Film crew hire/Birmingham/Focus puller
Hire a focus puller in Birmingham. Sharp on the eyes, on a moving shot, wide open.
Focus pullers (1st ACs) for brand films, adverts and drama across Birmingham, from the streets of Digbeth to the studios at Curzon Street. 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 Chris Dack
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 crew a Birmingham focus puller where we can. For a film package, or a date when the right one isn’t free, they come from Manchester, London or Bristol, 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 Birmingham, at cost
How our rates work, and the two ways to book: 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 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 on a Digbeth street, then a car rig. 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. Marks on the pavement inside the area the Production Central WM permit 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. Only the police can stop traffic, so the short traffic hold went to Production Central WM 14 days ahead, with police time on the quote (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 Birmingham.
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 Birmingham
Adverts and brand films in Digbeth
Large-sensor cameras and fast primes on Digbeth’s streets and in its studios, where a soft take is a lost take.
Studio days at Curzon Street
Product and green screen work in Eastside, with a camera team round the DOP.
Car and tracking shots
Focus pulled by wireless from a tracking vehicle, with a Production Central WM traffic hold booked 14 days ahead.
Drama and short films
In August 2026 the British Film Commission named the West Midlands the UK’s eighth official production hub, and Birmingham has hosted Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, Silent Witness and The Cadburys.
Overseas productions
A visiting DP who needs a UK 1st AC to prep the package the day before, at the NEC or in London.
Recent work
Focus pullers on our jobs, and how we crew them in Birmingham
Full production · Cornwall · June 2026
A London 1st AC on 35mm in Cornwall
We couldn’t find a 1st or 2nd AC in Cornwall for Cohere’s AI for Empowerment, so both came from London, with a tracking vehicle and its crew. The Arricam package was prepped at a London kit house on 12 June, and the 1st AC pulled focus on the Lizard four days later, on a 6:30am call that wrapped at 9pm.
How we crew it · Birmingham
A 1st AC for a Birmingham camera package
We book a Birmingham focus puller where we can, for the prep day as well as the shoot. Local packages come from Media Dog Hire at the NEC or Wex Rental’s collection point on Hagley Road. A cinema or film package can come up from London, and the 1st AC checks it out there the day before, with the travel on the quote. For a car rig on Birmingham roads, the traffic hold goes to Production Central WM 14 days 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 Birmingham include Media Dog Hire at the NEC, and Wex Rental, collected from Wex Photo Video on Hagley Road. Specialist kit can come up from London or across from Manchester.
- Wireless follow-focus and monitors are usually in the package. If not, theirs goes on the quote.
On the road
- Only the police can stop traffic, and police time is charged. Production Central WM asks 14 days’ notice for a short traffic hold and 21 for a road closure (checked October 2026).
- Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone covers every road inside the A4540 Middleway ring road, around the clock. A car or van below Euro 6 diesel or Euro 4 petrol pays £8 a day, an HGV or coach £50 (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.
- Production Central WM asks for at least £5m public liability and a risk assessment before it issues a permit.
£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 Birmingham.
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 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 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 Birmingham. Or start from a set-up: interview crews and units in Birmingham.
Production support
Everything around the crew
A focus puller works inside a camera package, so the kit house, a studio at Curzon Street and a Production Central WM traffic hold each get their own line on the quote, or you can sort them yourself.
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 focus puller in Birmingham: questions
How much does a focus puller cost in Birmingham?
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 Birmingham. 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 Birmingham focus pullers prep the camera?
At the kit house, usually the day before. Media Dog Hire is at the NEC, by Birmingham International, ten minutes from New Street by train, and Wex Rental’s collection point is on Hagley Road. When a cinema or film package comes up 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 Birmingham?
Yes, from a monitor on a wireless follow-focus. In the West Midlands only the police can stop traffic, and police time is charged. Production Central WM asks 14 days’ notice for a short traffic hold, 21 days for a road closure, and eight weeks for an extensive one (checked October 2026).
Are your focus pullers from Birmingham?
We crew focus pullers from Birmingham where we can. Where the brief or the date needs someone else, they come from Manchester, London or Bristol, and the travel goes on the quote before anything is booked. 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). Our team works from London, with bases in Manchester, Bristol and Cornwall.
How far ahead should I book a focus puller in Birmingham?
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. Production Central WM asks for five working days for a small-scale shoot and four weeks for a large one; seven days for kit on the highway, 14 days for a residents’ letter drop, and 21 days for a road closure (checked October 2026).