Hire a DIT in New York. Two verified copies before any card goes back to camera.
Digital imaging technicians and data wranglers for shoots across New York, from Long Island City stages to Midtown boardrooms. They check the pictures while the crew can still fix them, make verified copies of every card, and get the rushes to the edit, across town or across the Atlantic. From $750 a day, paid to the DIT in full.
- 54 five-star Google reviews
- 2 hrs for our team to read your brief, in working hours
- 10 hrs a New York crew day, plus a meal break
- 500+ productions, filmed in sixteen countries
Photos: Here Now Films, Vitaly Gariev, Samsung Memory and Aleksandrs Karevs
The role
What a DIT does on your shoot
A DIT (digital imaging technician) looks after the pictures between the camera and the edit. They set up the cameras with the DP, check every take for focus, exposure and noise, run checksum-verified backups, and often make the dailies the agency watches that night.
The footage is the only thing a shoot makes. A copy dragged across in Finder has no checksum, so a corrupt file can sit unnoticed until the card’s been formatted and the original is gone. A DIT is there so that never happens.
In New York the DIT also plans where the rushes go: a shuttle drive across the East River to an edit in Manhattan, proxies uploading to a client in another time zone, or drives flying home with an overseas team. That’s settled before the first card comes off camera, and so is whose drives the masters live on.
- Verified copies. Checksum software such as Silverstack or ShotPut Pro, never drag and drop.
- Two copies, then three. Two verified copies before a card goes back to camera; a third off set by wrap.
- Pictures checked. Focus, exposure and noise spotted while the crew can still go again.
- A paper trail. A report for every card, and an MHL checksum file travelling with the media.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- A 10-hour day, plus a meal break
- Offloading every card with verified copies
- Spot checks for focus, exposure, sound and timecode
- The media log and checksum reports
- Camera settings and the look, agreed with the DP
- The drives handed over at wrap, labelled and logged
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee, on the whole quote
- Payroll and insurance for the job, at cost
- The DIT cart or station, at a day rate
- Drives, at cost, or bring your own
- Dailies, transcodes and a colour pass, if the brief needs them
- Couriers to the edit, at cost
- Travel outside the five boroughs, and any cars or vans, at cost
How our rates work, and the two ways to book: crew rates in New York.
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 DIT for your own New York shoot, or have us take the production on, with the rushes delivered to the edit.
Crew hire
You run the shoot.
10% booking fee, on everything we book for you: crew, kit and travel. Payroll and insurance at cost, on their own line.
We do
- Find, book and brief the New York crew
- Every crew member employed for the job: payroll, workers’ compensation and COIs
- Book kit, vans and travel too, if you want them
- Send the full price, in dollars, before anything is booked
- One person to call all day
You do
- Run the shoot, or your producer does
- The plan, the schedule and the call sheet
- The location, its COI and any Mayor’s Office permit
- Responsibility for the production: you’re the producer of record
Payroll and insurance are their own line on the quote, at cost: payroll for each crew member, the insurance they need for the job, New York workers’ compensation included, and the certificates of insurance your location asks for.
Full production
We’re the producer of record.
From $20,000 for a New York production; most land between that and $75,000. One quote, in dollars, every line shown.
We do
- Our producer plans it with you and runs the job
- Locations, permits, kit, studio and travel, booked in the production’s name
- The production’s insurance, the COIs and the Mayor’s Office permit
- One quote and one contract with us, wherever you’re based
You do
- The creative calls
- Signing off the plan and the budget
The production’s insurance, the crew’s payroll and any permits are lines in the quote, so you see each one before you sign.
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 DIT, call to wrap
A two-camera brand film on ARRI Alexa Mini LFs, on a stage in Long Island City, with dailies for the agency in Midtown that night. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- 07:00 Cart in The DIT cart up the freight elevator and parked by the stage door, out of the traffic of the set: power, a calibrated monitor, readers, three drives.
- 07:30 Camera check Format, frame rate, look and timecode agreed with the DP and checked on both bodies.
- 10:00 First cards Offloaded with checksum verification to two drives, then checked for focus, exposure, noise and timecode.
