Film Crew Hire in Manchester
Film Crews & Production Services
For Manchester shoots.
DOPs, camera operators, sound recordists and whole units for shoots across Greater Manchester and the North, booked from our office in Ancoats.
500+
Productions
UK-Wide
Crew & production services
£10m
Employers’ liability on every crew member
54
Five-star Google reviews
We’re Here Now Films.We crew Manchester shoots, and we make films of our own.
Agencies, broadcasters, production companies, and brands book our crews for shoots across Greater Manchester and the North, and so do teams flying in from abroad. If you need the film made as well as shot, that’s our video production in Manchester.
Card rates, paid in full
Every crew member gets the APA/Bectu card rate for their role. Our booking fee and the kit are priced separately, on top.
One operator or a full unit
A single camera operator, a two-person interview crew, or the whole unit, anywhere in Greater Manchester and the North.
Crew from our own sets
500+ films in, most of the people we send to your shoot have worked on ours first.
Confirmed within 48 hours
We confirm most Manchester bookings within 48 hours of the enquiry coming in.
Book a crew in Manchester.
Tell us the date, the place and who you need. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Quick contact form
What are you looking for?
Anything from one camera operator for a day to a campaign shot in four countries. Pick the one that fits and we’ll take you to it.
Crew only
You run the shoot; we supply the people. Camera operators, DOPs, sound recordists and gaffers, each paid their full day rate.
Crew & production support
Crew plus the work around them: locations and recces, permits, kit, transport, and hotels. We act as your fixer or production service company on the ground.
Creative video production
You want the film made as well as shot. We’re a video production company first, working with you from the first idea and the concept through to delivery.
Global production
Several cities or several countries, run as one production. We produced Cohere’s AI for Empowerment campaign on 35mm in Canada, Norway, the UK, and Portugal.
The crew
Every role on a Manchester shoot. Twenty-three of them, each with its own page.
From the producer who runs the day to the editor who cuts it. Every role has a page: what they do, what the day rate covers, what they cost against the APA/Bectu card, and how to book them. Book one person, or the whole call sheet on one quote.
Production 05 Camera 07 Data and playback 02 Lighting and grip 03 Sound 01 Hair, make-up and costume 02 Art department 02 Post-production 01
05 roles
Production
Run the day, the schedule and the people.
- Producer From £450
- Production manager £504–627
- 2nd AD £355–448
- Production assistant £400
- Runner £245
07 roles
Camera
Light it, frame it, focus it, fly it.
- 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
02 roles
Data and playback
Keep the pictures safe, and on every monitor.
- DIT £527
- Video playback £334–518
03 roles
Lighting and grip
Light the set, power it, move the camera.
02 roles
Hair, make-up and costume
Everyone on camera looking right, all day.
- Hair and make-up £398
- Costume £519–694
02 roles
Art department
Everything in the frame that isn’t a person or a light.
- Art director £675–878
- Set builders £341–512
Not sure who you need? Send the brief and we’ll build the crew, every role on its own line of the quote.
We also crew directors, script supervisors, autocue operators and stills photographers. How our rates work · Photos: Here Now Films, hessam nabavi and Mark Cruz
Rates and set-ups
Crew rates in Manchester.The benchmark, our rate, and what goes on top.
We price every role against the APA/Bectu card: the rates the APA agrees with Bectu for commercials, and the clearest benchmark the industry has. Each role’s page sets our day rate against it, and that rate goes to the crew member in full. On top go our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on everything we book for you, kit included. If we take the production on, it’s quoted as a production instead.
Two ways to book
One question sets the price: who’s the producer of record?
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. VAT on top of both. 50% by card when you book, 50% on receipt of the final rushes.
Worked example. Crew hire: a DOP and a sound recordist for one day £1,568 + VAT
| DOP, day rate | £850 |
| Sound recordist, day rate | £550 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £140 |
| Insurance, 2% | £28 |
| Kit | Their own, or hired in at the same 10% + 2% |
| Total | £1,568 + VAT |
Worked example. Full production: the same two, our producer, and a camera and lighting package £2,700 + VAT
| DOP, day rate | £850 |
| Sound recordist, day rate | £550 |
| Our producer, day rate | £450 |
| Camera and lighting from a Manchester kit house, e.g. | £400 |
| Production fee, 15% | £337.50 |
| Insurance and contingency, 5% | £112.50 |
| Total | £2,700 + VAT |
Every day rate is for an 11-hour day including lunch, with overtime at card rates, agreed with you before it happens. The card is the APA/Bectu commercials rates from 1 September 2026, fixed until at least August 2027. Each role’s rate is in the crew above, and set against the card on its own page.
Common set-ups
Priced for one 11-hour day, all in: the crew, the kit listed, crew travel, pre-production, a RAMS, and the rushes on a new 2TB SSD.
