Film crew hire/New York/Grip
Hire a grip in New York. The camera moves, the light is cut, and every take matches.
Key grips, best boy grips and grips for adverts, brand films, studio days and car work across New York. They lay the track and push the dolly, rig the camera to cars and walls and, the New York way, set the flags, frames and overheads that control the light. From $550 a day, paid to the grip 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: sippakorn yamkasikorn, David Glessner, Here Now Films, Daniel and Rendy Novantino
The role
What a grip does on your shoot
Grips move and hold the camera, and in New York they also handle everything on set that controls the light without a plug. They lay track and push the dolly, build sliders and jibs, rig cameras to cars and walls, and set the C-stands, flags, frames and overhead silks. The key grip runs the department; the best boy grip runs the crew and the truck.
A good dolly grip hits the same mark at the same speed, take after take, so the director can choose any of them. A good key grip has the rig worked out before anyone asks for it.
On UK sets the sparks set their own flags and the grips stay with the camera. In New York the split runs the other way, so a DP flying in will find the key grip working as closely with the gaffer as with the camera team. Worth a word at the recce, so nobody waits for the wrong person.
- Moves that repeat. The same push-in at the same speed, so the director can choose any take.
- Track laid level. On a stage floor, a loft’s old boards or an office carpet, wedged until it’s silent.
- Light cut where the DP wants it. Flags, nets, frames and overheads set and moved between takes.
- Rigs that hold. Cameras on cars, walls and ceilings, rigged and checked by someone who does it every week.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- A 10-hour day, plus a meal break
- Building and operating the dolly, slider or jib
- Laying and levelling track
- Setting flags, frames and overheads with the gaffer
- Rigging cameras to cars, walls and structures, and checking every rig
- Striking and loading out the grip package
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee, on the whole quote
- Payroll and insurance for the job, at cost
- The grip package: dolly, track, stands, flags and mounts, theirs or a rental house’s
- A camera car or a crane, with its own crew
- The Mayor’s Office permit for street and car work, where it’s needed
- 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 grips for your own camera and lighting crew, or have us take the production on, permits and parking with it.
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 grip, call to wrap
A brand film in a Brooklyn loft: a dolly move in the morning, a slider and an overhead for an interview in the afternoon, the freight elevator booked for load-in. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- 07:00 Load in The grip truck outside under the permit, the package up the freight elevator and checked against the list.
- 07:30 Track down Twenty feet of track across the old boards, levelled with wedges, the dolly pushed until it’s silent.
- 08:30 First move A slow push-in as the light comes up through the windows. Marks for start and stop.
- 10:30 Flags and frames With the gaffer: a 12×12 overhead to soften the sun through the windows, flags to keep it off the background.
- 12:30 Meal break The slider prepped for the afternoon interview.
- 13:30 Interview A slow slider move on the contributor, rigged so it doesn’t creak, the window netted down as the afternoon brightens.
- 17:30 Wrap Track lifted, stands and flags counted, the truck loaded before the freight elevator’s cut-off.
Which kind
Which grip do you need?
The camera moves and the light decide the grip crew. Here’s what each involves, and where New York adds a rule.
Key grip Runs the grip department Quoted on the brief
Plans the camera support and the light control with the DP and the gaffer, and runs the grips.
Best on any shoot with a dolly, a crane, rigging or a lot of flags.
Best boy grip The key grip’s second Quoted on the brief
Runs the grips and the truck: what’s on set, what’s on the truck, what goes back to the rental house tonight.
Best on multi-day shoots and bigger crews.
Dolly grip Track, dolly and moves that repeat From $550 a day + kit
Lays track, builds and pushes the dolly, and hits the marks every take.
Best for adverts, drama and slow, precise moves.
Grip with a small package A slider, flags and stands From $550 a day + kit
A slider or a small jib, plus the stands, flags and frames an interview needs, run by one grip. On a small job, a grip and electric swing can cover the lighting side too.
