Bristol Crew connects the freelance pros in thriving production scene

 interview and words for VMI

Bristol is flourishing as a hub for media production in no small part thanks to its freelance community and the networking website and database Bristol Crew which unites many of them.

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As Bristol Crew celebrates its 15^th Anniversary we talk with its founding force Sarah Smither about the site’s genesis and evolution.

 “The thing I am most proud of is being able to nurture young careers,” she says. “It’s not like I’m holding their hand the entire way. I’m just giving them opportunities. Those who run with the opportunities progress very quickly.”

Smither was already an established lighting camera operator for LE and factual documentaries in London before relocating to Bristol in 2008.

Finding the local scene dominated (naturally) by Natural History she approached the city’s small but thriving group of digital agencies producing online and social content to source work.

That was also the time when the content creation industry was on the cusp of significant change driven by sites like YouTube and the introduction of DSLRs capable of producing high production values at lower cost – in the right hands.

While Smither slotted right in, she noted that many of the region’s freelancers weren’t connected in the same way that they were in London and an idea was born.

“In TV you’d have a producer or a production coordinator with a little black book of contacts but the digital agencies in Bristol were working independently and didn’t have the same access to good, reliable crew. I quickly realised the need to bring freelancers together, not only to support each other, but also to be able to reassure these digital agencies that there were good crew available in the city.”

Smither began recruiting camera and sound professionals which expanded over the next few years to encompass skill levels from runners to boom operators and cinematographers.

Unlike some online crew directories, she made sure to vet each person before accepting them onto her books, taking time to chat to them about their experience and ambitions, only accepting applications via recommendations from other network members, or because she has actually worked alongside them herself.

“I’m not just sitting in an office and occasionally interviewing crew. I’m actually out there working on sets so I can see what’s changing and meeting new people all the time.”

Networking is an important part of Bristol Crew membership and something that has grown organically as members share information about rates, contacts, skills and best practice.

“Some other sites may claim to represent hundreds of people but nobody is checking their CVs. I know that producers value having somebody else do the ground work to make sure that the crew they hire are qualified professionals.”

As the city’s production base has exploded into drama with the growth of Bottle Yard Studios, Bristol Crew has met the demand.

“I’ve introduced more specialist roles including production sound mixers, focus pullers, gaffers, high-end drone operators and art directors. I’m trying to reflect the job roles required by the productions coming to the city. Commercial agencies use us too. It makes sense for sustainability and budget reasons for them to hire as many people as possible in the place that they’re going to shoot.”

Smither’s business partner in the venture is sound recordist and web developer Rob Saunders, but other than that, she still runs the site in her spare time alongside her DoP work on short films and indie features, music promos and commercials. 

Every member now has their own profile and login so they control the information that’s held on the site about themselves.  There are also new formalised connections on Bristol Crew for equipment supply companies including VMI Bristol.

“I own a certain amount of kit but quite often I’m hiring additional items, so I need the support of a local hire company in those situations, especially as technology is changing so fast,” Smither explains.

“We can’t possibly keep on top of it just by watching YouTube videos. Being able to see the kit in person and test cameras and lenses is crucial, especially for commercials and drama. You need to be able to test cameras in controlled environments with technicians who know what they’re talking about. Now that we’re offering crew at that higher level it made sense to invite hire companies to join us on the platform.”

Sarah is planning to celebrate the Bristol Crew’15^th anniversary with a party in the early Autumn – “We plan to invite everyone who’s been on the journey with us including the local studios, digital agencies and hire companies.”

Short film, CARE was shot in Gloucester Prison in July 2024 and crewed almost entirely by Bristol Crew members, including three more who are about to join. 

More recently, Bristol Crew also became an education partner with Bristol Film School and in a neat circularity, one of its graduates, Lucy Wallis now works at VMI, having previously been Smither’s camera trainee and mentee.

“What Bristol Film School are doing with their students is something I’ve been trying to push for a long time, which is to close the gap between higher education and the real world of work for freelance trainees and runners joining the industry at entry level.

“A number of our members teach workshops and mentor students at the Film School. I’ll also be taking a handful of their best graduates every year to join the site as trainees. Now, it feels like we have a proper sustainable ecosystem that’s introducing new talent from the local area.”

Now in its 10^th year, VMI Bristol has known Sarah and been working with Bristol Crew for a full decade and welcomes the chance to be more formally involved.

“We know a lot of the members on the website, either as clients of ours directly or as the regular crew working for our clients,” says Gary Davis, VMI Bristol’s Branch Manager. “It’s been amazing for our clients to enable them to find local crew for their West Country-based shoots. Whether it’s looking at a production’s carbon footprint or helping with budgets, sourcing local crews can offer a massive benefit.

Davis adds, “When we have had crew from the website contact us wanting to come in and play with particular kit, we try to accommodate them as much as possible. You know they will have a great duty of care towards the kit and a professionalism in what they do. So, when Sarah expanded the website earlier this year to include local kit rental and studios we jumped at the chance to sign up, as much as a way of saying thank you for being a great resource for our clients and to officially show support for the website and to the crew on it.”