Film crew hire/2nd AD
Hire a 2nd AD, anywhere in the UK. The cast on time, the call sheet out, the background where it should be.
Second assistant directors for adverts, drama, music videos and brand films with a cast, wherever the shoot is in the UK. They write the call sheet, move the cast through hair, make-up and costume, run the background artists and keep the paperwork straight while the 1st AD runs the floor. £355–448 a day, paid to the 2nd AD 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, Mike Bautista and Jakob Owens
The role
What a 2nd AD does on a UK shoot
The 2nd AD, the second assistant director, works behind the 1st AD, who runs the floor and the schedule. The 2nd runs everything that feeds the set: the call sheet, the cast’s route through hair, make-up and costume, the background artists and the day’s paperwork. By the time the 1st calls for the next actor, the 2nd has them standing by.
HMRC’s own description of the job is a fair one: it “co-ordinates off-set activities, including movements of cast and crew, creates call sheets” (checked October 2026). On a small brand film there’s often no AD team at all, and the producer runs the floor. Book one when there’s a cast, background artists, children, or a schedule with no slack.
- The call sheet, right. Call times, locations, contacts, the nearest station and the nearest A&E, out the night before.
- Cast where they should be. Through hair, make-up and costume and onto set, on time and in order.
- Background managed. Extras signed in, checked, briefed and placed.
- The day on paper. Times logged, releases signed, the progress report written up at wrap.
What’s included
What the day rate covers
In the day rate
- An 11-hour day: ten working hours and an hour for lunch
- The call sheet and the next day’s schedule
- The cast’s day: pick-ups, hair, make-up, costume, set
- Signing in and placing background artists
- Releases and the progress report
- Running the unit base on the radio
On top, each on its own line
- Our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, on the whole quote
- Prep days for scheduling and call sheets
- A 3rd AD or floor runners, for a big cast or a busy street
- 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 an AD for your own production, or have us take the production on, AD team and all.
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 2nd AD, call to wrap
An advert on a terraced street in Liverpool, with six cast and 20 background artists, on the Liverpool Film Office’s permit. Times are an example; the call sheet sets the real ones.
- 07:00 Cast in The 2nd’s call: cast signed in and sent to hair, make-up and costume in the order of their first scenes.
- 07:30 Crew call Changes to the call sheet briefed, radios out, the unit base open. The permit went in well over five working days ahead, as the film office asks for all filming on council land and highways (checked October 2026).
- 08:00 Background Twenty background artists signed in, costume checked, briefed and held off the pavement, not on it.
- 09:00 First set-up Cast walked to set as the 1st calls them, the next actor already in the chair, the pavement kept open for people walking through.
- 13:00 Lunch Called on time, cast and crew fed in turn so the afternoon starts on time.
- 14:00 The afternoon Progress tracked against the schedule and the permit’s hours; the 1st warned early if a scene is running long.
- 18:00 Wrap Cast and background signed out, times logged, the street handed back, tomorrow’s call sheet out by nine.
The AD team
Which AD do you need?
The assistant directors work as a team. Here’s who does what, and when each is worth booking.
1st AD Runs the set and the schedule Quoted on the brief
Breaks the script down into a shooting schedule and runs the floor on the day: when to turn over, when to move on.
Best on drama, adverts and anything with a cast and a tight day.
2nd AD The call sheet, the cast and the base Card £355–448
Feeds the set from the unit base: call sheets, cast, background and paperwork.
Best alongside a 1st AD on any shoot with a cast.
3rd AD and floor runners On the floor with the 1st Runners £245 a day
The 3rd places background and holds the public; floor runners carry messages and people for the AD team. See runner hire in the UK.
Best on big units and busy streets.
A producer on the floor Small crews, no cast From £450 a day
On an interview or a corporate shoot, the producer runs the floor and no AD is needed. See producer hire in the UK.
Best when there’s no cast to move.
What it’s for
What people book a 2nd AD for across the UK
Adverts with a cast
Actors through hair, make-up and costume and on set when they’re called, on a stage or a street.
