Film crew hire/New York/Set builders
Hire set builders in New York. Walls, floors and fronts: built, painted, shot and struck.
Set builders, carpenters and scenic painters for commercials, music videos, brand films and drama across New York. They build to the art director’s drawings in a scene shop or on the stage itself, paint it, and strike it at wrap. From $550 a day per builder, paid 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: Ali Mkumbwa, Ryno Marais and Callum Hill
The role
What set builders do on your shoot
Set builders make the parts of the world a location can’t give you: walls with a window in the right place, a store counter, a platform, a room that comes apart so the camera can get in. Carpenters build it, scenic painters finish and age it, and the same crew strikes it and clears the stage.
A build runs in four stages: design, construction, dressing and strike. The art director designs it, the carpenters build it, the set dressers fill it, and everyone helps clear it.
In New York the shop and the stage are rarely in the same place. Pieces are built in a scene shop, trucked across a bridge on a box truck with a lift gate, and loaded in through a stage’s elephant door or up a freight elevator, so the truck, the route and the load-in window are part of the plan. On a union job, set carpenters are Local 52 and scenic painters are USA 829.
- Built to drawings. Dimensions, finishes and camera positions agreed with the art director first.
- Made to move. Wild walls and floating pieces, so the camera and the lights can get in.
- Finished for camera. Paint, ageing and texture that hold up at 4K.
- Struck and gone. The stage or the location cleared, and the waste carted away.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- A 10-hour day per builder, plus a meal break
- Building to the art director’s drawings
- Painting and finishing
- Wild walls and floating pieces where needed
- A standby carpenter on the shoot day, if booked
- The strike, and the space cleared
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee, on the whole quote
- Payroll and insurance for the job, at cost
- Materials, at cost
- Shop space, trucking and waste removal, at cost
- A repaint of the stage or the cyc, if the studio charges for one
- 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 builders for your own New York 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 set build, from drawings to strike
A kitchen set for a commercial, built in a scene shop and stood up on a stage in Long Island City. Days are an example; the schedule sets the real ones.
- Week 1 Drawings The art director’s plans agreed: the room, the window, the walls that pull for the camera, and what fits on the truck.
- Day 1 Shop Flats and units built in the shop, the window frame made to size, every piece numbered for the load-in.
- Day 2 Load in Pieces trucked to the stage in the slot it gave us, in through the elephant door, stood up, braced and fixed.
- Day 3 Paint The scenic painter’s base coats, then the ageing: a kitchen that has been cooked in for years.
- Day 4 Dress The set dressers fill it; the carpenters hang the doors and fix what the camera finds.
- Shoot Standby A standby carpenter on set to pull a wall, fix a hinge or make a quick change.
- Strike Clear Everything down and out, the waste carted away, the stage handed back the way the studio wants it.
Which construction crew
Which construction crew do you need?
The crew grows with the build. Rates are per person, per 10-hour day.
Carpenter Builds the set From $550 a day
Builds flats, platforms, units and pieces, from the shop to the stage.
Best for any set build, from a single wall to a room.
Key carpenter Runs the build Quoted on the brief
Runs the carpenters, solves the tricky pieces and signs off what’s safe.
Best on builds of more than a couple of days.
Scenic painter Paint, ageing and finishes Quoted on the brief
Paints and ages the set: wood, plaster, metal and grime that read true on camera. Union scale for a charge scenic (USA 829) is $1,229.58 for a 10-hour call, before fringes (checked October 2026).
Best when the set has to look old, used or expensive.
Standby carpenter On set on the day From $550 a day
Stays with the set during the shoot to move walls, fix things and make changes between set-ups.
Best on any built set.
Construction coordinator Big builds Quoted on the brief
Plans and runs the construction crew, the budget and the shop on a large build.
Best for drama and big commercials.
What it’s for
What people book set builders for in New York
Commercials
A kitchen, a store or a living room built on a stage in Brooklyn or Long Island City, with walls that pull.
Music videos
A look built in a warehouse or on a cyc, painted the night before.
