Film crew hire/Edinburgh/Art director
Hire an art director in Edinburgh. The set, the props and everything else in the frame.
Art directors and art departments for adverts, brand films, music videos and drama across Edinburgh and the Lothians. They design the look of the set, dress the location, and run the props, graphics and builds that fill the frame, from a Georgian room in the New Town to a stage at FirstStage Studios in Leith. From £675 a day, paid to the art director 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: Here Now Films, Kumpan Electric, Hal Gatewood, Paolo Chiabrando and Madeleine Kohler
The role
What an art director does on your shoot
An art director is responsible for everything in the frame that isn’t a person or a light: the set, the dressing, the props and the graphics. They take the look agreed with the director and the DOP, design it, budget it, and run the props buyers, dressers and builders who make it real.
On a brand film, that might be dressing an office so it looks like the company at its best. On an advert, it can be a set built from scratch.
In Edinburgh it’s often an old building with a new job: a Georgian townhouse in the New Town, a warehouse on the Shore at Leith, a room off a close in the Old Town. All three sit in conservation areas, where Edinburgh’s filming code warns of added restrictions. The code also wants the owner told about any dressing or construction first, and nothing of theirs moved without permission. We’re a crew agency with 2,800+ freelance crew on our books across the UK, so we can scale from one art director with a van of props to a full department. Art directors who live in or near Edinburgh come first; when the brief or the date needs someone else, they come from elsewhere in Scotland (Glasgow is about 45 minutes by train), the north of England or London, with the travel on the quote before anything is booked.
- A look designed. Mood boards, references and drawings, agreed before anything is bought or built.
- Every prop chosen. Sourced, hired, bought or made, with nothing in shot you can’t clear.
- Locations dressed. A real place changed just enough to look right on camera, and put back at wrap.
- A budget that holds. Spend tracked, hires returned, nothing lost.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- An 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch
- Designing the set and the dressing to the brief
- Running the props, dressing and build team
- Sourcing props, furniture and graphics
- Dressing on the day, and changes between set-ups
- The art budget, tracked and accounted for
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- The art budget: props, hires, materials and graphics, at cost
- Prep and wrap days, which most jobs need, quoted separately
- Props buyers, dressers and set builders, as the brief needs
- The props van, bay suspensions, and props brought in from outside the city, at cost
- Travel from outside Edinburgh, and mileage and parking where the day needs them, 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 an art director for your own Edinburgh 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 day with an art director, call to wrap
Dressing a Georgian flat in the New Town as a family home for a brand film. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- Prep The week before Reference agreed, furniture hired from the antiques warehouses in Leith, graphics printed, and a pay-and-display bay suspended for the props van, three working days ahead, at the bay’s hourly rate (checked October 2026).
- 06:30 Dress The van unloaded from the suspended bay. The owner’s things photographed and packed away; the house dressed to the design, room by room.
- 08:30 Camera check The DOP lines up the first shot; a lamp moved, a picture changed, a brand on a cereal box turned round.
- 09:00 Standby A props person on set for continuity, and the next room dressed ahead of the crew.
- 13:00 Lunch Food on set replaced, the kitchen reset for the afternoon.
- 15:00 Turnaround Living room to bedroom: furniture swapped while the crew shoot the hall.
- 18:30 Strike Everything out, the owner’s things back exactly where they were, using the morning’s photos, and the hires loaded for return.
Which kind
Which art department do you need?
From one person with a van of props to a full department.
Art director Designs and runs the look Card £675–878
Designs the set and the dressing, budgets it, and runs the team.
Best for adverts, brand films, music videos and drama.
Props buyer Finds and buys everything on screen Card £493–585
Sources, buys and hires props and dressing to the art director’s list.
Best on any shoot with a dressed set. For an Edinburgh shoot that means knowing what to hire in the city, from the antiques warehouses in Leith to the salvage yard on Duddingston Road, and what’s worth bringing up from London once the van and the returns are counted.
Standby props and dressers On set, every take Quoted on the brief
Look after the props on set, reset between takes and keep continuity.
Best on drama and any shoot with props that get used.
Set builders Carpentry, paint and construction From £341 a day
Build, paint and strike sets and pieces to the art director’s drawings. See set builders in Edinburgh.
Best when the location can’t do it alone.
Armourer Replica and prop weapons Quoted on the brief
A film armourer looks after any firearm or weapon on set. Edinburgh’s filming code allows no weapon of any kind, prop and replica firearms included, without Police Scotland agreeing to it in advance, indoors or out.
Needed whenever firearms or offensive weapons are on set.
What it’s for
What people book an art director for in Edinburgh
Adverts and brand films
A home, a shop or an office dressed to look like the brand’s world, from a New Town flat to a unit in Leith.
Business district floors
A meeting room on St Andrew Square or in the Exchange district turned into an interview set or a podcast studio for the day.
Music videos
A look built in a warehouse in Leith or on a studio stage.
Conferences and exhibitions
Stages and stands at the EICC dressed for the camera as well as the room.
Heritage and period
Period dressing for heritage films and reconstructions in the Old Town’s closes, the New Town’s Georgian rooms, or a council library or kirkyard.