Best for interviews and brand films that need a little movement.
Car rigs and cranes Cameras on moving cars, big moves Quoted on the brief
Hard and suction mounts, a camera car or a crane with its own crew. On a New York street that means a Mayor’s Office permit, and the NYPD’s help comes with it. See filming permits in New York.
Best for car adverts, driving scenes and big rising moves.
What it’s for
What people book a grip for in New York
Adverts and brand films
Dolly moves and jib shots on stages in Long Island City and Brooklyn.
Daylight lofts
Overheads and flags to tame the windows in Chelsea, Tribeca and Brooklyn lofts, so the light holds across the day.
Car shoots
Camera cars and mounts on city streets under a Mayor’s Office permit, or on private land outside the five boroughs.
Interviews with movement
A slow slider move in a Midtown boardroom, rigged so it doesn’t creak.
Overseas productions
A UK or European team lands at Newark with the DP and the camera; we add the key grip, the grips and the package.
Recent work
Grips on our crews, and the New York split
How we crew it · New York
Grip and electric, booked together
In New York the grips own the flags, frames and stands as well as the camera support, so we book the key grip and the gaffer as a pair and brief them together. On an interview day that can mean one grip and electric swing; on a brand film in a daylight loft, a key grip with an overhead and a dolly. For a visiting DP, we explain the split before the recce, because it’s the opposite of what they’re used to.
How we crew it · New York
Track on a New York sidewalk
A camera on a tripod on a sidewalk needs no permit. Track, a dolly or a jib does: they’re equipment beyond a hand-held camera or a tripod, so they need a Mayor’s Office permit, $500 for each 14-day period, with at least $1,000,000 of general liability naming the City (checked October 2026). The permit also gives the grip truck parking privileges, which in Manhattan matter as much as the dolly.
Before you book
Things to know
The day and the kit
- 10 hours, plus a meal break.
- Any overtime is agreed with you before it happens.
- The grip package goes on its own line, theirs or a rental house’s.
Streets and permits
- Track, a dolly, a jib or a car rig on a city street needs a Mayor’s Office permit. The Film Office processes most 48 to 72 business hours before the shoot, and Times Square takes seven business days (checked October 2026).
- Prop vehicles, stunts and NYPD help all need the permit. With it, the police assistance and parking for the listed vehicles are free.
- City parks come first: a Parks Film Shoot Request, at least five business days ahead, then the permit.
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the grip.
- 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 grip 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.
$550 a day
Local 52 scale for union jobs, quoted on request: its rates aren’t published.
| Day rate, 10 hours | $550 |
| Booking fee, 10% | $55 |
| One day, before payroll, kit and travel | $605 |
Every grip 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 grip.
- 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 grip in New York.
Tell us the moves, the camera weight, the location and what the light is doing there. 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 $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 grip in New York: questions
How much does a grip cost in New York?
Our grips in New York start at $550 for a 10-hour day, and the grip is paid all of it. On a union job, Local 52 scale applies, quoted on request, because its rates aren’t published. On top go our 10% booking fee, so one day comes to $605, before payroll and insurance (at cost, on the quote), the grip package and travel. Key grips, best boys, cranes and car rigs are quoted on the brief.
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.
What do grips do on a New York set?
Two jobs: camera support and light control. Grips lay track, push the dolly, build sliders and jibs, and rig cameras to cars and walls. They also set the C-stands, flags, nets, frames and overheads that cut and soften the light, working alongside the gaffer, whose electrics handle anything with a cable. That second half is the difference from UK sets, where sparks set their own flags and the grips stay with the camera.
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 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.
How far ahead should I book a grip in New York?
Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours, and the grip is rarely what sets the date. Street work takes longer: a Mayor’s Office permit for track or a car rig is processed 48 to 72 business hours before the shoot, seven business days in Times Square, and a park manager wants at least five business days before that (checked October 2026).