Film crew hire/Bristol/Set builders
Hire set builders in Bristol. Built to the drawings, finished for the lens, struck at wrap.
Set builders, carpenters and scenic painters for adverts, music videos, brand films and drama across Bristol and Bath. They build to the art director’s drawings in a workshop or on a stage, such as the eleven at The Bottle Yard, paint and age it for the camera, and strike it at wrap. From £341 a day per builder, paid 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: Ali Mkumbwa, Ryno Marais, Callum Hill and Sheila C
The role
What set builders do on your shoot
Set builders make what the location can’t give you: a wall with the window where the DOP wants it, a shop counter, a stage, a room that comes apart so the camera can get in. Carpenters build it, scenic painters finish and age it, and the same team strikes it and clears the floor.
Every build runs the same way: design, construction, dressing, strike. The art director draws it, the builders make it, the dressers fill it, and everyone helps clear it.
Bristol has the space for big builds. The Bottle Yard Studios has 11 stages across its two sites in Whitchurch and Hengrove, Tankhouse 3 is 65 feet high, and Sanditon’s town went up on its back lot. Its tenants include Set Smith, which builds sets, scenery and props, Scaffolding to the Stars, the TV and film riggers, and Figure Nine, for rope access and filming platforms; in the city, Bristol Old Vic’s scenic workshop fabricates in wood and metal for outside clients (checked October 2026). As a crew agency we have 2,800+ freelance crew on our books, 150+ of them in and around Bristol and Bath, so a build crew grows with the drawings: one carpenter for a false wall, a team for a room set. When a build needs more hands than the city has free that week, they come from across the South West, Cardiff or London, with the travel on the quote.
- Built to the drawings. Dimensions, finishes and camera positions agreed with the art director before the first cut.
- Made to move. Wild walls and flying pieces, so the camera and the lights can get in.
- Finished for the lens. Paint, ageing and texture that hold up in a 4K close-up.
- Struck and cleared. The stage or location handed back as it was, and the waste taken away.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
Per builder, per day
- An 11-hour day per builder, including an hour for lunch
- Building to the art director’s drawings
- Painting and finishing
- Wild walls and flying pieces where needed
- A standby carpenter on the shoot day, if booked
- The strike, and the space cleared
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- Materials, at cost
- Workshop space, transport and waste disposal
- The stage, and any repaint the studio charges for
- A road closure for a street build: up to two days is £721 plus VAT, with two weeks’ notice (checked October 2026)
- 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 builders 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 set build, from drawings to strike
A shop interior for an advert, built in a workshop and stood up on a stage at The Bottle Yard. Days are an example; the schedule sets the real ones.
- Week 1 Drawings The art director’s plans agreed: the counter, the shelving, the walls that come out for the camera, and what fits through the scenic door: Studio 9 at TBY2, for one, has a 16 by 13 foot door (checked October 2026).
- Day 1 Workshop Flats, the counter and the shelving built in the workshop, and every piece numbered for the load-in.
- Day 2 Load in A tail-lift van out to Whitchurch, about 20 minutes from the city centre by the studio’s own reckoning, then everything stood up, braced and fixed on the stage.
- Day 3 Paint The scenic painter’s base coats, then the ageing: a shop that has traded for twenty years.
- Day 4 Dress The dressers stock the shelves; the builders hang the doors and fix what the camera finds.
- Shoot Standby A standby carpenter on set to pull a wall, fix a hinge or make a quick change.
- Strike Clear Everything down and out, materials recycled where they can be, and the stage handed back as the studio wants it.
Which kind
Which construction crew do you need?
The crew grows with the build. Card rates are per person, per 11-hour day.
Carpenter Builds the set Card £341–512
Builds flats, platforms, units and pieces, from the workshop to the stage.
Best for any set build, from a single wall to a room.
Master carpenter Runs the build Quoted on the brief
Runs the carpenters, solves the tricky pieces and signs off what’s safe.
Best on builds of more than a couple of days.
Scenic painter Paint, ageing and finishes Quoted on the brief
Paints and ages the set: wood, plaster, metal and dirt, all convincing on camera.
Best when the set has to look old, used or expensive.
Standby carpenter On set on the day From £341 a day
Stays with the set during the shoot to move walls, fix things and make changes.
Best on any built set.
Props, models and effects Specialist workshops Quoted on the brief
Models, miniatures, moulded props and physical effects such as smoke, rain and fire, made by a specialist.
Best when the set needs something no carpenter would make. Real SFX, a special effects company founded in 2008, is a tenant at The Bottle Yard; on Bristol council land, special effects, rain machines and wet-downs go on the Film Office application (checked October 2026).
Construction manager Big builds Quoted on the brief
Plans and runs the construction department, the budget and the workshop on large builds.
Best for drama and big adverts: Sanditon’s town went up on The Bottle Yard’s 60,000 sq ft back lot.
What it’s for
What people book set builders for in Bristol
Studio builds
Rooms, shops and fronts on a stage at The Bottle Yard, whose 11 stages run from 7,000 to 21,700 sq ft, or pieces in front of its 5,000 sq ft green screen studio.
Adverts
A kitchen, a café or a living room with walls that come out, built in a workshop and stood up on a stage for a day or two.
