A grip truck that's loaded well lets a crew of five work like a crew of eight. A badly loaded truck turns every "can I get a 12-by frame?" into a ten-minute search, and the best boy grip is the one who decides which it will be. The job is half working grip, half department manager.
Taking the key grip's order and making it real
The key grip writes the grip order after the scouts. The best boy prices it with one or two rental houses, adds the items the key assumes will be there, and splits the list into what rides on the truck for the whole shoot and what comes in as day-plays. A crane for one day, a second dolly for the car chase, an extra 20-by-20 frame for a three-day exterior: each gets its own pickup and return date.
When the truck shows up, the best boy checks the load against the order with the rental house's paperwork and notes anything short or broken. That count is the production's defense at wrap. Rental houses bill for missing gear, and a best boy who didn't check in the load has nothing to argue with.
Prep also means crew. The best boy calls grips, checks roster status on union shows, collects start paperwork, and decides who is on the rigging crew for pre-rig days. Extra grips for a big day get requested through the production coordinator a day or two ahead so they appear on the call sheet.
One day, three places
A best boy grip on a location day with a 7:00 AM call might split time like this:
- 6:30 AM: Open the truck, stage carts, and have the first stands and flags heading to set before crew call.
- 7:00 AM: Walk the first setup with the key, then send two grips to the next location to start pre-rigging a window overhead.
- 10:00 AM: Call the rental house to confirm tomorrow's crane delivery, delivery time, and the operator.
- 12:00 PM: Read the draft call sheet for tomorrow and send the coordinator the extra crew and equipment list.
- 1:00 PM: Lunch, then set up the second location's grip staging area.
- 6:00 PM: Company wraps the first location. Best boy supervises the truck load.
- 7:30 PM: Collects grip time sheets and checks them against the wrap time on the production report.
On a lot of shows, the best boy grip also runs the cart that stays near set with the most-used gear, so the rest of the crew isn't walking to the truck every setup.
Time cards and the rules behind them
Timekeeping is where the best boy protects both the crew and the budget. The Basic Agreement terms that Local 44 prints on its wage sheets set time and a half after 8 hours worked and double time after 12, a 10-hour daily turnaround in Los Angeles County (9 hours on distant location), and meal penalties that climb for each half hour past the meal deadline. If the best boy pulls grips in early for a pre-rig, that call time affects their next turnaround. If the rigging crew works through lunch, a meal penalty goes on the card.
Before signing off, a best boy should compare every grip's in and out times with the daily production report. If the report shows wrap at 7:12 PM and a grip wrote 8:00 PM, one of them is wrong, and the accountant will ask. The meal penalty calculator and overtime calculator help check a card before it goes in.
Loss and damage, and kit rentals
Grip gear breaks, walks off, and gets left on location. The best boy logs every loss or damage when it happens, not at wrap. A frame that bent in wind on day 12 should have a note on day 12, with the key grip's initials.
Rental paperwork for the department's kits usually lands on the best boy too. The key grip may have a kit rental, and the best boy may have a smaller one for tools and a personal cart. Kit rentals are paid weekly per the deal memo, with an inventory attached, and aren't wages, so no fringes apply. Everything rented from the crew should be on the production's equipment insurance listing, so check with the coordinator that the inventory went to the insurance broker.
The best boy's partners
The best boy electric is the closest counterpart. They coordinate truck parking, share rigging days, and trade gear when one department is short. The transportation captain handles where trucks go and when they move. The accountant handles purchase orders and invoices. The dolly grip often needs track, sheets of plywood for leveling, or a specific dolly accessory, and asks the best boy to get it.
Getting the job
Best boy grips come from the grip ranks. After some years on a crew, a grip who shows they can manage people and gear starts filling in as best boy on day-plays or second unit, then gets a regular spot with a key grip. Key grips pick best boys they trust with their budget, crew, and truck.
Union placement in Los Angeles goes through Local 80 and Contract Services. Local 80 holds a Zoom orientation for future members, and Contract Services requires qualifying work days, its general production safety course, and harassment prevention training before placing someone on the Industry Experience Roster. In New York the grip department falls under IATSE Local 52.
Storiara for the grip list
The Equipment module in Storiara holds each rental item with cost, rate, and availability fields, imports CSV and XLSX lists, and prints the list for check-in. Details on the Equipment page.