Drama and short films
A schedule, a cast and a call sheet for every day, from a terraced street in Liverpool to a tenement close in Glasgow.
Music videos
Background artists, playback and a long day in a warehouse or on a street.
Shoots with children
A council performance licence, chaperones, and hours the AD team keeps to.
Big units on location
Crowds, unit bases and parking, where the council wants a letter through every door before the day.
How we crew it
How we crew an AD team across the UK
How we crew it · UK
An AD team sized to the cast
A cast of two needs a producer on the floor. A cast of six with background needs a 1st and a 2nd AD. A crowd needs a 3rd and floor runners as well. We size the AD team to the call sheet and the location, not the other way round, and quote each role on its own line, so you can see what each one costs before anything is booked.
How we crew it · UK
ADs from near the shoot, with the paperwork in hand
We crew the AD team from as close to the shoot as we can, with travel on the quote where it isn’t local. The paperwork is theirs to chase: a child in the cast needs a performance licence from the council where the child lives, applied for 21 days ahead in England, and a replica weapon means a specialist armourer and the police told in advance if it could be seen or heard in public, as HSE advises (checked October 2026).
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.
- Prep days for scheduling are quoted separately.
Cast, background and the street
- Background artists come through an agency or your own casting; the 2nd AD runs them on the day.
- Children: a performance licence from the council where the child lives, applied for 21 days ahead in England (checked October 2026).
- Replica weapons: a specialist armourer, and the police told in advance if a weapon could be seen or heard in public, as HSE advises (checked October 2026).
Paying and changes
- Nothing to pay until you confirm the 2nd AD.
- 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 2nd AD 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.
From £355 a day
APA/Bectu card benchmark: £355–448 a day.
| Day rate, 11 hours | £355 |
| Booking fee, 10% | £35.50 |
| Insurance, 2% | £7.10 |
| One day, before travel | £397.60 + VAT |
The 2% is employers’ liability for the 2nd AD we book, and cover on kit we hire in. Insurance for a UK shoot
You won’t pay anything until you confirm the 2nd AD.
- 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 2nd AD, anywhere in the UK.
Tell us the date, the cast, any background artists and where you’re filming. 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 This page £355–448
- Production assistant £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
An AD team needs a unit base, parking and the council’s permit. Each can go on its own line of the quote, or use the guides to sort them yourself.
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 2nd AD in the UK: questions
How much does a 2nd AD cost in the UK?
Our 2nd ADs start at £355 for an 11-hour day, including an hour for lunch, inside the APA/Bectu card range of £355–448, and they’re paid all of it. On top go our 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, so a day comes to £397.60 + VAT, before travel and prep days.
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 the 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 1st AD and a 2nd AD?
The 1st AD runs the set and the schedule on the floor. The 2nd AD works behind them, at the unit base, making sure the next actor, the next background and tomorrow’s call sheet are ready.
Do I need an AD team for a corporate shoot?
Usually not. An interview or a corporate film with a few contributors runs fine with a producer on the floor. Book ADs when there’s a cast, background artists, children or a schedule with no slack.
Do we need a permit for a cast on a UK street?
Almost always, and it comes from the council. Liverpool’s film office wants an application for all filming on council land and highways, at least five working days ahead; Bristol’s wants one for all location filming, with seven days’ notice and a letter to residents seven days ahead; Edinburgh needs none for the street provided the filming causes no obstruction, nuisance or offence (checked October 2026). City detail is in the London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cornwall guides, and the rest in filming locations and permits in the UK.
Is a 2nd AD self-employed?
HMRC’s list of behind-the-camera roles it normally treats as self-employed includes the 2nd AD, as long as its conditions are met (checked October 2026). We check each person’s role against it when we contract them, and anyone who doesn’t qualify is paid through our payroll.
How far ahead should I book a 2nd AD?
Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. For a cast shoot, book the ADs early: they need prep days to schedule it, and the dates that bind are the paperwork’s, 21 days for a child performance licence in England, and 12 weeks for a road closure in the City of London or Cornwall (checked October 2026).