Film crew hire/Edinburgh/Focus puller
Hire a focus puller in Edinburgh. Sharp on the eyes, on a moving shot, wide open.
Focus pullers (1st ACs) for brand films, adverts and drama across Edinburgh, from the closes of the Old Town to the stages at FirstStage Studios in Leith. 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.
- 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: ShareGrid, Here Now Films, Voice + Video, Johannes Blenke and Stuart Hay
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 actors or both are moving. They measure distances, mark the floor at rehearsal and pull focus live with a wireless follow-focus, often from beside the camera or at a monitor. They also build the camera, swap lenses and keep it running all day.
A large sensor and a fast lens make focus very shallow: on a close-up at T1.5 it can be a few centimetres. That’s why a brand film or an advert needs one, and a two-camera interview usually doesn’t.
We’re a crew agency with 2,800+ freelance crew on our books across the UK, so we can scale a crew from one person for a morning to a full unit for a week. We book a focus puller who lives in or near Edinburgh first. For a film package, or a date when the right one isn’t free, one comes from elsewhere in Scotland, the north of England 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, swapped and logged.
- Fewer takes lost. Marks at rehearsal, and a quiet word 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 on every take, live
- Building, testing and maintaining 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’s not in the camera package
- Travel from outside Edinburgh, at cost
How our rates work, and the two ways to book: crew rates in Edinburgh.
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 camera team, or have us take the 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 focus puller, call to wrap
A brand film on an ARRI Alexa 35 with cine primes: a walking shot down an Old Town close, then a car rig on a closed road. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- 07:00 Camera build At the unit base: lenses checked, follow-focus calibrated, monitors and video sender paired. The package was prepped at the kit house the day before.
- 08:00 Rehearsal The actor walks the move down the close. Marks on the stone, inside the area the Notice of No Objection covers, distances measured, focus points set.
- 08:30 Turnover Pulling focus live as the actor walks towards a long lens. A note to the DOP if a take was soft.
- 10:30 Lens change A 35mm to a 75mm for the close-up: swapped, cleaned and logged in under two minutes.
- 13:00 Lunch Camera on charge, filters cleaned, and a look at the afternoon’s set-ups.
- 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 through Film Edinburgh, £675 plus VAT, applied for at least two weeks ahead (checked October 2026).
- 18:30 Wrap Camera packed for the return to the kit house, lens log and camera report handed to the loader.
Which kind
Which camera assistant do you need?
The camera department in order of seniority, and when each is worth booking.
Focus puller, 1st AC Focus, the camera and the lenses Card £461–575
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, off the camera Card £461–575
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.
Clapper loader, 2nd AC Slate, cards, mags and reports Card £355–448
Slates every take, changes cards or film magazines, and keeps the camera report. See clapper loaders in Edinburgh.
Best alongside a focus puller on any shoot with more than one camera or on film.
Camera trainee Learning the department Quoted on the brief
An extra pair of hands for the camera team: carrying, charging and learning.
Best on long or multi-camera shoots, and a good way to bring new crew on.
Do you need one at all? Interviews and simple shoots Often not
A two-camera interview on Sony FX6s with autofocus or a deep stop often doesn’t need a focus puller.
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 Edinburgh
Adverts and brand films in the Old and New Towns
Large-sensor cameras and fast primes in the Old Town’s closes and the New Town’s Georgian streets, where a soft take is a lost take.
Stage days at FirstStage in Leith
Five stages, a gantry crane across Stage B and a camera team round the DOP.
Car and tracking shots
Focus pulled by wireless from a tracking vehicle, on a road closed through Film Edinburgh with at least two weeks’ notice.
Drama and short films
FirstStage in Leith has hosted The Rig, Anansi Boys and Department Q, and Waverley has been a location for Trainspotting 2, The Lost King and Avengers: Infinity War.
Overseas productions
A visiting DP who needs a UK 1st AC to prep the package the day before, at a kit house in Edinburgh, Glasgow or London.
