Hire a DP in New York. The look of the film, settled before anyone rolls.
Directors of photography for brand films, interviews, documentaries and commercials across New York, from high floors in Midtown to daylight lofts in Chelsea and studios in Long Island City. They choose the camera and lenses, light every set-up and shoot it, or run the camera team that does. From $1,200 a day, paid to the DP 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, Cemrecan Yurtman and Sam McGhee
The role
What a DP does on your shoot
A DP (director of photography, or cinematographer) turns the brief into pictures. Before the shoot they agree the look with you or your director, choose the camera, lenses and lights, and scout the location for light, power and access. On the day they light every set-up, frame the shots and run the camera, electric and grip crew.
Many New York DPs own a camera and bring it. On our jobs here we’ve seen both ends: crews’ own RED Komodo bodies at $450 a day each with tripods and accessories, and ARRI Alexa Mini LF packages at about $2,000 a day each (checked October 2026). Either goes on the quote as its own line.
New York crews, booked and run by our producers. Ask the DP who they like to work with: most have a gaffer, a key grip and a 1st AC they trust, and we book them on the same quote.
- A look agreed before the day. Reference frames, a lens choice and a lighting plan, signed off with you in advance.
- Lit for the room you get. North light in a Chelsea loft, or glass and ceiling panels in a Midtown office, balanced so faces read well.
- The camera that suits the job. A Sony FX6 or a RED Komodo for an interview day; an ARRI Alexa Mini LF when the picture is the point.
- A crew that keeps moving. The gaffer, key grip and 1st AC briefed early, so set-ups turn round in minutes.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- A 10-hour day, plus a meal break
- Lighting and framing every set-up
- The camera, lens and lighting plan, agreed with you before the day
- Running the camera, electric and grip crew, if you book one
- A camera test and white balance at call
- A rushes check at wrap, before the cards leave set
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee, on the whole quote
- Payroll and insurance for the job, at cost
- Camera, lens and lighting kit: the DP’s own or a rental house’s
- Tech scout and prep days, if the shoot needs them
- 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 DP for your own production, or have us take the whole film on.
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 DP, call to wrap
A leadership film on a high floor of a Midtown office building: two interviews, then B-roll on the floor and on the sidewalk outside. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- 07:00 Through security Crew names, the kit list and a COI naming the building went to building management days before. Badges at the desk, kit up in the freight elevator.
- 07:30 Read the light A walk round the floor with the gaffer: where the sun comes in, which windows to flag, where the power is and what the building lets you plug into.
- 08:15 First set-up lit Key, fill and a backlight on the chair, and the office behind lit so it reads as a place where people work.
- 09:00 Interviews Two cameras, a wide and a tight. The DP watches exposure, skin tones and the daylight moving across the glass.
- 12:30 Meal break The crew eats while the gaffer and key grip turn the room round for the afternoon.
- 13:15 B-roll People at work on the floor, then the sidewalk outside, hand-held and on sticks, with no lights and nothing in anyone’s way. That needs no film permit.
- 17:30 Wrap Lights down, cards checked and copied, kit back down the freight elevator in the building’s slot.
Which DP
Which DP do you need?
Every DP lights and shoots. The camera, the crew around them and the kind of film change.
Interview and corporate DP Lit interviews on two cameras From $1,200 a day
Two-camera interviews lit to look like the room on a good day, plus B-roll, often on the DP’s own Sony FX6 or RED Komodo.
Best for leadership films and customer stories in Midtown and Downtown offices, and fireside chats in daylight lofts.
Documentary DP Hand-held, available light From $1,200 a day
Reads a room, finds the shot and keeps rolling without stopping the action. A shoulder rig, a zoom or a few fast primes, and long days.
Best for branded documentaries. A hand-held crew on a sidewalk needs no permit: see filming permits in New York.
Commercial DP Commercials and brand campaigns Scale $1,966
A designed look on an ARRI Alexa Mini LF with cine primes, a lighting plan, and a camera team of 1st AC, 2nd AC and DIT.
Best for commercials, where a union crew at IATSE/AICP scale is often part of the deal. Scale is wages only: fringes and payroll go on top.
Studio and product DP Cyc walls, tabletop and packshots Quoted on the brief
Products on a cyc or a tabletop: macro lenses, controlled light and every reflection accounted for.
Best for product films and e-commerce, in studios in Chelsea, Brooklyn and Long Island City.
What it’s for
What people book a DP for in New York
Leadership films in Midtown
High floors with building security, a freight elevator to book, and a COI naming the building before anyone arrives.
Fireside chats and panels
Multi-camera conversations in daylight lofts in Chelsea, Tribeca and Brooklyn, lit so three people in armchairs look like they’re in the same room.
