Careers A–Z · Lighting
Best boy
The best boy is the gaffer’s second: the person who turns a lighting plan into an order, a crew, a truck and a working day.
The title is old and gendered and the grade is not; best girl is used, and so is best boy electric to separate it from the grip side.
The basics
Also known as, and where the grade sits.
| Best boy | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Best boy, best boy electric, best girl. Formally the gaffer’s second. |
| Level | Senior assistant, second in the lighting department. |
| Reports to | The gaffer. |
| Comes after | Spark, usually several years of it. |
| Leads to | Gaffer. |
The job
What does a best boy do?
You order the kit, book the crew, run the truck and keep the department’s paperwork straight: timesheets, hire lists, returns, damages and what is coming back tomorrow.
On the floor you take the gaffer’s instruction and distribute it, keep the rig tidy and safe, and make sure the next set-up is already half built while the current one is still shooting.
The unglamorous end: this is a logistics job wearing a technical job’s clothes. Chasing a missing fixture, arguing with a hire desk, and being the last person to leave because the truck has to be loaded properly.
The requirement
What is a best boy good at?
Organisation, and the ability to run people without needing the gaffer present.
Logistics
Kit lists, hire orders, returns and what fits on the truck.
Crew handling
Allocating sparks by shot, by skill and by how tired they are.
Anticipation
Pre-rigging the next set-up before it is called.
Paperwork
Timesheets, damages and hire lists that stand up at the end of a job.
Safety
You are the second pair of eyes on every rig the department builds.
Kit
Tools of the trade.
| What | The actual items |
|---|---|
| Paperwork | Kit lists, hire orders, timesheets, damage reports, and a shared drive that everyone can find. |
| Truck | Racking, cable stores, fixture cases, a loading order that survives a wrap at three in the morning. |
| Fixtures | The whole department stock: LED, HMI, tungsten, tubes, practicals and the spares for all of them. |
| Power | Distro boxes, cable of every length, adaptors, generator paperwork and load calculations. |
| Consumables | Gel and diffusion rolls, gaffer tape, clamps, safety bonds, batteries, lamp spares. |
The unit
Who does a best boy work with?
| Who | What passes between you |
|---|---|
| Gaffer | The plan, the priorities and the crew call. |
| Sparks | Day-to-day allocation, safety and pace. |
| Production and accounts | Hire costs, overtime and what the department spent. |
| Rental house | Orders, swaps, faults and returns. |
| Key grip | Shared stands, platforms and who is rigging what. |
Routes in
How do I become a best boy?
A promotion inside the department rather than a grade you join.
Rigging gaffer’s crew
Pre-rig work shows you the whole rig before the unit arrives.
Lighting hire desk
Rental house staff already know the stock and the paperwork.
Live events
Touring and events crew arrive with the logistics half solved.
No degree, and nobody will ask. An electrical qualification and a safety ticket carry real weight; a certificate in film studies does not.
What gets you the job is a gaffer who wants you on their crew again.
Nearby
The grades either side of this one.
The grade above and the grade below, and the department you share a set with.
Lighting department guide
Everything free and worth paying for in this department, in the order to take it, with the books.
Never been on a set? Start here. Offered a first day? Read this first. Want to know where this grade leads? Where people have gone names people who trained here and the productions they went to.
