Film crew hire/London/Sound recordist
Hire a sound recordist in London. Clean dialogue, every word, whatever the street outside sounds like.
Sound recordists for interviews, documentaries, brand films and podcasts across London, booked from our office by Old Street, on City Road. They mic everyone who speaks, hold the boom, deal with the buses, the sirens and the air conditioning, and hand over sound the edit doesn’t have to rescue. £550 a day, paid to the recordist 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, Keagan Henman, Hassan OUAJBIR and Adil Mukhi
The role
What a sound recordist does on your shoot
A sound recordist, or sound mixer, records everything you hear in the film: the interviews, the dialogue, the room. They place radio mics on the people speaking, boom from above, mix and record it all, and listen to every take in headphones so a rustle or a siren gets caught on the day, not in the edit.
Picture problems can often be fixed in the grade. Bad sound usually means doing it again, or living with it. In London, where the street outside rarely stops, that’s why a recordist is the first person we add to a camera operator.
- Every voice clean. Radio mics hidden on clothes, and a boom for the natural sound of the room.
- Noise dealt with. Air conditioning off, fridges unplugged, doors closed, takes held for buses and sirens.
- Backed up twice. Recorded on two cards, with timecode matched to the cameras.
- Mics fitted with care. Explained to contributors before they’re fitted, and fitted by someone they’re comfortable with.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- An 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch
- Radio mics on everyone speaking
- Boom for the room and for movement
- Mixing, recording and monitoring every take
- Timecode synced to the cameras
- Sound files and the sound report at wrap
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- Their sound kit, at a day rate on its own line
- A boom operator, for drama or a big cast
- An extra room or floor to keep things quiet, if the building needs it
- 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 recordist for your own shoot, 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 sound recordist, call to wrap
Interviews with three people in a top-floor studio on Hackney Road, then B-roll and atmos. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- 08:00 Listen to the room Buses on Hackney Road, the lift, the heating, the floor below: what can be switched off, booked out or waited for, and what can’t.
- 08:30 Set up Recorder and receivers on the cart, timecode jammed to both cameras.
- 09:30 First contributor A radio mic fitted under a collar, a boom just out of shot, a sound check while the producer chats.
- 10:15 A hold A siren on the main road. Two answers asked again.
- 13:00 Lunch Batteries changed, files backed up.
- 14:00 Room tone and atmos A minute of the room for the edit, and the street for the B-roll.
- 18:00 Wrap Mics collected, files and the sound report handed over.
Which kind
Which sound set-up do you need?
The kit and the crew change with the number of voices, how much they move, and where in London you are.
Interview kit Two radio mics and a boom £550 a day + kit
A recorder, two or three radio mics, a boom and headphones. Enough for most interviews and corporate films.
Best for interviews, testimonials and talking heads.
Multi-voice and podcasts Four to eight radio mics £550 a day + kit
More channels, more radio mics, and often a feed from the venue’s desk. In a City tower the kit list usually goes to security before any of it comes in.
Best for panels, podcasts and conferences.
Documentary and run-and-gun Light, mobile, on the move £550 a day + kit
A bag rig with radio mics and a boom, following the action and the conversation. A crew of five or fewer can usually work a pavement without a permit in the FilmFixer boroughs; the Royal Parks don’t allow vox pops at all.
Best for branded documentaries and observational filming.
Sound mixer and boom operator Drama and adverts Quoted on the brief
A mixer at the cart and a boom operator on the floor, for dialogue scenes with movement.
Best for drama, adverts and anything with a script.
Sound to camera No recordist Not recommended
Mics plugged straight into the camera, with nobody listening. It works until it doesn’t.
Fine for a quick vox pop; risky for anything you can’t do again.
What it’s for
What people book a sound recordist for in London
Interviews in City offices
Towers from Gracechurch Street to Canary Wharf, with air conditioning that never quite switches off.
Podcasts and panels
Sets in Shoreditch studios and South Bank venues: several mics, a desk feed, and a backup of both.