Music videos
A look built in a warehouse, or a piece for the black box in the Dutch barge on Welsh Back.
Drama
Fronts, rooms and period pieces in a city whose recent credits run from Rivals and The Forsytes to Young Sherlock and Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials.
Locations that need help
A false wall, a fake window or a shop front over a real one in Clifton or Stokes Croft, with the owner’s permission and Bristol Film Office’s.
Recent work
How we crew a build in Bristol
How we crew it · Bristol
Building on a stage at The Bottle Yard
The Bottle Yard has 11 stages on two sites under half a mile apart: eight at TBY1 on Whitchurch Lane and three at TBY2 on Hawkfield Way. Studio 9 at TBY2 is 20,000 sq ft, 34 feet to the truss, with a 16 by 13 foot scenic door, and Tankhouse 3 at TBY1 is 65 feet high (checked October 2026). Before a build is drawn, we ask the studio for its load-in times, door sizes and floor rules, and whether anything needs a repaint after. Anything it charges goes on the quote as its own line, and so does the workshop. More on film studios in Bristol.
How we crew it · Bristol
Building on a Bristol street
On location, the paperwork sets the schedule. Bristol Film Office wants seven days’ notice and letters to neighbours and businesses seven days before; cables go 2.6 metres over a footway and 5.2 metres over a road, or under mats; and a road closure of up to two days needs two weeks’ notice and £721 plus VAT, one of three days or more eight to ten weeks (checked October 2026). On private property the owner says yes first. Pieces fix without damage and come out cleanly at wrap.
Before you book
Things to know
Planning
- A build needs drawings and a schedule: tell us the shoot date and we work back.
- Load-in times at the stage, and the van’s height and weight, agreed before the build starts.
- TBY1 has 210 secure parking spaces, also used for exterior builds and unit bases (checked October 2026).
The day
- 11 hours, including an hour for lunch.
- Overtime at card rates, agreed with you before it happens.
- Build, paint and strike days are each their own line on the quote.
Building in Bristol
- Bristol Film Office asks for at least £5m public liability and a full risk assessment with every application.
- Generators baffled or built into a vehicle, and engines off on arrival. Night work needs authorising by Bristol Film Office and Avon and Somerset Police first (checked October 2026).
- A build van inside the Clean Air Zone pays £9 a day if it’s below Euro 6 diesel or Euro 4 petrol, an HGV £100 (checked October 2026).
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the builders.
- 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 builders 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.
£341 a day
APA/Bectu card: £341–512 a day, carpenter to master carpenter.
| Per builder, 11 hours | £341 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £34.10 |
| Insurance, 2% | £6.82 |
| One builder, one day, before materials | £381.92 |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the builders we book, and cover on kit we hire in. What it covers
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the build.
- 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 set builders in Bristol.
Tell us what needs building, where, and when it has to be ready. 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 £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 This page £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 build needs a stage, a workshop, a van and a permit: here’s where each of them comes from in Bristol.
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 set builders in Bristol: questions
How much does a set build cost in Bristol?
It depends on the build. Builders are priced per person per day, at £341–512 on the APA/Bectu card from carpenter to master carpenter, paid in full; materials, workshop, transport and waste are at cost. Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance go on top, so one builder for one day starts at £381.92 + VAT. A simple wall can be a day for two; a room set, a week for a team. Our rates are national, so a Bristol build costs the same through us as anywhere else.
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.
Where can we build a set in Bristol?
On a hired stage, or on location with permission. 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). Smaller spaces include Farm Studio at Failand, with a paintable 28 by 14 foot cove and complete blackout, and the black box in the Dutch barge on Welsh Back (checked October 2026). Ask the studio about load-in and its floor before the build is drawn. See film studios in Bristol.
Who builds sets in Bristol?
The carpenters and scenic painters we book and pay, and specialist workshops where a build needs one. At The Bottle Yard, Set Smith builds sets, scenery and props in its workshop and on location, Scaffolding to the Stars rigs for TV and film, and Figure Nine does rope access, cable dollies and filming platforms; in the city, Bristol Old Vic’s scenic workshop fabricates in wood and metal for outside clients (checked October 2026). A workshop’s work goes on the quote as its own line.
Can you build on a Bristol street?
With permission, yes. Bristol Film Office asks for at least seven days’ notice and a letter to neighbours and businesses seven days before the shoot; a road closure of up to two days needs two weeks, and one of three days or more usually eight to ten weeks (checked October 2026). A pavement or footpath closure needs seven days and an alternative route. On private property the owner says yes first, and pieces fix without damage and come out cleanly at wrap.
Can the build use rain, smoke or other effects?
Yes, declared on the application. Bristol Film Office wants special effects, rain machines, wet-downs and stunts declared when you apply, and night work authorised by the Film Office and Avon and Somerset Police in advance. Real SFX, founded in 2008, is an effects company based at The Bottle Yard (checked October 2026).
How far ahead should I book a set build?
Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours, and the build sets the rest: a small build needs about a week from drawings to shoot, a room set two or three. On location, add the Film Office’s notice: seven days for a shoot on council land, two weeks for a short road closure, and eight to ten weeks for a longer one (checked October 2026).
Do I need an art director as well?
For anything more than a simple piece, yes: the art director designs it and draws it, the builders build it. See art directors in Bristol.