Film crew hire/London/Producer
Hire a producer in London. One person to call all day, from the security desk to the last drive.
Freelance producers for shoots across London, booked from our office on City Road, by Old Street. They know which borough wants what notice, which towers want every crew name for a pass, and how long a unit takes from Hyde Park to Uxbridge at rush hour. From £450 a day, paid to the producer 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
- 1,400+ of our freelance crew live in and around London
Photos: Here Now Films, Nevels Media, Asso Myron and dix sept
The role
What a producer does on your shoot
A producer turns a plan into a day that runs. Before the shoot they build the schedule, book the crew, the kit and the location, sort the permissions, releases and building passes, and send the call sheet. On the day they run the clock, look after your client and your contributors, and make the calls nobody behind the camera has time for.
After wrap, they check the rushes are safe and on their way to you or your edit. In London a good part of the job is knowing who has to say yes, and in what order: the building, the estate, the borough, TfL.
- One person to call. Your client, your contributors and the crew all go through the producer.
- The schedule holds. They build it, run it, and tell you early when a set-up is running long.
- Every yes in writing. Building passes, the borough’s film office, the estate and the releases, sorted before the day.
- No surprises on the invoice. Overtime, parking and the Congestion Charge agreed with you before they happen.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- An 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch
- The schedule and call sheet for the day
- Running the set: timings, crew, contributors and your client
- Contributor release forms, signed and filed
- A risk assessment for the location
- A rushes check at wrap, and the handover
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- Prep days before the shoot, if it needs them
- Permit fees, parking and the Congestion Charge, at cost
- Travel outside Greater London, at cost
How our rates work, and the two ways to book: crew rates in London.
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 producer to run your day as part of your production, 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 producer, call to wrap
An interview day for a corporate film in an office in the City of London. Times are an example; your producer’s call sheet sets the real ones.
- 07:00 Before call On site first: the van into the loading bay, kit into the goods lift, then the room, the power and where contributors wait.
- 08:00 Crew call Passes collected from security, a safety briefing, the order of the day, and who’s who on the client side.
- 08:30 Set-up Camera, lights and sound go in. The producer walks your client through the plan and checks the questions.
- 10:00 First contributor Met at reception, settled, mic’d up, release signed. The producer watches the time and listens to the answers.
- 13:00 Lunch An hour, as the card sets it. Ordered the day before and delivered to the floor.
- 14:00 B-roll and pick-ups The crew moves floors with the next set-up sorted; anything missed in the morning gets picked up.
- 18:30 Wrap Kit down the goods lift, the room put back, passes handed in, rushes checked and on their way. Out by 19:00.
Which producer
Which producer do you need?
“Producer” covers a few different jobs. Here’s how we match one to a brief.
Shoot producer Runs your shoot days From £450 a day
The booking most clients mean. The film’s already planned; you need someone to run the days: crew, timings, contributors and your client.
Best for interview days, events, and agency shoots where your own producer is on another job.
Production manager Logistics and bookings £504–627 a day
Books the crew, kit, vans, parking and hotels, and keeps the paperwork straight, working to your producer. See production managers in London.
Best on multi-day or multi-location shoots, where the logistics are a job on their own.
Producer-director Plans the film and directs it Quoted on the brief
Plans the story, runs the interviews and directs the shoot, sometimes with a camera in hand. See directors in London.
Best for documentary interviews and small crews.
Local producer, or service company For teams from outside the UK Production quote
Runs the ground for a production landing at Heathrow or St Pancras: crew, permits, kit, vans and hotels, on one UK contract. That makes us the producer of record, so it’s a production quote: 15% plus 5% for insurance and contingency.
Best for teams from the US and Europe. Here’s how a UK production service company works.
Production assistant An extra pair of hands £400 a day
Releases, runs, kit, parking and the call sheet, working to the producer. See production assistants in London.
Best alongside a producer on busy days with lots of contributors.
What it’s for
What people book a producer for in London
Interview and testimonial days
Customer stories and leadership films from the City to Canary Wharf, with every crew name at security the day before.
Conferences and events
Multi-camera days on the South Bank or in Docklands, where the run of show changes by the hour.
Agency shoots, white-label
Your producer is on another job; ours runs the London day as part of your team.
Shoots with talent
Executives, athletes and presenters with a fixed window, where the schedule has no slack.