Recent work
Art departments on our jobs
Crew hire · Canary Wharf, London · Oct 2024
A podcast set on the 48th floor
When the planned office fell through, a US media agency moved its podcast panels to a day-hired floor of One Canada Square, eight days out. An art director, signed off the day before, dressed it for three cameras: four podcast mics on boom arms as dressing, logos covered and the room tidied. The vans unloaded in the estate’s loading bay and moved on, as Canary Wharf’s procedure requires.
Our work · Canada, Norway, Cornwall and Portugal · 2026
One art director, four countries
AI for Empowerment, our 35mm campaign for Cohere, had one rule: no technology on screen, so no phones, laptops or devices in any frame. The art director travelled to every shoot with the director, the DOP and the producer, from a maple wood in Ontario to the Lizard in Cornwall, where an art assistant and props buyer joined our crew. The Lizard’s clifftops are a Site of Special Scientific Interest, so nothing broke the ground: every gazebo was weighted, and the kit went in on beach carts.
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, dressing and strike days are quoted separately.
The art budget
- Props, hires and materials at cost, each on its own line.
- Ask each house how it charges: by the day or by the week.
- Props hired from outside the city come in by van or courier, at cost, and the trip is on the quote.
Edinburgh locations
- A props van has to meet the Low Emission Zone, Euro 6 diesel or Euro 4 petrol: there’s no daily charge to pay instead, only a £60 penalty (checked October 2026).
- Scaffolding, staging or a lighting tower on the street needs the council’s temporary structure permit, with four weeks’ notice (checked October 2026).
- Firearms or weapons on set, prop and replica included: an armourer, and Police Scotland’s agreement in advance.
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the art director.
- 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 art director 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 where the shoot needs one.
£675 a day
APA/Bectu card: £675–878 a day for an art director.
| Day rate, 11 hours | £675 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £67.50 |
| Insurance, 2% | £13.50 |
| One day, before the art budget | £756 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the art director we book, and cover on kit we hire in. What it covers
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the art director.
- 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 art director in Edinburgh.
Tell us the location or set, the look, and what needs dressing, building or propping. 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 £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 This page £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
The art department runs into permits, studios, vans and bays, so here’s how each works on an Edinburgh shoot.
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 an art director in Edinburgh: questions
How much does an art director cost in Edinburgh?
The APA/Bectu card puts an art director at £675–878 for an 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch, and we pay that in full. On top go our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, so a day starts at £756 + VAT. The art budget, for props, hires and materials, is at cost. Our rates are national: an Edinburgh day costs the same as anywhere else we crew.
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 do the props come from for an Edinburgh shoot?
Many are hired in the city. Film Edinburgh’s production guide lists Georgian Antiques in Leith, two warehouses and 78,000 sq ft of furniture from the 1680s to the 1930s, which hires to film and TV, and Holyrood Architectural Salvage on Duddingston Road for fireplaces, doors, radiators and lighting (checked October 2026). Themed ranges and anything specialist can come up from the London prop houses by van, at cost. The props buyer works out which is cheaper once the van and the returns are counted, and every hire is its own line on the quote.
Can we use replica weapons on an Edinburgh shoot?
Yes, with Police Scotland’s agreement first. Edinburgh’s Code of Practice for Filming says no weapon or firearm of any kind, prop and replica firearms included, is used without the production and Police Scotland agreeing it in advance, indoors or out, on public or private property. A live-firing weapon needs its licence holder or a registered firearms dealer on set, and that’s recommended for a blank-firing one too. At Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Park, Historic Environment Scotland also wants to see the certificate for any replica gun before filming (checked October 2026).
Can you dress one of the council’s libraries or kirkyards?
Yes, through Film Edinburgh. A council library is £1,412.50 for a full day of drama or commercials, four to ten hours, or £565 for a half day, with out-of-hours staff at £80 for every two hours; a large shoot in a city-centre kirkyard, Greyfriars among them, is £357 an hour. All plus VAT, 2026–27 (checked October 2026). Agree the dressing and strike time with the location when you book: the filming code wants everything moved or disguised put back at wrap.
Can you dress an office on St Andrew Square or in the Exchange district?
Yes. The building’s rules come first: crew names in advance, the dressing up the goods lift or the stair, and everything out by the time the building wants the floor back. If the props van needs a bay outside, a pay-and-display bay can be suspended at its hourly rate with three working days’ notice, or the van can stop on a yellow line under a £16 parking dispensation (checked October 2026).
Art director or production designer?
On a big production, the production designer sets the look and the art director runs the department that delivers it. On most adverts and brand films, one person does both.
Can you dress someone’s home or office for a shoot?
Yes. We photograph everything first, pack it away, dress for the camera, and put it all back exactly as it was.
Are your art directors from Edinburgh?
We book art directors who live in or near Edinburgh first. We’re a crew agency with 2,800+ freelance crew on our books across the UK, so when the brief or the date needs someone else, they come from elsewhere in Scotland, the north of England or London, with the travel on the quote before anything is booked. Our base is London, at 124 City Road, with bases in Manchester, Bristol and Cornwall.