The grip department is the one outsiders understand least, partly because its name explains nothing and partly because its work is invisible when done well.
What does the grip department actually own?
Two things: rigging that supports the camera, and everything that shapes light without being plugged in.
A grip is the person in charge of setting up or rigging equipment to support the camera and lighting. In practice that splits into camera support — dollies, cranes, car rigs, high hats, anything holding a camera somewhere it cannot simply stand — and light control, which is flags, nets, silks, solids, bounce boards and overhead frames.
In the United States the jurisdiction sits with IATSE Local 80, which represents Motion Picture Grips along with Crafts Service, Marine and First Aid Employees. Local 80 was created in the 1939 restructuring that split IATSE Local 37 into Locals 728, 727, 80 and 44 — the same split that separated electrical from grip work and gave both departments the boundaries they still use.
Where is the line between grip and electric?
Power. If it draws power, it belongs to the gaffer and the electrical department. If it modifies light without drawing power, it belongs to grip.
| Task | Department |
|---|---|
| Placing and powering a lamp | Electric |
| Flagging that lamp off a wall | Grip |
| Running distro and cable | Electric |
| Rigging an overhead silk | Grip |
| Programming the lighting console | Electric |
| Laying dolly track | Grip |
The line is clean enough that a set can run two departments in parallel without collision, which is precisely why it exists.
Who works under the key grip?
The best boy grip is the department's second, mirroring the best boy electric on the other side — crew, truck, order, timecards. Company grips do the rigging. The dolly grip is a specialist who owns camera movement: laying and levelling track, operating the dolly or crane, and executing a move in sync with the focus puller and the operator.
Dolly grip is one of the few crafts where the job is a performance. A move that lands on the actor's mark at the same moment as a focus pull is rehearsed, not improvised.
Why is safety part of this job specifically?
Because grip rigging is load-bearing. Truss, overhead frames, car mounts and crane work all put equipment — and occasionally people — in positions where a failure is not a reshoot, it is an injury.
That is why the department is conservative by temperament, and why a key grip who says a rig needs another hour is worth listening to. Our piece on crew fatigue and safety covers the wider context, and turnaround explains why the end of a long day is when rigging mistakes actually happen.
How do you get hired as a key grip?
The same promotion ladder as electric: company grip to best boy to key, largely through the people you have already worked for.
The constraint is the same too — that ladder only works while your existing network is working. A public, verified profile is how a production in a market you have never shot in finds you at all. Start with the key grip role page, and see the dolly grip and gaffer pages for the neighbouring crafts.
Sources
- About Us — Local 80 representing Motion Picture Grips, Crafts Service, Marine and First Aid Employees; the grip rigs equipment to support camera and lighting — IATSE Local 80
- Key Grip job description — IATSE Local 52
- What Is IATSE? An Explainer — the 1939 split of Local 37 into Locals 728, 727, 80 and 44 — No Film School
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a grip and an electric?+
Power is the dividing line. The electrical department handles anything that draws power — lamps, distro, cable, consoles. The grip department handles camera support rigging and anything that shapes light without power, such as flags, nets, silks, bounce and overhead frames.
What does a dolly grip do?+
The dolly grip is a specialist within the grip department responsible for camera movement. They lay and level track, operate the dolly or crane, and execute moves in coordination with the camera operator and focus puller.
What union covers grips in the United States?+
IATSE Local 80, which represents Motion Picture Grips, Crafts Service, Marine and First Aid Employees. It was established in the 1939 split of IATSE Local 37 into Locals 728, 727, 80 and 44.
About the author
Geenesh S
Founder & Editor, ScenePaper
Builds and runs ScenePaper. Writes about how film production actually schedules, budgets and hires — and where the paperwork breaks.
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