Who was that sound recordist?
A producer needs a sound recordist for a shoot in Manchester next week. She remembers someone good the company used last year on a documentary, but that was another producer's job, and the other producer has left. She searches the old crew spreadsheet. It lists names and numbers but not where people are based, what kit they own or what they charged.
She books someone from her own contacts in London, who charges travel and a hotel. The Manchester recordist, it turns out later, lives ten minutes from the location and has done five jobs for the company.
Why crew knowledge stays personal
- Producers book people they know, from their own phones.
- The shared crew spreadsheet is incomplete and out of date.
- Kit owned by each freelancer, and their kit fee, is agreed each time.
- Notes about who is good for which kind of job are never written down.
- Documents like public liability certificates, and any drone permissions, are asked for each time or not at all.
What documents you need from freelancers, and how you engage them, are for your own policies and adviser. We build a place to hold what you decide to collect.
What personal crew lists cost
Producers pay more than needed in travel and hotels, because they book people they know rather than people nearby. Good freelancers the company has worked with before are forgotten. Rates vary job to job because nobody knows what was paid last time. And when a producer leaves, their network leaves with them. There is a quieter cost for newer producers, who have not built up a network yet. They end up asking colleagues for numbers on WhatsApp, or booking whoever answers first, and the company never finds out who its most reliable freelancers really are.
How we build the freelancer list
- Each freelancer has one record: roles, base location, kit owned with typical kit fee, day rate history, contact details and links to a showreel or website.
- Documents such as insurance certificates are uploaded with expiry dates, and freelancers are asked to update them before they expire.
- Every booking from the crew board is added to the freelancer's history automatically, with job, dates and rate.
- Producers can leave short notes after a job, visible to other producers: good with nervous interviewees, great in small spaces, prefers not to do early calls.
- Search works by role, location, kit and availability, so a producer can find a sound recordist near Manchester who owns radio mics and has worked for the company before.
- Freelancers can update their own details and availability from a link, without an account.
| Search | Uses |
|---|---|
| Role | Camera, sound, gaffer, grip, runner, make-up |
| Location | Base town or region |
| Kit owned | Cameras, mics, lights, drone |
| History | Worked with you before, how recently |
| Documents | Insurance and permissions in date |
Booking the Manchester recordist
The producer searches for sound near Manchester who owns radio mics. Three people appear, one with five past jobs and a note from another producer: calm, good with executives. Her rate history shows what the company paid last time. The producer pencils her from the crew board.
When a producer leaves, the list stays. New producers start with the company's whole network, not just their own contacts.
Freelancers like it too. Their details, kit and documents are held once, so they are not asked for the same insurance certificate every time they are booked, and their availability updates go to one place rather than to five producers separately.
Is your crew list like this?
- Crew contacts live in producers' phones.
- The shared crew spreadsheet is out of date.
- Nobody knows what kit each freelancer owns.
- Rates vary because past rates are not recorded.
- Producers who leave take their crew network with them.