- 10:30 A note to camera A soft take on B camera. The 1st AC hears about it before the next set-up, not in the edit.
- 12:30 Meal break No card goes back to camera until two verified copies exist.
- 15:00 Dailies Proxies with the look applied, uploading to the agency and the editor while the crew shoot on.
- 17:30 Wrap Last cards in, the third copy made. A shuttle drive goes by courier to the edit; the masters stay with the production.
Which kind
DIT, data wrangler or 2nd AC?
Jobs that overlap and get called different things on different sets. The camera count and the format usually decide.
DIT Pictures, settings, backups and dailies From $750 a day
Works with the DP on the cameras and the look, checks every take, runs the backups and makes dailies.
Best for RAW, ARRI or RED, three or more cameras, or same-night dailies.
Union DIT On a signatory commercial Scale $1,025
On a production signed to the IATSE/AICP commercial agreement, the DIT is paid at scale for a 10-hour call, with fringes and payroll on top.
Best for union commercials. We quote it on request.
Data wrangler Backups and the log Quoted on the brief
Takes the cards, makes verified copies and keeps the log. On bigger shoots, the DIT’s second pair of hands.
Best for multi-camera days without a colour pipeline.
2nd AC with verification On small shoots From $550 a day
The 2nd AC offloads cards with verification software between set-ups. See 2nd ACs in New York.
Fine for one camera on an interview day; not for a multi-camera RAW day.
Camera to cloud Proxies as you shoot Quoted on the brief
Proxies sent from the camera to the cloud as you roll, so the edit can start before wrap. It needs a connection the building will give you, which we check at the recce.
Best when the client or the editor is in another city or another country.
What it’s for
What people book a DIT for in New York
Cinema camera days
ARRI and RED on stages in Long Island City and Brooklyn, where an hour of RAW runs to terabytes. On our New York jobs, an Alexa Mini LF package ran about $2,000 a day (checked October 2026).
Overseas productions
UK and European teams who fly in with a director and DP, and fly home with verified drives and their kit on an ATA Carnet.
Agencies who want dailies
The day’s pictures with the look applied, in a Midtown office the same night.
Shoots you can’t repeat
A chief executive with 40 minutes between meetings, a launch that happens once, a contributor who flies out tomorrow.
Multi-camera days
Fireside chats, panels and conferences with three or more cameras rolling.
Recent work
DITs on our crews, and how the rushes travel
How we crew it · New York
Two cameras, one shuttle drive
On a two-camera interview day in a Manhattan office, the DIT works from a corner off set with a cart, a monitor and three drives. Every card gets two verified copies before it goes back to camera, and a third by wrap. On our own New York jobs we bought drives locally: about $400 for a 4TB SSD and $800 to $900 for an 8TB (checked October 2026). The shuttle drive goes to the edit; the masters stay with whoever owns the footage.
How we crew it · New York to the edit
Rushes, two ways
When the edit is in Europe, the rushes travel two ways. Proxies upload at wrap, so the editor can start on them, and the verified drives follow by courier or in the client team’s luggage, and the masters stay in New York with the production until the copy has arrived and been checked.
Before you book
Things to know
The day
- 10 hours, plus a meal break.
- Any overtime is agreed with you before it happens.
- Prep days, and a test day with the camera team, are quoted separately.
Drives and data
- An hour of ARRIRAW runs to terabytes; an hour of a compressed codec, tens of gigabytes. Tell us the format and we size the drives.
- Three copies, checksum-verified, one kept off set: tell us whose drives they go on.
- On our New York jobs, 4TB SSDs cost about $400 and 8TB $800 to $900 (checked October 2026).
- A courier’s cover is for the drive, not what’s on it. Send a copy, never the only one.
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the DIT.
- 50% when you book, 50% on receipt of the final rushes.
- Every line on the quote: day rate, booking fee, payroll and insurance, kit, travel.
- Cancellation terms are on every quote.
Employment and insurance
- Every DIT we book is employed for the job, on payroll, with New York workers’ compensation.
- Certificates of insurance (COIs) for your location or permit, naming whoever needs naming, on request.
- On a crew hire the location, its COI, the permit and your own general liability stay with you. When we’re the producer of record, the production carries them.
