Film crew hire/Manchester/Producer
Hire a producer in Manchester. The person who runs the day, so you don’t have to.
Freelance producers for shoots across Greater Manchester and the North, booked from our office in Ancoats. They run the schedule, the crew, your contributors and the clock, and they’re the one person you call all day. From £450 a day, paid to the producer in full.
- 54 five-star Google reviews
- 48 hrs from enquiry to confirmed crew, on most Manchester bookings
- £10m employers’ liability on every crew member we book
- 2,800+ freelance crew on our books
Photos: Nevels Media, Asso Myron, dix sept, Jonah De Oliveira and Jim Thring
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 and the location, sort permits and releases, 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.
- 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.
- Paperwork done before the day. Call sheet, risk assessment, location agreement and contributor releases.
- No surprises on the invoice. Overtime and extras are 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
- Travel outside Greater Manchester, at cost
- Overtime at card rates, agreed before it happens
How our rates work, and the two ways to book: crew rates in Manchester.
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 a Manchester office. Times are an example; your producer’s call sheet sets the real ones.
- 07:30 Before call On site before anyone else: parking, the room, the power, where the crew set up and where your contributors wait.
- 08:00 Crew call 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. Everyone fed and back on time.
- 14:00 B-roll and pick-ups The crew moves rooms with the next set-up already sorted, and anything missed in the morning gets picked up.
- 18:30 Wrap Kit out, the room put back, rushes checked and on their way. Out by 19:00, the end of the 11-hour day.
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 can’t travel.
Production manager Logistics and bookings Quoted on the brief
Books the crew, kit, transport and hotels, and keeps the paperwork straight, working to your producer.
Best on multi-day or multi-location shoots, where the logistics are a job on their own.
Line producer Budget and schedule Quoted on the brief
Owns the budget and the schedule from the first day of prep to delivery, and reports against both.
Best on documentaries, series and productions that run for weeks.
Producer-director Plans the story and directs it Quoted on the brief
Plans the story, runs the interviews and directs the shoot, sometimes with a camera in hand.
Best for documentary interviews and small crews.
Local producer, or fixer For teams from outside the UK Production quote
Runs the ground for a production flying in: crew, permits, kit, transport and hotels, with one UK contract and one invoice. That makes us the producer of record, so it’s quoted as a production: 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.
Best alongside a producer on busy days with lots of contributors.
What it’s for
What people book a producer for in Manchester
Interview and testimonial days
Customer stories and leadership films in offices from Spinningfields to MediaCityUK, with contributors who need looking after.
Conferences and events
Multi-camera days where the run of show changes by the hour and someone has to keep the crew in the right room.
Agency shoots, white-label
Your producer stays in London; ours runs the Manchester day as part of your team.
Shoots with talent
Athletes, presenters and executives with a fixed window, where the schedule has no slack.
Teams flying in
Productions from the US and Europe that need a UK producer on the ground and a UK company to contract.
Recent work
Producers on our jobs, near Manchester and further afield
Crew hire · Alderley Edge, Cheshire · NYT Studios
A pilot for The Athletic
A producer, two camera operators and a sound recordist for a sports interview series, filmed in a back garden in Alderley Edge. The series came back to the same garden for its next shoot in April 2026.
Before that second shoot, our producer’s questions to the client were the job in miniature: how long do we get with the talent, seated or walk-and-talk, is there still time for the challenge between the two interviews, the same spot as the pilot, and will any of it be cut for social?
Production service company · Southampton, London, Oxford
Three cities in three days, for Swanson Studios
An Oregon production company filming for a medical robotics client. Our producer ran the ground: a filming studio built inside each hospital, two vans of kit, and the crew’s hotels and transport.
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.
Paying
- 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.
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.
Changes and cancelling
- Moving the date? Tell us as soon as you know.
- Cancellation terms are on every quote.
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. What it covers
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the producer.
- Most Manchester bookings confirmed within 48 hours
- 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 Manchester.
Tell us the date, the place and what the producer needs to run. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Check availability
The whole crew
Every role in Manchester, booked the same way
One brief, one quote, every role on its own line. Our day rates in Manchester, paid to the crew member in full:
Production 05
- 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 Manchester. Or start from a set-up: interview crews and units in Manchester.
Production support
Everything around the crew
A shoot usually needs more than people. Your producer can sort any of these, each on its own line of the quote, or use the guides to sort them yourself.
Questions
Hiring a producer in Manchester: questions
How much does a producer cost in Manchester?
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 Manchester. 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.
What does a freelance producer do on a shoot?
Before the day: the schedule, crew and location bookings, permits, releases and the call sheet. On the day: the clock, the crew, your client and your contributors. After wrap: a rushes check and the handover. They’re the one person everyone else calls.
Do I need a producer or a production assistant?
If someone has to make decisions on the day, book a producer: they run the schedule and look after your client. A production assistant, at £400 a day, works to a producer or director on releases, runs, kit and the call sheet. Busy days with lots of contributors often have both.
Can your producer run a 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 kit, transport and hotels, on one invoice. It’s quoted as a production: everything at cost, plus 15% and 5% for insurance and contingency. We did it for Swanson Studios across Southampton, London and Oxford.
How far ahead should I book a producer in Manchester?
Most Manchester bookings are confirmed within 48 hours. If the producer is also booking locations, permits or contributors, give them a week: Screen Manchester wants 5–7 days’ notice for a shoot with lights, and TfGM at least ten working days for the Metrolink.
Can a producer sort permits and locations in Manchester?
Yes. Council land in the city goes through Screen Manchester; Salford, MediaCityUK and the Metrolink each give their own permission. Our guide to filming locations and permits in Manchester has who to ask and how much notice each wants.