When a client books a shoot in the Bay Area, the default for many teams is to fly everyone in. Sometimes that's right. Often it costs more than it looks like it will, and the comparison only works if you count everything.
What flying a crew in actually costs
Put these on the same sheet before you decide:
- Airfare, including the change fees you'll pay if the schedule moves
- Checked gear, with overweight and oversize bags, plus the risk of a case not arriving
- Hotel nights, including the night before and often the night after
- Per diem for every travel day, not just shoot days
- Travel days, which most crew bill for
- Ground transport: a van to move people and gear, plus parking
- Rentals anyway. Stands, sandbags, and lighting rarely fly well, so you end up renting locally regardless.
What hiring locally changes
A local crew arrives the morning of the shoot from home. There's no travel day, no hotel, no per diem, and the gear arrives in a truck instead of in checked bags. Local crew also know the parking, the traffic, the permit office, and which locations have loading docks.
The mix that usually wins
For most shoots, the answer is somewhere in between:
- Fly in the people whose taste is the product: the director, the DP if their look is why you were hired, and the producer who owns the client relationship.
- Hire local for everything that travels in a truck: camera assistants, grip and electric, sound, and PAs.
Your creative stays intact, and the travel budget shrinks to the people who need to be there.
Questions to ask yourself
- Would the client notice the difference if this role were filled locally?
- Does this person need to be in the room with the client, or on the gear?
- How much of the kit could be rented here instead of shipped?
If the honest answers point to hiring locally, tell us the roles and dates. We'll crew it and put the gear on our truck, working under your name.