Recent work
Focus pullers on our jobs, and how we crew them in Edinburgh
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 · Edinburgh
A 1st AC for an Edinburgh camera package
The focus puller is booked for the prep day as well as the shoot. Local packages come from Lights Camera Scotland, between the city centre and the airport, or Live Systems on North Leith Sands. A bigger cinema package comes from Glasgow or London, where the 1st AC checks it out the day before, with the travel on the quote. For a car rig, a road closure of under five days goes to Film Edinburgh at least two weeks ahead.
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 and around Edinburgh include Lights Camera Scotland, between the city centre and the airport, Live Systems on North Leith Sands, and Wex Rental, which hands over booked kit at its store on Haddington Place. Bigger packages come from Glasgow or London.
- Wireless follow-focus and monitors are usually in the package. If not, theirs goes on the quote.
On the road
- A road closure of under five days is a Temporary Traffic Regulation Notice through Film Edinburgh: £675 plus VAT, with at least two weeks’ notice. Five days or more is an Order: £1,980 plus advertising, with at least ten weeks. Within ten metres of the tramway, on Princes Street or down to Leith, Edinburgh Trams may want an Authority to Work as well, applied for 21 days ahead (checked October 2026).
- Edinburgh’s Low Emission Zone covers the city centre around the clock, with no daily charge: a petrol car or van below Euro 4, or a diesel below Euro 6, is sent a £60 penalty, so we only book vehicles that meet it (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.
- 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.
- Film Edinburgh asks for at least £10m public liability on every application, with a risk assessment and traffic management drawings where the shoot needs them.
£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 Edinburgh.
Tell us the date, the camera and lenses, where the package is coming from, and what moves. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Check availability
The whole crew
Every role in Edinburgh, booked the same way
One brief, one quote, every role on its own line. Our day rates in Edinburgh, 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 Edinburgh. Or start from a set-up: interview crews and units in Edinburgh.
Production support
Everything around the crew
A focus puller works inside a camera package, so the kit house, a stage at FirstStage and a Film Edinburgh road closure each get their own line on the quote, or you can sort them yourself.
01
Kit rental
Kit houses in Leith and out towards the airport, the crew’s own kit, and what comes from Glasgow or London.
02
Locations and permits
Film Edinburgh, Historic Environment Scotland, Waverley, the kirkyards, the trams and the drone rules.
03
Studios and set builds
FirstStage in Leith, smaller studios for interviews and product, and set builds.
Questions
Hiring a focus puller in Edinburgh: questions
How much does a focus puller cost in Edinburgh?
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 Edinburgh. 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. The second assistant camera is the clapper loader.
Where do Edinburgh focus pullers prep the camera?
At the kit house, usually the day before. Lights Camera Scotland is between the city centre and the airport, with 24-hour collection and drop-off, and Live Systems is on North Leith Sands. When a bigger package comes from Glasgow or London, the 1st AC preps it there. The prep day goes on the quote.
Can a focus puller work on a car rig in Edinburgh?
Yes, from a monitor on a wireless follow-focus. On Edinburgh’s roads that means a road closure through Film Edinburgh. Under five days is a Temporary Traffic Regulation Notice: £675 plus VAT, with at least two weeks’ notice. Five days or more is an Order: £1,980 plus advertising, usually £1,500 to £3,000, with at least ten weeks (checked October 2026). On a street with tram lines, work within ten metres of the tramway may also need Edinburgh Trams’ Authority to Work, applied for 21 days ahead.
Are your focus pullers from Edinburgh?
We’re a crew agency with 2,800+ freelance crew on our books across the UK, so we can scale a crew from one person for a morning to a full unit for a week. We book focus pullers who live in or near Edinburgh first. When the brief or the date needs someone else, they come from elsewhere in Scotland, the north of England or London, and the travel goes on the quote before anything is booked. Glasgow Queen Street is about 45 minutes from Edinburgh on the fastest trains, Manchester Piccadilly about 3 hours 10 minutes and London King’s Cross about 4 hours 10 (checked October 2026). Our own base is London, at 124 City Road, with bases in Manchester, Bristol and Cornwall.
How far ahead should I book a focus puller in Edinburgh?
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. A parking dispensation wants at least 24 hours’ notice and a council park 48 hours; a road closure of under five days needs two weeks and a longer one ten weeks, and Edinburgh Trams wants 21 days for work near the tramway (checked October 2026).