Film crew hire/Production assistant
Hire a production assistant, anywhere in the UK. The extra pair of hands that keeps the producer free.
Production assistants for interview days, events and visiting productions across the UK. They meet your contributors, deal with security and the passes, get the releases signed, run to the kit house and mind the kit, working to your producer or director. £400 a day, paid to the PA in full.
- 54 five-star Google reviews
- 2 hrs for our team to read your brief, in working hours
- £10m employers’ liability on every crew member we book
- 2,800+ freelance crew on our books, across the UK
Photos: Here Now Films, Adil Mukhi and dix sept
The role
What a production assistant does on a UK shoot
A production assistant (PA) works to the producer or the director and takes the small jobs off their hands: contributors met at reception, release forms signed, runs to the shop or the kit house, the kit minded, the room kept tidy and the call sheet kept current.
On a busy interview day a good PA is why the producer gets to watch the interviews instead of spending them at the security desk. For a team flying in from abroad, the PA is often the person who knows where the loading bay is and which car park takes a van.
- Contributors looked after. Met at reception, briefed, given a drink and ready when the producer calls.
- Releases signed. Everyone on camera, before they leave the building.
- Kit minded. Nothing left in a corridor, a lift lobby or an open van.
- The producer freed up. The small jobs done without being asked twice.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- An 11-hour day: ten working hours and an hour for lunch
- Contributors met, briefed and looked after
- Release forms signed and filed
- Runs: the shop, lunch, a forgotten cable
- Help loading in and out
- The call sheet and contact list kept current
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- Mileage, if they drive their own car for the shoot
- Parking and clean air zone charges, at cost
- Travel, mileage and hotels when the shoot is away from the crew member’s home city, at cost
How our rates work, overtime and the APA/Bectu card: film crew rates in the UK.
Two ways to book
Crew hire or full production: who’s the producer of record?
Book a PA for your own shoot, or have us run the whole production.
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 production assistant, call to wrap
Interviews at a company’s offices in Edinburgh, with vox pops on the street outside after lunch. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- 07:45 Arrive Signed in at security with the names sent the day before, passes collected, the van’s slot in the loading bay checked.
- 08:00 Load in Kit up from the loading bay, a green room set up with water and a list of who’s coming.
- 09:30 First contributor Met at reception, walked through, briefed by the producer, release signed.
- 11:00 A run A missing adaptor, ordered for click and collect at Wex on Haddington Place, back before the next set-up.
- 13:00 Lunch Ordered at eleven so it arrives on time, and cleared away after.
- 14:00 Vox pops A crew of three on the pavement. Edinburgh needs no permit for street filming that causes no obstruction, so the PA keeps the pavement clear and gets a release from everyone who stops (checked October 2026).
- 18:30 Wrap Releases checked against the list, the room put back, passes handed in, kit down to the van.
Which kind
PA, runner or something else?
The junior production jobs overlap. Here’s how they differ.
Production assistant Contributors, releases and runs £400 a day
Works to the producer: people, paperwork and the jobs nobody else has time for.
Best on interview days, events and anything with contributors.
Runner Errands, kit and the unit base £245 a day
The entry-level job: fetching, carrying, tea and parking. See runner hire in the UK.
Best as an extra pair of hands on a bigger crew.
Driver People and kit, on time Quoted on the brief
Drives the crew van or the talent, with the right licence and a van checked against the clean air zones on the route. See travel, hotels and vans for a UK shoot.
Best when the crew and kit move between locations, or between cities.
Producer Runs the day From £450 a day
If the day needs someone to make decisions, book a producer.
Best when there’s a client or contributors to manage.
What it’s for
What people book a production assistant for across the UK
Interview days
Contributors met, settled and signed off, one after another, in offices, hospitals and labs.
Conferences and events
Vox pops between sessions at a venue, with a release for every face.
Overseas productions
An extra pair of hands for a visiting producer who’s never had to get a van into a UK loading bay.
Shoots with talent
Someone to look after the presenter or the executive between takes, and walk them to the car.
Multi-location days
Kit, parking and people moved across a city, or on to the next one.
Recent work
PAs on our jobs, from Portsmouth to Marylebone
Production service company · Portsmouth, London and Oxford · November 2023
Three cities in three days for Swanson Studios
Swanson Studios flew in from Oregon to photograph and interview surgeons and the people around them for Intuitive, the surgical robotics company: a hospital in Portsmouth, a hospital in London, then Intuitive’s office in Oxford, one city a day. They brought the cameras. We brought everything else, a production assistant and driver among them, with two vans, the hotels and the pick-ups from Heathrow. On days like those the PA’s job is the contributors: interviews of ten to twenty minutes, back to back, 17 slots across the three days.
Crew hire · Marylebone, London · May 2025
A PA on a US production’s call sheet
Day one of two on a US production company’s startup series, at a workspace in Marylebone. We crewed it from London, and the PA was on the call sheet with the DP, AC, sound, gaffer, DIT and hair and make-up: an eight o’clock call, a four o’clock wrap, lunch delivered to the door and the unit’s parking in the Selfridges car park. For a visiting producer, that’s the difference between running the shoot and running errands.
