Eight years as the second-in-command

The job

A best boy grip is the grip department's second-in-command. The key grip works with the director of photography on the shot. The best boy makes sure everything that shot needs exists, is on the truck, is staffed and gets paid for.

• Logistics for crews of 30–40: scheduling, hiring, paperwork, production orders, rentals and kit fees.
• Expendables budgets up to ~$30K a week.
• A 5-ton grip package (~$1.2M in equipment) with trailer and generators.
• Maintenance and repair: hydraulics, welding, fabrication, 3D-printed prototypes.
• 12+ hour days, often overnight, coordinating with production and Teamsters.

The payroll tool

Grip timecards follow union rules that generic payroll software didn't handle, and at the time they were done on paper. I wrote one of the first grip-specific timecard and payroll tools to template those rules, and used it on productions until digital payroll took over.

What carried over

Plan carefully, communicate precisely, and fix it before anyone notices. That's the job in a DAM too.

Selected credits