Film crew hire UK
Crew hire and production services, across the UK and around the world.
One crew member for a day, or the whole unit, in the UK, Europe and the US.
2,800+ freelance crew on our books, booked from London, Manchester, Bristol and Cornwall. Crew are paid their full day rate; we add a 10% booking fee and 2% insurance, and send the full price before anything is booked.
Where’s the shoot?
Some of the shoots we’ve crewed
All crew case studies
Crews booked by production companies, agencies and brands
- NYT Studios
- GMR Marketing
- Magnet Media
- Valentine Global
- Swanson Studios
- WordAppeal
- Arc Media
- Davies Group
Start here
What are you looking for?
Some shoots need one camera operator. Some need the permits, the vans and the hotels as well. Pick the one that fits and we’ll take you to it.
Our own sets
We crew your shoot the way we crew our own
We’re a production company as well as a crew agency. 500+ films in, your crew are booked and briefed by the same producers who run our own shoots.
Brand campaign · Cohere
AI for Empowerment: four countries on 35mm
A maple wood in Ontario, a park in Oslo, the Lizard in Cornwall and the Atlantic at Ericeira, one day in each. We produced it and crewed it country by country: on the Lizard, a 14-hour day in fog with twelve radios along a mile of cliff path; in Oslo, a crew of about thirty. A crew you book through us is put together the same way.
- 4Countries, one shoot day in each
- 3Permits for one sequence on the Lizard
- ~30Crew on the day in Oslo
“Four international shoots with talent diaries moving underneath you is not a small thing to land. Well done to you.”
VP Brand, Cohere
Every crew member starts with a phone call, then references and past work, checked against the role. How we choose our crew
Locations
Crews across the UK, from four bases
London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cornwall have their own crew pages, with every role, local rates and a booking form. Anywhere else, send the brief: we crew it with local people, or with crew from our nearest base.
Where we crew
Four bases, five city pages, and the rest of the UK on a brief.
- Our bases
- City crew pages
- Crewed on a brief
Also crewed on a brief: Leeds · Liverpool · Sheffield · Newcastle · Cardiff · Edinburgh · Glasgow · the rest of the South West.
Send a briefCrew and rates
Every role, priced on the page
Crew are paid their full day rate, at or around the APA/Bectu card. These are our UK starting day rates, before VAT. Every role has its own page: what they do, what the day covers, how the rate sits against the card, and how to book.
Production
Lighting and grip
Data
Hair, make-up and costume
Art department
Post-production
Also on our books
Shooting in one city? Each has its own role pages and local rates: London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Cornwall and New York.
Two ways to book, two prices
The difference is who runs the shoot, and who carries it. You get the full price, line by line, before anything is booked.
Crew hire
Your producer runs the shoot.
Crew at their full day rate, + 10% booking fee + 2% insurance on everything we book, kit included.
- The 2% covers employers’ liability for every crew member we book, and the kit we book. Public liability and the rest of the shoot stay with you.
- Kit from the crew or the rental houses, on the same quote.
- 50% by card when you book, and 50% when the final rushes arrive.
A DOP and sound recordist for a day: ÂŁ1,568, before VAT, travel and kit.
Best if your own producer will be on set.
Production service company
Our producer runs the shoot.
Quoted as a production: everything we book, + 15% production fee + 5% insurance and contingency.
- We’re the producer of record: permits in our name, our £10m public liability, and one UK contract.
- Crew, locations, kit, transport and hotels on one quote and one invoice.
- Your director keeps the creative decisions.
Best if you’re flying in without a UK producer.
How a production service company worksLarge kit rentals can need extra insurance; if yours does, the quote says so.
Crew and production services
The crew, and everything around them
Most bookings need more than people. Each of these goes on the same quote, with its own line.
Crew hire
One crew member or a whole unit, booked, briefed and paid by us. Your producer runs the day.
Fixer and location services
One of our producers on the ground for the permits, the locations, the crew and the day itself, from ÂŁ450 a day.
Production service company
For teams flying in: we become the producer of record, with permits in our name, our insurance and one UK contract.
Kit and equipment
Crew who bring their own kit, or kit we book from the rental houses, on the same quote. Bringing yours in? Start with the carnet.
UK guides
Filming in the UK: what to know
Rates, kit, insurance, permits and travel for a shoot anywhere in the UK, written by the people who book the crews. Each city hub has its own set as well.
More reading
City guides
London · Manchester · Birmingham · Bristol · Cornwall
What each role does: director · producer · DOP · camera operator · camera assistant · key grip · sound recordist · production assistant · runner. And who does what on the ground: UK film and TV fixers.
How it works
How a booking works
Most of it happens by email. You’ll know the full price, and who’s coming, before anything is booked.
Swipe to see all five steps →
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01
Send the brief
Dates, place and the crew you need. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours.
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02
Names and the price
Who’s free, the full price line by line, and the permits the date needs.
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03
Book
We take 50% by card when you book, and the other 50% when the final rushes arrive.
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04
The call sheet
Times, the address, the nearest station, parking and contacts, the day before.
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05
The day
One person at our end answers all day, on set or from City Road.
Then the next one. WordAppeal came back for a second FDJ United shoot four months after the first.