- In New York, Here Now Films books its crews through established New York production companies, so every crew member is employed, on payroll and fully insured for the job.
$750 a day
Union scale in New York: $1,025 a day, before fringes.
| Day rate, 10 hours | $750 |
| Booking fee, 10% | $75 |
| One day, before payroll, kit and travel | $825 |
Every DIT we book in New York is employed and insured for the job. Payroll and insurance are their own line on the quote. What that covers
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the DIT.
- Every crew member employed and insured for the job
- 50% at booking, 50% on the final rushes
- Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours
Or call us on +44 7412 543822.
Reviews
What clients say about our crews
Straight from our Google Business Profile.
Book a DIT in New York.
Tell us the cameras, the formats, how much you’ll roll and where the rushes need to go, across town or overseas. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Or call us on +44 7412 543822.
Check availability
The whole crew
Every role in New York, booked the same way
One brief, one quote in dollars, every role on its own line. Our day rates in New York, paid to the crew member in full:
Production 06
- Director From $1,500
- Producer From $750
- Production manager $650
- 2nd AD $600
- Production assistant $250
- Runner $250
Camera 07
- DP From $1,200
- Camera operator $750
- 1st AC $700
- 2nd AC $550
- Steadicam operator From $1,500
- Gimbal operator $750
- Drone operator From $1,000
Data and playback 02
- DIT This page $750
- Video playback $650
Sound 01
- Sound mixer $850
Hair, make-up and costume 02
- Hair and make-up $650
- Costume $700
Art department 02
- Art director $750
- Set builders $550
Post-production 01
- Editor From $600
How our rates work: crew rates in New York. Or start from a set-up: interview crews and units in New York.
Questions
Hiring a DIT in New York: questions
How much does a DIT cost in New York?
Our DITs in New York start at $750 for a 10-hour day, and the DIT is paid all of it. On a union commercial, scale for the role is $1,025 a day, before fringes. On top go our 10% booking fee, so one day comes to $825, before payroll and insurance (at cost, on the quote), kit and travel. The DIT cart, drives and couriers each get their own line.
Who employs the crew, and are they insured?
Every crew member we book in New York is employed for the job and fully insured: payroll, New York workers’ compensation, and certificates of insurance for your location or permit. Payroll and insurance show as their own line on the quote, at cost. On a crew hire, the location, its COI and the permit stay with you, because you’re the producer of record. If you’d rather we were, it’s quoted as a full production.
Are your New York crews union or non-union?
Non-union by default, on corporate, branded and documentary work. If your production is signatory to a union agreement, or you need union crew for a commercial, we quote at scale: the IATSE/AICP commercial agreement for camera and make-up, Local 52 for grip, electric and sound, USA 829 for the art department, and the DGA for directors and ADs. Scale is wages only: fringes and payroll go on top.
Do I need a DIT, or will a 2nd AC do?
For one camera on a compressed codec, a 2nd AC with verification software is often enough. Book a DIT when you’re shooting RAW, running three or more cameras, need dailies the same night, or can’t reshoot: a chief executive with 40 minutes, a launch that happens once. On a signatory commercial in New York the DIT is paid at the IATSE/AICP scale, with fringes on top.
How do New York rushes get to an edit overseas?
Two ways at once: proxies upload as you shoot or at wrap, and the verified drives follow by courier or with the client’s team, whether the edit is in New York or with our own post team. The masters stay with the production until the copy has arrived and been checked.
Where do New York DITs get their kit?
Most bring their own cart, readers and monitor, priced by the day on the quote. Drives are bought for the job or supplied by you: on our New York jobs, 4TB SSDs were about $400 and 8TB $800 to $900 (checked October 2026). Rental houses across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island City stock cards, readers and DIT carts for bigger shoots, close enough to the stages that a missing reader costs an hour, not the day.
What does a DIT need from a New York location?
Power, a corner out of the traffic of the set, and a way in for the cart. In a Midtown office that means the freight elevator booked, the crew names and the kit list with building security in advance, and often a certificate of insurance naming the building. If the DIT drives in, the van needs somewhere legal to stop: parking privileges for production vehicles only come with a Mayor’s Office permit.