shoot for a production from outside the UK?
Yes. We become the producer of record in the UK: your contract is with us, a UK company, and our producer runs the ground, from crew and permits to vans and hotels, on one invoice, quoted as a production at cost plus 15% and 5%. Cornwall Airport Newquay has Ryanair to London Stansted, a twice-weekly easyJet summer service to Gatwick, and flights to Manchester all year (checked October 2026). See shooting in Cornwall from abroad.
Do your producers come from Cornwall?
Where we can. We started in Cornwall, and our founders work from our Newquay office. As a crew agency we have 2,800+ freelance crew on our books across the UK, 30+ of them in Cornwall, and we scale a crew up as the shoot needs: one producer for an interview day, a producer and a production manager for a week on the coast. When a brief needs more than Cornwall has free that week, they come from Bristol, Devon or London, with travel and hotels on the quote before anything is booked.
How far ahead should I book a producer in Cornwall?
Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. If the producer is also getting permissions, give them time. Cornwall Council asks for ten working days’ notice, or five for a crew under five with a handheld camera, and 12 weeks for any traffic management or road closure (checked October 2026). A landowner can wait up to four months for Natural England’s consent on a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and children in the cast need licensing, with at least 21 days’ notice for a body of persons approval (checked October 2026). In summer, book the hotels early too. Screen Cornwall says summer shoots are common, but traffic is harder and accommodation limited, so plan ahead (checked October 2026).