Film crew hire/Birmingham/Editor
Hire a video editor in Birmingham. Hours of rushes in, the film you meant to make out.
Freelance editors for brand films, documentaries, corporate films and social cutdowns from Birmingham shoots. Book one to work with your team, in your office or remotely, or hand the whole edit to our own post-production team, who cut, grade and mix in-house. From £350 a day, paid to the editor 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: Mark Cruz, Ryan Snaadt, Nejc Soklič, Here Now Films and Billy
The role
What an editor does on your film
An editor turns the rushes into the film. They watch everything, log it, find the story, build the cut and take it through rounds of notes to picture lock. Then the online, the grade, the mix and the deliverables finish it, by the same editor on a small job or by specialists on a bigger one.
Our own post-production team cuts, grades and mixes our films in DaVinci Resolve, mostly remotely. So the edit isn’t tied to Birmingham: it happens wherever the editor and a fast connection are.
What happens in Birmingham is the shoot side, which is where a good edit starts. On set, a DIT or camera assistant copies and checks every card; for a fast turnaround, proxies go up from the location so the cut starts the same day; and the drives are handed over at wrap. At a conference at the ICC or the NEC, an editor can sit in a side room and cut highlights while the sessions run. If you’d rather the editor sat with your team in Birmingham, we book one to come in, with the travel on the quote.
- The story found. Hours of interviews and B-roll watched, logged and built into a structure.
- Notes handled. Two rounds of amends as standard, each turned round fast.
- Ready for every screen. Masters, cutdowns, subtitles and the right ratio for every platform.
- Your software, or ours. Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Avid or Final Cut, in your office, ours or remote.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- A full edit day, in your office or remotely
- Syncing and logging the rushes
- Building the cut to your brief and notes
- Review exports whenever you need them
- The project and media handed over at the end
- Premiere Pro, Resolve, Avid or Final Cut
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- An edit suite or kit, if you need one, at a day rate
- Grade, sound mix, music and stock, each quoted separately
- Drives couriered from the shoot, at cost
- Travel from outside Birmingham, and mileage, parking and the Clean Air Zone charge where the day needs them, at cost
Rather we ran the edit? Our post-production team cuts from £550 a day, with the suite and two rounds of amends, and grades from £600 a day. How our crew rates work: crew rates in Birmingham.
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 an editor to cut for your own team, or have us make the whole Birmingham film, from the shoot to the masters.
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 in the edit, rushes to first cut
Day one on a two-minute customer story, from a day’s shoot with two interviews in an office off Colmore Row. Times are an example.
- 09:00 Rushes in The drive couriered overnight from the Birmingham shoot, or the proxies already up from the location. Copied, checked against the card count, and backed up.
- 10:00 Watch it all Synced to the sound, organised by interview and scene, and every answer watched, with the best lines marked by timecode in a selects sequence.
- 12:30 Lunch An hour away from the screen.
- 13:30 The radio edit The interviews cut for story first, as if for radio: beginning, middle and end, in the client’s own words.
- 15:30 Pictures B-roll laid over the interview, and the pace set with music.
- 17:00 First cut Exported with burnt-in timecode and sent on a review link, so the client can watch it on the way home and send notes on the timecode.
- 17:30 Wrap Project saved and backed up. Tomorrow: the notes.
Which kind
Which editor do you need?
The edit has several stages, and on bigger films a specialist for each.
Offline editor The creative cut From £350 a day
Builds the story and the cut, and takes it through notes to picture lock.
Best for brand films, documentaries and customer stories.
Online editor Finishing and deliverables Quoted on the brief
Conforms the locked cut at full quality, adds titles and makes the deliverables. See online editing.
Best for broadcast and anything with strict delivery specs, such as a TV ad cleared through Clearcast.
Assistant editor Ingest, sync and logging Quoted on the brief
Organises the rushes, syncs the sound, logs and transcribes, so the editor can start cutting.
Best on long-form and multi-camera projects, and on a conference with several rooms filming at once.
Colourist The grade From £600 a day
Grades the film so every shot matches and the look is right. See colour grading.
Best for anything shot on a cinema camera.
Motion designer Titles, graphics and animation Quoted on the brief
Animated titles, lower thirds, data and explainer graphics.
Best for corporate, financial and explainer films, where the numbers have to be on screen.
Social editor Cutdowns and versions Quoted on the brief
Turns a master into 9:16, 1:1 and 16:9 cutdowns, with subtitles, for every platform.
Best after a brand film or an event, when the content needs to go out fast.
What it’s for
What people book an editor for in Birmingham
Agency overflow
An extra editor in your office in the Jewellery Quarter or Digbeth, or remote, for a busy fortnight.