On the day
Our crews at work, on our productions and on crew bookings. Scroll for more →
Case studies
Crewing other people’s shoots
A record of recent bookings: who booked, what we supplied and where.
- The Athletic Truth or Padel: eight cameras, one padel court, five shoot days. Crew hire Alderley Edge and Manchester
- GMR Marketing 34 days at Team USA House, through the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Crew, kit and an editor Paris
- Magnet Media Two podcast episodes on three cameras at One Canada Square, sixteen days after the first email. Crew hire Canary Wharf, London
- Swanson Studios Three cities in three days, for an Oregon studio, with the vans and the hotels. Production service company Portsmouth, London, Oxford
- Valentine Global The UK crew for a sportswear brand’s studio day, a few days after its New York shoot. Crew hire Woolwich, London
- Davies Group Four shoot days in three cities for the group’s internal talk show. Crew hire Manchester, Bolton, London
- WordAppeal Two interview shoots for FDJ United, booked from Paris. Crew hire · repeat client Wimbledon, London
- Arc Media Two customer stories for a Canadian agency. Crew hire Stockwell and Aldgate, London
Europe
Crewing in Europe, booked from London
We crew European shoots job by job, booked and run from London, with one contract with us and one quote. Some of what we’ve done there:
Crew, kit and edit · Paris, 2024
34 days
GMR Marketing at Team USA House
Two camera operators, sound, light and an editor on site through the Olympic and Paralympic Games, shooting and cutting every day. GMR’s own case study counts 5.4 million Instagram engagements for the campaign.
Read the case studyIt works the other way too. WordAppeal, an agency in Paris, books our London crews for FDJ United.
- Where we’ve crewed or shot
- Our headquarters
- In the UK
We’ve also filmed in Spain, Germany and Finland. Send the cities and the dates, and we’ll come back with names and the full price.
Send a European briefNew York
New York crews, booked and run by our producers
Every role in New York has its own page, with union scale alongside our rates, and every quote is in dollars. A DP and sound mixer for a day is $2,255 with our booking fee.
DPs · Camera operators · Sound mixers · Gaffers · Every role
Who we work with in the US
Studios, agencies and brands from New York to Oregon book us on both sides of the Atlantic.
Flying into the UK? Your contract is with us, a UK company, and there’s one invoice, so you don’t need a UK company of your own.
Shooting in the UK from abroadReviews
What clients say
5.0 from 54 Google reviews
“Here Now Films is always my first call when filming internationally in the UK… They matched the exact camera and lighting kit I use back in the States.”
Director, United States
“Their ability to quickly assemble professional and talented crews was impressive, and their dedication to meeting our deadlines was commendable.”
Campaign Marketing and Internal Communications Manager, Davies Group
“I’ve found my video production partner in London!”
WordAppeal, Paris
“The Here Now Films team helped us conduct a remote shoot in London, from San Francisco. The team made the process as smooth as possible.”
Google review
FAQ
Common questions
Something we haven’t answered? Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours.
Send the briefHow much does it cost to hire a film crew in the UK?
Crew are paid their full day rate, at or around the APA/Bectu card: a DOP from ÂŁ850 a day, a sound recordist from ÂŁ550, a camera operator from ÂŁ529. We add a 10% booking fee and 2% insurance on everything we book, kit included, and send the full price, line by line, before anything is booked. A DOP and sound recordist for a day comes to ÂŁ1,568, before VAT, travel and kit.
What does the 2% insurance cover?
Employers’ liability for every crew member we book, and insurance on the kit we book. Nothing else: public liability and the rest of the shoot stay with you, unless we’re the producer of record. Large kit rentals can need extra cover, and the quote says so when they do.
Crew hire or a production service company: which do we need?
If your own producer will be on set, crew hire. If you’re flying in without a UK producer, or need permits in a UK company’s name, we become the producer of record and quote it as a production, with a 15% production fee and 5% insurance and contingency. Our guide sets out fixer, line producer or production service company side by side.
Can you crew a UK shoot for a production coming from abroad?
Yes. NYT Studios, Swanson Studios in Oregon, Valentine Global and WordAppeal in Paris have all booked UK crews through us. Your contract is with us, a UK company, and you get one invoice, so you don’t need a UK company of your own to shoot here.
How quickly can you crew a shoot?
Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours. Most Manchester bookings are confirmed within 48 hours of the enquiry, and Magnet Media’s Canary Wharf podcast was shot sixteen days after the first email.
Do you crew outside London?
Yes. London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Cornwall have their own crew pages, and we crew anywhere else in the UK on a brief, with local crew or crew from our nearest base. Davies Group needed four shoot days across Manchester, Bolton and London.
Can you crew shoots in Europe or the US?
Yes. In New York we crew every role, quoted in dollars: see film crew hire in New York. In Europe we crew on a brief, booked from London: GMR Marketing had our crew, kit and an editor at Team USA House in Paris for 34 days, and we ran a crew of about thirty in Oslo for Cohere’s campaign.
How do you choose your crew?
We only book people we’d want on our own sets. It starts with a phone call, then references and past work, checked against the role and the brief. We source crew for each job from our books and our network, and rebook the people who do well. The whole process is in how we choose our crew.
Book a crew, anywhere in the UK.
Where, when and who you need. Our team reads every brief within 2 working hours, and comes back with names and the full price. Or call us on 07412 543822.