Teams flying in
US and European productions that need a London producer and a UK company to contract.
Recent work
Producers on our jobs, from the City to Marylebone
Crew hire and service production · Cannon Street, EC4 and Uxbridge · Sept 2025
Four days, two locations, £498 under budget
A US production company filming a chip maker’s customer stories, with four of its own team flying in. We put a producer and an assistant producer on it and built the rest of the unit in London: gaffer, 1st AC, sound, HMU, grip-spark, swing, stills and playback. Two days at a law firm on Cannon Street, unloading off Dowgate Hill straight into the lift; two at offices in Uxbridge, recced in August. A Tube strike shut the Underground, so the crew drove. Playback went on at the last minute, and the job still came in £498 under budget, mostly through a three-day kit deal and one van for crew and kit.
Crew hire · Marylebone, W1 · May 2025
A US production’s startup series, crewed and fixed
A US production company’s startup series, two days at a workspace in Marylebone, W1U. We crewed it from London: DP, AC, sound, gaffer, DIT, HMU and a PA. Our producer was their fixer for what a visiting team can’t do from a hotel: lunch to the door, transport for their producers, parking in the Selfridges car park or through JustPark.
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 before the shoot are quoted separately.
Permissions and certificates
- Estates give their own permission on top of the borough’s: Canary Wharf wants 10 to 12 working days.
- Boroughs and the Royal Parks ask for £5m public liability; TfL, Network Rail and Canary Wharf £10m (checked October 2026).
- On a crew hire, that certificate is yours. On a full production, our policy covers it.
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the producer.
- 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 producer 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.
From £450 a day
APA/Bectu card benchmark: £961 a day.
| Day rate, 11 hours | £450 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £45 |
| Insurance, 2% | £9 |
| One day, before travel | £504 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the producer we book, and cover on kit we hire in. What it covers
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the producer.
- 1,400+ crew living in and around London
- 50% by card at booking, 50% on the final rushes
- Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours
Or call us on 07412 543822.
Reviews
What clients say about our crews
Straight from our Google Business Profile.
Book a producer in London.
Tell us the dates, the locations and who’s in front of the camera. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Check availability
The whole crew
Every role in London, booked the same way
One brief, one quote, every role on its own line. Our day rates in London, paid to the crew member in full:
Production 06
- Director From £500
- Producer This page 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 From £350
How our rates work: crew rates in London. Or start from a set-up: interview crews and units in London.
Production support
Everything around the crew
Your producer can book any of these, from a borough permit to a unit base, each on its own line of the quote. Or use the guides to sort them yourself.
02
Locations and permits
Borough film services, the Royal Parks, TfL, the private estates and the drone zones.
Questions
Hiring a producer in London: questions
How much does a producer cost in London?
Our producers start at £450 for an 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch, and the producer is paid all of it. The APA/Bectu card benchmark for a producer is £961. On top go our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, so one day comes to £504 + VAT, before any travel outside Greater London. If you want us to take on the whole production as producer of record, it’s quoted as a production instead: everything at cost, plus 15% and 5% for insurance and contingency.
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.
Do I need a producer or a production assistant?
If someone has to make decisions on the day, book a producer. A production assistant, at £400 a day, works to them on releases, runs, kit and the call sheet. Busy contributor days often have both.
Can your producer run a London shoot for a production from outside the UK?
Yes. We become the producer of record in the UK: your contract is with us, a UK company, and our producer runs the ground, from crew and permits to vans and hotels, on one invoice, quoted as a production at cost plus 15% and 5%. Heathrow Express reaches Paddington in 15 minutes, Gatwick Express Victoria in 30 (checked October 2026). See shooting in London from abroad.
Can a producer sort permits and locations in London?
Yes. Each borough has a film service: FilmFixer runs six, including Camden and Southwark; Westminster, the City, Hackney and Lambeth run their own. The Royal Parks, TfL, Network Rail and estates like Canary Wharf each give their own permission on top. Our guide to filming locations and permits in London has who to ask and how much notice each wants.
How far ahead should I book a producer in London?
Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. If the producer is also booking locations or permits, give them time: Film London advises three days for a small crew and ten for a large one, the City wants one to three weeks by size, and TfL three weeks for the Underground (checked October 2026).