Premium interview set-up Interviews, testimonials, customer stories and B-roll From £8,886 + VAT
Kit
- Three Sony FX6 cameras, or similar
- Cine lens set
- Grip package
- Gaffer van
- Radio mics and boom
Low-footprint interview set-up For shoots that need a small team From £5,700 + VAT
Crew
Kit
- Two Sony FX6 cameras, or similar
- Cine lens set
- Tripods
- LED lighting kit
- Radio mics and boom
A unit around your DOP or director You bring the DOP or director; we crew the rest From £7,043 + VAT
Something else?
Any role, any size. Send the brief and we’ll come back with names and the full price, line by line.
Services
Everything around the crew.Kit, places, permits and the rest.
Most bookings need more than people. We sort these with the crew, and each one gets its own line on the quote. If you’d rather sort them yourself, each guide shows how it works in Manchester.
01
Kit rental
Dry hire from the kit houses in West Gorton, or wet hire with the crew’s own kit, which often comes in cheaper.
02
Locations and permits
Where to shoot, who says yes, and how much notice each of them wants, from Screen Manchester to the canals.
03
Studios and set builds
Drama stages in West Gorton, TV studios at MediaCityUK, coves you can book by the hour, and set builds.
04
Props and wardrobe
Prop houses, costume stores, and the stylists, buyers and hair and make-up artists who run them on the day.
05
Logistics
Trains and airport pick-ups, kit vans, parking suspensions, unit bases, catering and hotels near the set.
06
DIT and data
Cards checked and copied on set, rushes handed over at wrap, or sent straight to our edit.
One quote covers the lot, line by line. Or call us on 07412 543822.
How it works
How a booking works
You send one brief. We come back with names and the full price before anything is booked.
100%
of the APA/Bectu card rate is paid to each crew member. Our fee and the kit sit on top.
Send the brief
Date, place, who you need, any kit.
We send names
Who’s free, and the full price, line by line.
Confirm
Book the crew. We take 50% upfront by card, and the other 50% when you receive the final rushes.
Call sheet
Times, address, parking, and contacts.
Shoot
One person at our end answers all day.
Who books us
From global shoots to single crew, one day.
Four kinds of client book our Manchester crews. They all get crew who’ve worked on our own sets, and one person at our end who answers all day.
- AgenciesWhite-label. The crew turn up as your crew, under your name.
- Production companiesLocal crew for shoots in the North. No travel days, no hotel bills.
- In-house teamsAn extra camera and sound for the conference or the CEO interview.
- One person, one dayA normal booking for us. There’s no minimum crew.
Whichever you are, it starts the same way: send us the brief
From abroad
Shooting in Manchester from abroad.No UK company needed.
Teams from New York, Oregon and Paris have booked their UK crews through us. Your contract is with us, a UK company, and you get one invoice.
Booked from abroad
New York
Cheshire
NYT Studios · A pilot for The Athletic: a producer, two camera operators and a sound recordist.
Oregon
Southampton, London, Oxford
Swanson Studios · Five days in the UK for Intuitive Surgical, with the crew, kit, vans and hotels.
The US
London
Valentine Global · The London crew for a Nike shoot running at the same time in New York.
Two ways to work with us
Crew hire
Your producer runs the shoot.
We find, book and brief the crew, and send the full price before anything is booked. Day rates plus 10% and 2% insurance.
Best if your own producer will be on set.
Production service company
Our producer runs the shoot.
We organise the crew, permits, kit, transport and hotels. Your director keeps the creative decisions. Quoted as a production: 15% plus 5% insurance and contingency.
Best if you’re flying in without a UK company or a UK producer.
Insurance
What we hold, against what the law and Manchester ask for.
£10m
Employers’ liability. The legal minimum is £5m.
£10m
Public liability, as your producer of record. Screen Manchester asks for £5m, or £10m in city-centre event spaces.
Before you fly
An ETA for each visitor
Most visitors from Europe, the US, Canada and Australia need one: £20, valid for two years. Apply at least three working days before you travel. GOV.UK
Your own team
Crew employed by your company can work a location shoot as visitors, if the film is made and paid for outside the UK. They stay on your payroll. British Film Commission
Your kit
Bring it in on an ATA Carnet, or we’ll hire it in Manchester.
Fixer, service company or crew hire?
They overlap. Here’s what each means, and what we do in Manchester.
You run the shoot; we supply the people, at card rates plus our fee.
A local who makes the shoot possible: permits, locations, crew and the problems on the day. We’ll put a Manchester producer on it, from £450 a day. UK film and TV fixers
Delivers a whole shoot for a production based elsewhere: crew, kit, permits, insurance, payroll, transport and hotels. It’s what we did for Swanson Studios.
Runs the schedule, the budget and the bookings. Producers in Manchester
Finds the places, recces them and gets the agreements signed. Filming in Manchester: locations and permits
How we pick
and vet crew
A call first, then a paid trial on one of our own shoots before anyone goes near a client’s set. We check references and past work, and rebook the people who do well. For schools, hospitals and care homes, we book crew with current DBS checks.