Product films
Plinths, platforms and backgrounds for a product on a cyc.
Events and launches
Stages and backdrops built for the cameras as well as the room.
Locations that need help
A false wall in a Midtown office, a fake window, or a shopfront over a real one, with the landlord’s consent.
Recent work
How we crew a build in New York
How we crew it · New York
Shop, truck, stage
We book the builders to the art director’s drawings and plan the build backwards from the shoot day: shop days, a truck with a lift gate, a load-in slot at the stage, paint, dressing, then strike. In New York the load-in window is often the tightest part of the schedule, so it’s agreed with the stage before the first sheet of plywood is cut.
How we crew it · New York
Building in someone else’s building
A false wall in an office or a platform in a loft goes in to the building’s rules: a COI naming the building, floor protection, freight elevator slots, and nothing fixed that won’t come out clean. Outside, on City property, anything beyond hand-held equipment needs a permit from the Mayor’s Office, and a park needs the park manager’s say first.
Before you book
Things to know
The day
- 10 hours, plus a meal break.
- Any overtime is agreed with you before it happens.
- Shop, load-in and strike days are quoted per builder, per day.
Planning
- A build needs drawings and a schedule: tell us the shoot date and we work back.
- Load-in times at the stage, and the truck’s height and weight, agreed before the build starts.
- On a location: the landlord’s consent and the building’s COI first.
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the builders.
- 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 builder 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
No published union scale for set carpenters in New York: Local 52 scale, quoted on request.
| Per builder, 10 hours | $550 |
| Booking fee, 10% | $55 |
| One builder, one day, before payroll and materials | $605 |
Every builder 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 build.
- 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 set builders in New York.
Tell us what needs building, where, and when it has to be ready. 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 This page $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 set builders in New York: questions
How much do set builders cost in New York?
Each builder starts at $550 for a 10-hour day, paid to the builder in full. Union set carpenters are Local 52, whose rates aren’t published, so scale is quoted on request. On top go our 10% booking fee, so one builder for one day comes to $605, before payroll and insurance (at cost, on the quote), materials, shop space and trucking. A simple wall can be a day for two; a room set, a week for a crew.
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 New York set builders union?
They can be, on a signatory production. Set carpenters in New York are Local 52, alongside grips and electricians, and its rates aren’t public, so we quote them on request. Scenic painters are United Scenic Artists Local 829: a charge scenic’s scale is $1,229.58 for a 10-hour call, before fringes (checked October 2026). Non-union is our default on corporate and branded work, and union scale is wages only: fringes and payroll go on top.
Do I need an art director as well?
Yes, for anything more than a simple piece. The art director designs the set and draws it, the builders build it, and the set dressers fill it. On a small job one person can design and dress, but someone has to make the drawings before the first sheet of plywood is cut, because a wall built in the wrong place costs a day. We book both on the same quote.
Where can we build a set in New York?
On a stage, in a cyc studio, or on a location that allows it. Stages with drive-in or elephant-door access, in Brooklyn, Long Island City and Manhattan, take big pieces straight off the truck; smaller builds fit cyc studios and lofts with a freight elevator. Ask the stage for its load-in hours and whether it charges to repaint the cyc after a build. On a location, the landlord’s consent and a COI naming the building come first.
Can you build on a New York street or in a park?
With a permit, yes. Anything beyond hand-held equipment on City property, or exclusive use of a sidewalk or street, needs a film permit from the Mayor’s Office: $500 for each 14-day period, with at least $1,000,000 of general liability naming the City of New York (checked October 2026). Parks need a Parks Film Shoot Request first, with at least five business days for the park manager, and some, Central Park among them, run their own conservancy process. See filming permits in New York.
How far ahead should I book a set build in New York?
Work back from the shoot day: a small build needs about a week from drawings to shoot, a room set two or three. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours, and we come back with builders and a price. Our latest New York shoot, Nevis × Focus, was filmed twelve days after the first email. The drawings, the shop and the stage’s load-in slot set the real date, so start with those.