Before you book
Things to know
The day
- 11 hours, including an hour for lunch: ten working hours.
- Overtime by the hour at the APA card’s rate for the role, agreed with you before it happens.
- At least 11 hours between wrap and the next day’s call.
Getting around
- Tell us if the PA needs to drive: mileage, parking and any clean air zone charge go on the quote.
- By train, GWR allows no more than three pieces of luggage, and only two large items of up to 23kg each (checked October 2026).
- By Tube in London, only what they can carry themselves and nothing over 2m long, under TfL’s conditions of carriage (checked October 2026).
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the PA.
- 50% by card when you book, 50% on receipt of the final rushes.
- Every line on the quote: day rate, booking fee, kit, travel.
- Moving the date? Tell us as soon as you know.
- Cancellation terms are on every quote.
What our insurance covers
- Employers’ liability for the PA 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.
£400 a day
APA/Bectu card benchmark: £350–441 a day.
| Day rate, 11 hours | £400 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £40 |
| Insurance, 2% | £8 |
| One day, before travel | £448 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the PA we book, and cover on kit we hire in. Insurance for a UK shoot
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the PA.
- 50% by card at booking, 50% on the final rushes
- Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours
- Every line on the quote before anything is booked
Or call us on 07412 543822.
Reviews
What clients say about our crews
Straight from our Google Business Profile.
Book a production assistant, anywhere in the UK.
Tell us the date, the place and what the PA should look after. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Or call us on 07412 543822.
Check availability
The whole crew
Every role across the UK, booked the same way
One brief, one quote, every role on its own line. Our UK day rates, paid to the crew member in full:
Production 06
- Director From £500
- Producer From £450
- Production manager £504–627
- 2nd AD £355–448
- Production assistant This page £400
- Runner £245
Camera 09
- DOP From £850
- Camera operator £529–656
- Lighting camera operator £529–656
- Videographer £529–656
- Focus puller (1st AC) £461–575
- Clapper loader (2nd AC) £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 across the UK. In one city? London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cornwall have their own role pages.
Production support
Everything around the crew
From the passes to the parking, a PA touches most of what’s around the crew. Here are the UK guides, and any item can go on the quote if you’d rather we booked it.
01
Crew rates in the UK
Day rates for every role, the APA/Bectu card, overtime and what a day covers.
02
Kit and equipment hire
Rental houses across the UK, wet hire and dry hire, and the crew’s own kit.
03
Insurance for a UK shoot
Employers’ liability, public liability, kit cover, and what can leave you uninsured.
Questions
Hiring a production assistant in the UK: questions
How much does a production assistant cost in the UK?
Our production assistants are £400 for an 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch, paid to the PA in full; the APA/Bectu card benchmark is £350–441. On top go our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance: £448 + VAT for the day, before travel and mileage.
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.
How long is a PA’s day, and what about overtime?
A day is 11 hours, ten of them working and one for lunch. After that, overtime is paid by the hour at the APA card’s rate for the role: 1.5×, 1.25× or single time on an hourly rate of a tenth of the day rate, graded by day rate, and we agree it with you before it happens. Between wrap and the next call there are at least 11 hours. Film crew rates in the UK
What’s the difference between a PA and a runner?
A runner fetches, carries and keeps the unit base going. A PA works closer to the producer, on contributors, releases and the call sheet. On a small crew one person often does both.
Can a PA handle releases and vox pops?
Yes. Send us your release form, or use ours, and the PA gets one signed by everyone on camera before they leave. Where you can film vox pops depends on the council and the landowner: Edinburgh needs no permit for the street if the filming causes no obstruction, Bristol wants one for all location filming, and a Network Rail station needs Network Rail’s own agreement (checked October 2026). See filming locations and permits in the UK.
Are production assistants employed or self-employed?
It depends on the job. HMRC’s list of behind-the-camera roles it normally treats as self-employed doesn’t include PAs, and HMRC says that doesn’t make them employees either: their status follows its general rules (checked October 2026). We check each PA when we contract them, and anyone who doesn’t qualify as self-employed is paid through our payroll, with tax and National Insurance taken off.
Can a PA drive?
Yes, if they have a car and business insurance; tell us when you book. Mileage, parking and any clean air zone charge go on the quote at cost: Bristol charges £9 a day for a car that misses the standard, and central London adds the Congestion Charge, £18 a day (checked October 2026). In central London the Tube is often quicker for anything they can carry.
How far ahead should I book a PA?
Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. If the PA is sorting building passes, send us the contributor list early: offices with a security desk often want every name before the day. For one city, see production assistants in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cornwall.
More on crew across the UK
- Film crew hire UK
- Film crew rates in the UK
- Production assistant hire in London
- Production assistant hire in Manchester
- Production assistant hire in Birmingham
- Production assistant hire in Bristol
- Production assistant hire in Cornwall
- Production assistant hire in New York
- Producer hire UK
- Runner hire UK
- How we select our crew
- Our crew hire case studies