Gaffer & Lighting Services New York

Here is what that looks like on the ground. Lighting and grip departments in New York are ordered around IATSE Local 52, the production crafts local that supplies key gaffers, best boys, set electricians, key grips and rigging crew to nearly each union feature, episodic series and high-end commercial shooting in the five boroughs.

Here is how the picture comes together. Our gaffers and key grips are drawn from that working pool, with confirmed credits across Steiner Studios at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Silvercup in Long Island City and Kaufman Astoria in Queens — the three stage complexes where HBO, Apple TV+, Netflix NY, Amazon and Showtime now base their NY production slates.

Here is what we have to work with. The inventory they handle on a common day spans ARRI SkyPanel S60 and S30 banks for soft daylight, Aputure 1200d and 600x for fast deployment, Mole-Richardson tungsten units for the period and warm-light work that NYC features still favour, and Astera Titan, Helios and Hydra tubes for practical-heavy interiors in TriBeCa lofts, Hudson Yards offices and Brooklyn brownstones.

Here is the layout. Grip and electric kit is sourced from the set NYC rental houses. Eastern Effects in Gowanus, Stockwell Studios, Hello Bro NY and JR Lighting — which means dolly track, condor lifts, Movi Pro sleds and full delivery arrive on one truck rather than chased across many vendors. Power packs hire and ConEd grid tie-ins are lined up with riggers who carry the NYC DOB and FDNY forms needed for high-rise rigs and street-level cable runs.

Here is how the work shapes up. Crews are signed under the IATSE Local 52 contract with full pension, health and welfare prepared before the first day of prep. Coordinators size each electric and grip team to the lighting plan agreed with the gaffer and DP — best boy plus one for a single-camera interview in Midtown, a full rigging swing for a Steiner night exterior or a Hamptons estate shoot, with the New York State Film Tax Credit at 30% plus the 10% NYC uplift logged from prep through wrap so the Made in NY rebates forms lands cleanly.