89 people in our network live in and around Manchester. If we can’t fill a role locally, someone travels in from one of our other bases.
What clients say
Crew in the North West?
Join the list
Conference and interview days, brand campaigns, documentaries, and local crews for teams flying in. We pay you your full day rate on every job: our fee goes on the client’s side of the quote, not yours. Joining is free, and we only post real jobs. Manchester openings
Creative video production
Need more than a crew?
We’re a video production company first. We work with our clients from the first idea and the concept through the shoot and the edit to delivery: 500+ films since 2016.
Video production in Manchester
Brand films, corporate films, customer stories and documentaries.
Post-production
Edit, grade and sound. All in-house, baby.
Video production across the UK
500+ productions, for clients from AlTi Tiedemann Global to FatFace.
Global production
Several countries, one production team.
When a shoot crosses cities or borders, one booking covers the whole schedule. We crew and produce across the UK from our bases in London, Manchester, Bristol, and Cornwall, and work with local service companies abroad, as we did in Norway and Portugal for Cohere.
Cohere · Canada, Norway, the UK, Portugal
Four countries on 35mm
AI for Empowerment: one principal photography day in each country, local service companies in Norway and Portugal, and one grade across every asset.
Swanson Studios, Oregon · three UK cities
Three cities in three days
Southampton, London, and Oxford, with a filming studio built inside each hospital, two vans of kit, and the crew’s hotels and transport sorted.
GMR Marketing · Paris
Five weeks in Paris
Crew and kit at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Flying in to shoot in Manchester? Here’s how that works. Crew pages for other cities: London film crew · Bristol film crew · Birmingham film crew · Film crew hire across the UK
Hiring a film crew in Manchester: questions
How much does it cost to hire a film crew in Manchester?
You pay each crew member’s day rate, which goes to them in full, plus our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance on everything we book, kit included. A DOP and a sound recordist for the day comes to £1,568 + VAT. If we’re the producer of record, it’s quoted as a production instead: everything at cost, plus a 15% production fee and 5% for insurance and contingency.
What’s the difference between crew hire and a full production?
Who’s the producer of record. With crew hire, you or your producer run the shoot and carry the production: we find, book, brief and pay the crew, and book kit or travel if you want it, for 10% plus 2% insurance. With a full production, we take it on: our producer plans and runs it, and we book and pay for the crew, kit, locations, permits and travel in our name, on one contract. That’s quoted as a production: everything at cost, plus 15% and 5% for insurance and contingency.
How do I pay for a crew booking?
50% when you book, by card, and the other 50% on receipt of the final rushes. You see the full price, line by line, before anything is booked.
How quickly can you crew a shoot in Manchester?
Most Manchester bookings are confirmed within 48 hours. Davies Group came to us at short notice for crews in three cities, and every shoot ran on its date.
Do I need permission to film in Manchester?
On council land, yes. Screen Manchester wants 24–48 hours’ notice for up to five crew with handheld kit, 5–7 days with lights, and £5m public liability. Salford, the Metrolink, rail stations, the canals and MediaCityUK each give their own permission. We file them for you.
Can you be the employer of record for an overseas production?
Not in the payroll sense: most UK film crew are freelance. Instead, your contract is with us, a UK company. We contract and pay the UK crew, hold £10m employers’ and public liability, and send one invoice, so you don’t need a UK company to shoot here.
Can I book one person for one day?
Yes. One camera operator or sound recordist for a day is a normal booking for us.
Do Manchester crew bring their own kit?
Many own theirs, priced separately so you can see both. Otherwise we hire it locally: Panavision, Panalux and Direct Digital are all at Space Studios in West Gorton.
Can you crew a shoot at MediaCityUK?
Yes. MediaCityUK is a private estate, so permission comes from the estate team rather than the council, and dock10’s studios are booked direct with dock10.
Do you crew shoots outside Manchester?
Yes: across the North and the rest of the UK from our bases in London, Bristol and Cornwall, with travel at cost outside Greater Manchester. We take crews abroad too.
Are your crew insured?
Yes. Every crew member we book is covered by our employers’ liability insurance, up to £10m, and the kit we hire in for you is insured too. That’s what the 2% on a crew booking pays for, and it’s all it covers: public liability, the location and your own kit stay with you as the producer of record. A large kit rental may need extra insurance, as its own line on the quote. When we’re the producer of record, on a full production, our policy covers the shoot, with £10m public liability and certificates naming your venue.
Our Manchester office
Address:
Jactin House,
24 Hood Street, Ancoats,
Manchester M4 6WX,
overlooking Cutting Room Square
Hours:
Monday to Friday
9am to 6pm
Train: Manchester Piccadilly, about seven minutes on foot
Tram: New Islington, about four minutes’ walk
Car: M4 6WX for sat-nav; the nearest paid car park is SIP, Gun Street
On arrival: check in at Colony reception and ask for Here Now Films
Access: step-free, with lifts