Conference highlights
A day at the ICC or the NEC cut the same night, for the delegates’ inboxes the morning after.
Business district films
Leadership interviews and customer stories shot off Colmore Row or at Brindleyplace, cut to a brand template.
Visiting productions
A team from London or abroad shoots in Birmingham and wants a first cut before the train home.
Social cutdowns
Vertical, square and subtitled versions of a master, for a university or an event at Edgbaston going out this week.
Recent work
Edits by our own team
Both cut, graded and mixed in-house by our post-production team.
Our work · Twycross Zoo, Leicestershire · Easter 2025
Twycross Zoo’s Easter TV ad
A 30-second national TV ad for Twycross Zoo, north-east of Birmingham: the idea, a two-day shoot, a child’s voiceover, Clearcast and delivery to Sky AdSmart, licensed for 2.8 million impressions. Our own team cut, graded and mixed it.
Our post-production · The Athletic
An interview series, cut, graded and mixed
A four-part, interview-led series for The Athletic. Our team took each episode through the edit, the grade and the mix, with deliverables for every platform the series runs on.
Before you book
Things to know
The day
- A full edit day, in your office or remotely.
- Overtime agreed with you before it happens.
- In your office in Birmingham, the editor works your building’s hours.
From the Birmingham shoot
- Cards copied and checked on set by a DIT or camera assistant, with a second copy before any card is wiped.
- Proxies uploaded from the location when the edit has to start the same day.
- Drives handed over at wrap, or couriered from the location, at cost.
Working remotely
- Rushes sent by drive or secure transfer, with proxies for speed.
- Cuts shared on a review link, with notes on the timecode.
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the editor.
- 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 editor 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.
- Production Central WM asks for at least £5m public liability and a risk assessment before it issues a permit.
From £350 a day
There’s no APA/Bectu card rate for editors: post-production isn’t on the APA crew card.
| Editor, a day | £350 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £35 |
| Insurance, 2% | £7 |
| One edit day, before kit | £392 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the editor we book, and cover on kit we hire in. What it covers
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the editor.
- 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 an editor in Birmingham.
Tell us how much footage, how many films, the software, and whether the editor works with you or remotely. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Check availability
The whole crew
Every role in Birmingham, booked the same way
One brief, one quote, every role on its own line. Our day rates in Birmingham, 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 £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 This page From £350
How our rates work: crew rates in Birmingham. Or start from a set-up: interview crews and units in Birmingham.
Production support
Everything around the crew
An edit starts with the rushes, so here’s how the shoot side works in Birmingham, from permits to crew set-ups.
02
Locations and permits
Production Central WM, the canals, New Street, the parks and the airport’s drone zone.
03
Studios and set builds
Digbeth Loc., Curzon Street, blackout and green screen studios, and set builds.
Questions
Hiring a video editor in Birmingham: questions
How much does a video editor cost in Birmingham?
Our freelance editors start at £350 a day, paid to the editor in full, plus our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance: £392 + VAT. Our rates are national, so Birmingham costs the same as anywhere else we crew. If you’d rather we ran the edit, our post-production team cuts from £550 a day, with the suite and two rounds of amends included.
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 the editor in Birmingham?
Not always, and it rarely matters. Our post-production team cuts remotely. Our base is in London, at 124 City Road, with bases in Manchester, Bristol and Cornwall. What happens in Birmingham is the shoot and the rushes. If you want an editor in the room, we book one to work from your office in Birmingham, with any travel on the quote before anything is booked.
How do rushes get from a Birmingham shoot to the edit?
By upload or by drive. On set, a DIT or camera assistant copies and checks the cards; for an urgent job, proxies go up from the location while you shoot, and the edit starts the same day. The drives follow by courier or come back with the crew. New Street is 1 hour 17 minutes from London Euston on the fastest trains, about an hour and a half from Manchester Piccadilly and an hour and a quarter from Bristol Temple Meads; Birmingham International, for the airport and the NEC, is ten minutes out (checked October 2026). See DIT hire in Birmingham.
Can you cut conference highlights at the ICC or the NEC on the day?
Yes. An editor works from a side room or the production office, cutting from the cards as they come off the cameras, so highlights go out that evening or the morning after. Neither venue publishes filming rules, so the room, the power and the upload speed are agreed with the venue’s event team first.
What software do your editors use?
Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Avid Media Composer and Final Cut Pro. Tell us what your project is in, and we’ll match the editor.
Do you grade and mix as well?
Yes. Our post-production team grades and mixes in-house, from £600 a day for the grade: Twycross Zoo’s national TV ad was cut, graded and mixed by our own team. See our post-production.