Film crew hire/Cornwall/2nd AD
Hire a 2nd AD in Cornwall. The cast on time, the call sheet right, the beach still open.
Second assistant directors for adverts, drama, music videos and brand films with a cast across Cornwall. They write the call sheet, move the cast through hair, make-up and costume, look after the children’s licences and the background, and keep a harbour quay or a beach in August workable around the unit. From £355 a day, paid to the 2nd AD 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: Mike Bautista, Here Now Films, Joel Filipe, Tri Vo and Greg Willson
The role
What a 2nd AD does on your shoot
The 2nd AD (second assistant director) works to the 1st AD, who runs the set and the schedule. The 2nd looks after everything that feeds the set: the call sheet, the cast’s movements through hair, make-up and costume, the background artists, the children and their chaperones, and the paperwork. When the 1st calls for the next actor, the 2nd already has them ready.
On a small brand film there’s often no AD team at all: the producer runs the floor, and our own Cohere day on the Lizard ran with a 1st AD and no 2nd. Book one when there’s a cast, background artists, children, or a schedule with no slack.
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: a 1st AD alone for a small cast, a 2nd and a 3rd as well when the call sheet fills up. ADs come from Cornwall where we can, and from Bristol, Devon or London when the cast is bigger than Cornwall has free that week.
- The call sheet, right. Call times, locations, contacts, the tide, the nearest hospital, out the night before.
- Cast where they should be. Through make-up and costume and onto set, on time, in the right order.
- Children looked after. Licences checked, the chaperone briefed, and the children’s times on set kept.
- The location kept working. A quay clear for the people who work on it, a beach path open, residents told in advance.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- An 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch
- The call sheet and the next day’s schedule
- The cast’s day: pick-ups, make-up, costume, set
- Signing in and placing background artists
- Releases and the progress report
- Running the unit base on the radio
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- Prep days for scheduling and call sheets
- A 3rd AD or floor runners, for a big cast or a busy beach
- 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 an AD for your own production, or have us take the production on, AD team and all.
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 2nd AD, call to wrap
An advert on a harbour quay and in the streets above it, with four cast, two of them children, and 15 background artists. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- 06:30 Cast arrive Signed in and sent to hair, make-up and costume in the order of their first scenes. The children arrive with their chaperone, and their licences are checked against the list.
- 07:30 Crew call Changes to the call sheet briefed, radios out, the unit base open. The residents and the town council were told five days before the licence period began, as Cornwall Council’s terms ask (checked October 2026).
- 08:00 Background Fifteen background artists signed in, costume checked, briefed and held off the quay, not on it.
- 09:00 First set-up Cast walked to set as the 1st AD calls them, the next actor already in the chair, the quay kept clear for the people who work on it.
- 12:30 Lunch Called on time, and cast and crew fed in turn so the afternoon starts on time.
- 14:00 The harbour On a working harbour the harbour master has the last word, so the 2nd tracks the afternoon against the tide and the boats as well as the schedule.
- 19:00 Wrap Cast and background signed out, the children’s times logged, the quay handed back, tomorrow’s call sheet out by nine.
The AD team
Which AD do you need?
The assistant directors work as a team. Here’s who does what, and when each is worth booking.
1st AD Runs the floor
Breaks down the script, builds the schedule and runs the floor on the day: when to turn over, when to move on.
Best on drama, adverts and anything with a cast and a tight day.
2nd AD Feeds the set From £355 a day
Call sheets, cast, children and background, and the paperwork, from the unit base.
Best alongside a 1st AD on any shoot with a cast.
3rd AD Holds the floor and the public
Places background, holds the public and relays the 1st AD’s calls on the floor.
Best on big units and busy places: a harbour quay on a working day, a lifeguarded beach in August, a street in St Ives in the holidays.
Floor runner Runs for the AD team £245 a day
Runs messages, people and kit for the AD team. See runners in Cornwall.
Best on any shoot with background artists, or a unit spread along a beach.
Producer instead When there’s no cast to move
On an interview or a corporate shoot, the producer runs the floor. See producers in Cornwall.
Best when there’s no cast to move.
What it’s for
What people book a 2nd AD for in Cornwall
Adverts with a cast
Actors and families through make-up and costume and on set when they’re called, in a house by the sea, on a beach or on a quay.
Drama and short films
A schedule, a cast and a call sheet for every day, in the county where Port Isaac played Port Wenn in Doc Martin for 18 years (checked October 2026).
Music videos
Background artists, playback and a long day on a beach at dawn or at an old mine on Cornwall Council land.