Overseas productions
Agencies who fly in a director, and sometimes their own DP, and need a New York camera, electric and grip team round them. See filming in New York from abroad.
Commercials and product
Cyc studios in Long Island City and Brooklyn, with a full camera, electric and grip team.
Brand films on the street
Sidewalks, bridge walkways and parks. Hand-held is free; anything bigger goes through the Mayor’s Office, and in a park, a Parks film shoot request first.
Recent work
DPs on our New York jobs, Chelsea to the Upper East Side
Our work · Upper East Side, New York · September 2026
Nevis × Focus, an announcement film
One afternoon in a panelled library on the Upper East Side, for Nevis and Focus Financial Partners: three half-hour interviews with Mark Swan, Adam Birenbaum and Justin Ferri, then the room reset for a three-way conversation on five cameras. The library came empty, so everything on screen was brought in. A New York crew shot it twelve days after the first email, and our own team cut it, five cuts in eight days, then graded and mixed it.
Our work · Chelsea, New York · April 2026
A multi-camera fireside chat for AlTi × Nevis
The Future of AI in Wealth Management, filmed on 16 April 2026 in a daylight loft on West 24th Street, booked for the day. Nancy Curtin of AlTi hosted Phil Dundas, AlTi’s CTO, and Mark Swan, CEO of Nevis. A New York crew lit and shot it on multiple cameras, with an extra camera operator and camera added on the day. Our own team cut, graded and mixed it, with cutdowns for LinkedIn and YouTube. It was our sixth production for AlTi.
Crew hire · New York · October 2025
A New York crew round a visiting DP
An agency’s one-day shoot in New York, with a director and a DP flown in by the client. We booked everyone else locally: a producer, an assistant producer, a camera operator, a sound recordist, a gaffer, hair and make-up and a stills photographer. The visiting DP arrived to a gaffer and a camera operator already on the call sheet.
Before you book
Things to know
The day
- 10 hours, plus a meal break.
- Any overtime is agreed with you before it happens.
- Tech scout and prep days are quoted separately.
Kit
- The DP’s own kit or a rental house’s, on the quote line by line.
- On our New York jobs: ARRI Alexa Mini LF packages at about $2,000 a day each, and crews’ own RED Komodo bodies at $450 a day each with tripods and accessories. Lighting packages ran $1,000–$1,500 a day.
- New York rental houses in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island City; the DP or 1st AC preps the package there the day before.
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the DP.
- 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 DP 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.
From $1,200 a day
Union scale in New York: $1,966 a day, before fringes.
| Day rate, 10 hours | $1,200 |
| Booking fee, 10% | $120 |
| One day, before payroll, kit and travel | $1,320 |
Every DP 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 DP.
- 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 DP in New York.
Tell us the date, the location, the look you’re after and the camera you have in mind. 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 This page 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 $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 DP in New York: questions
How much does a DP cost in New York?
Our DPs in New York start at $1,200 for a 10-hour day, and the DP is paid all of it. Union scale for a DP under the IATSE/AICP commercial agreement is $1,966 a day, before fringes. On top goes our 10% booking fee, so one day comes to $1,320, before payroll and insurance (at cost, on the quote), kit and travel. Camera and lighting kit go on the same quote, line by 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.
Do New York DPs bring their own camera?
Many New York DPs bring their own camera, charged at a day rate on its own line of the quote. On our jobs here, crews’ own RED Komodo bodies came in at $450 a day each with tripods and accessories, and ARRI Alexa Mini LF packages at about $2,000 a day each (checked October 2026). Anything the DP doesn’t own comes from one of the rental houses in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island City, prepped by the DP or 1st AC the day before. Tell us the camera you want and we’ll price it both ways.
Do we need a film permit in New York?
Not if the crew is hand-held or on a tripod, takes no exclusive use of a street or park, and parks no production vehicles. Equipment beyond that, parked production vehicles or exclusive use need a permit from the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment: $500 for each 14-day period, with at least $1,000,000 of general liability naming the City of New York (checked October 2026). The Film Office processes most permits 48 to 72 business hours before the shoot. More in filming permits in New York.
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.
What does a New York location ask of the DP?
A New York location usually asks for a certificate of insurance before anything else, naming the building or the owner as additional insured, often at high limits. Ask for the requirement before you book: on one of our jobs, an umbrella policy for a higher limit cost about $2,000 per million (checked October 2026). After that come floor protection, a freight elevator slot and the building’s rules on power and hours. The DP plans the lighting round all of it, which is why a tech scout pays for itself.
How far ahead should I book a DP in New York?
Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours and comes back with a DP and a price. Our latest New York shoot, Nevis × Focus, was filmed twelve days after the first email. The location often sets the date: a film permit is processed 48 to 72 business hours before the shoot, Times Square takes seven business days, and a park wants at least five business days for its own request first.