Overseas productions
US teams who land at Heathrow with a director and a DP and need the sound recordist here.
Customer stories and documentaries
Restaurants in the City in service, care homes in Fulham, hospitals in Chelsea: real places with real noise.
Brand films in studios
Hackney lofts and Battersea studios, chosen for the light and checked for the sound.
Recent work
Sound on our jobs, in London
Full production · Hackney Road, E2 · November 2024
Two floors booked for one quiet room
For AlTi Tiedemann Global we interviewed three senior staff in HIDE, the top-floor studio at JJ Studios (now JJ Spaces) on Hackney Road. After the recce we booked LOFT, the floor below, as well, so nothing underneath would reach the mics. A location sound recordist recorded the day. We booked sound for AlTi again at Many Rooms in Battersea in March 2026, with the kit on its own line.
How we crew it · London
Quiet rooms that aren’t quiet
In London the noise is usually in the building: air handling in a City tower, a lift shaft, a busy floor above, a train under the street. We ask the building to switch off what it can before the day, recce the room for sound as well as light, and where the floor next door is busy, book it as a buffer, as we did with LOFT below HIDE on Hackney Road.
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.
The location
- Tell us what’s nearby: a main road, a bus route, building work, the floor below.
- We’ll ask the building to switch off what can be switched off before the day. City offices often want the crew names and the kit list for security first: Davies Group’s building on Gracechurch Street asked for both.
- Recording in a Royal Park needs the parks’ permission, audio included, and vox pops aren’t allowed.
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the recordist.
- 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 recordist 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.
- London asks for public liability before it says yes: £5m for the boroughs and the Royal Parks, £10m for TfL and Canary Wharf. On a crew hire that certificate is yours; on a full production, ours covers it.
£550 a day
APA/Bectu card benchmark (sound mixer): £541–668 a day.
| Day rate, 11 hours | £550 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £55 |
| Insurance, 2% | £11 |
| One day, before kit and travel | £616 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the recordist we book, and cover on kit we hire in. What it covers
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the recordist.
- 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 sound recordist in London.
Tell us how many people are speaking, where, and what the street outside sounds like. 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 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 This page £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
Sound starts with the location. Here are the guides for everything around the crew, each item its own line on the quote.
02
Locations and permits
Borough film services, the Royal Parks, TfL, the private estates and the drone zones.
Questions
Hiring a sound recordist in London: questions
How much does a sound recordist cost in London?
Our sound recordists are £550 for an 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch, paid to the recordist in full; the APA/Bectu card for a sound mixer sets £541–668. On top go our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance: £616 + VAT for the day. Their sound kit goes on its own line.
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 your recordists bring their own kit?
Yes: a recorder, radio mics, a boom and headphones, priced at a day rate on its own line. For more channels or specialist radio mics, London sound hire houses include Richmond Film Services at Shepperton Studios and Everything Audio at Elstree.
How many radio mics do I need?
One for each person speaking at the same time, and a spare. For a panel of four and a host, that’s six.
Can you deal with a noisy London location?
Mostly. We ask for air conditioning and machines to be switched off, choose the quietest room, and hold takes for sirens and buses. In a shared building we check the floors around you: on Hackney Road we booked the floor below to keep the interviews clean. Tell us what’s nearby when you book.
Can we record vox pops on London streets?
Usually, with a small crew. In the FilmFixer boroughs, five people or fewer with handheld kit can generally film on a pavement without a permit, leaving 1.5m clear; Westminster allows five or fewer, handheld only, with 2m clear. The City expects an application, from £95 + VAT for a small handheld crew. The Royal Parks don’t allow vox pops at all (checked October 2026).
How far ahead should I book a sound recordist in London?
Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Good recordists get booked first, so the earlier the better. If the location is the Underground, TfL wants three weeks’ notice and allows only lightweight handheld kit on trains in service; the Royal Parks want five working days for a crew of 10 or fewer.