Brand films in busy places
St Ives harbour, Newquay’s beaches or a Falmouth street in the summer, where passers-by outnumber the unit.
Children in the cast
Licences, chaperones and the children’s hours, kept by the 2nd so the 1st can run the floor.
Recent work
How we crew an AD team
How we crew it · Cornwall
An AD team sized to the cast, and the coast
A cast of two needs a producer on the floor; a cast of six with background needs a 1st and a 2nd AD; a crowd needs a 3rd and floor runners as well. Cornwall adds the coast. A unit strung along a cliff path or across a beach can be out of phone signal, so the ADs run it on radios, and on a patrolled beach the RNLI lifeguards are told before the first set-up. Children bring paperwork too: a child performing needs a licence, Cornwall Council wants at least 21 days’ notice for a body of persons approval, and a chaperone may look after no more than 12 children (checked October 2026). We size the AD team to the call sheet and the location, and quote each role on its own line.
Our work · Ontario, Canada · April 2026
A local 1st AD, not a flown-in one
The first shoot of Cohere’s AI for Empowerment, in a family maple wood in Ontario. We hired the 1st AD there rather than fly one over: the director, the DOP and the producer travelled, and the unit didn’t. It’s how we crew ADs in Cornwall too, from Cornwall where we can, and from Bristol, Devon or London when the call sheet needs more, with travel and hotels on the quote.
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 for scheduling are quoted separately.
Cast, children and background
- Background artists come through an agency or your own casting; the 2nd AD runs them on the day.
- Releases for everyone on camera, signed before they leave.
- Children need a licence and a chaperone; the 2nd AD keeps the paperwork and the children’s times.
Filming in Cornwall
- Cornwall Council asks for £5m public liability and a location-specific risk assessment with every application.
- RNLI lifeguards patrol 20 Cornish beaches from May; tell the lifeguards before filming on a patrolled beach.
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the 2nd AD.
- 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 2nd AD 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.
£355 a day
APA/Bectu card: £355–448 a day for a 2nd AD.
| Day rate, 11 hours | £355 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £35.50 |
| Insurance, 2% | £7.10 |
| One day, before travel | £397.60 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the 2nd AD we book, and cover on kit we hire in. What it covers
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the 2nd AD.
- 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 2nd AD in Cornwall.
Tell us the date, the cast, any children or background artists, and where you’re filming. 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 From £450
- Production manager £504–627
- 2nd AD This page £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
An AD team in Cornwall needs a unit base, a FilmApp permit and, with children in the cast, their licences, and we can sort each on its own line of the quote, or you can.
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 2nd AD in Cornwall: questions
How much does a 2nd AD cost in Cornwall?
Our 2nd ADs start at £355 for an 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch, inside the APA/Bectu card range of £355–448, and they’re paid all of it. On top go our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, so a day starts at £397.60 + VAT, before any travel from outside Cornwall.
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.
What’s the difference between a 1st AD and a 2nd AD?
The 1st AD runs the set and the schedule on the floor. The 2nd AD works behind them, at the unit base, making sure the next actor, the next background and tomorrow’s call sheet are ready.
Do I need an AD team for a corporate shoot?
Usually not. An interview or a corporate film with a few contributors runs fine with a producer on the floor. Book ADs when there’s a cast, background artists, children or a schedule with no slack.
What do we need for children on a Cornish shoot?
A licence, and time. A child performing in a film, on TV or in an advert needs a licence, and it’s illegal for them to perform without one. Cornwall Council’s children in entertainment team asks for at least 21 days’ notice for a body of persons approval and 28 days for a four-day-rule notification, and a chaperone may look after no more than 12 children (checked October 2026). The 2nd AD keeps the licences, the chaperone’s list and the children’s times on set.
Do we need a permit for a cast on a Cornish beach or street?
On council land, yes. 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 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). Residents and the parish or town council are told before the licence period begins, emergency vehicle access is kept at all times, and noise is kept down between 22:00 and 08:00 (checked October 2026). Cornwall Council asks for £5m public liability and a location-specific risk assessment with every application. See filming permits in Cornwall.
Can you crew a whole AD team in Cornwall?
Yes. 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: ADs and floor runners come from Cornwall where we can, and from Bristol, Devon or London when the cast is bigger than Cornwall has free that week, with travel and hotels on the quote before anything is booked.
How far ahead should I book a 2nd AD in Cornwall?
Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. For a cast shoot, book the ADs early: they need prep days to schedule it, and the paperwork sets the date. Cornwall Council wants ten working days for its land, 12 weeks for any traffic management, 21 days for a body of persons approval and 28 for a four-day-rule notification (checked October 2026).