Key Rigging Grip

Whether it’s a white sandy beach, a city street corner, or the inside of a family’s living room, the best movie sets don’t look like movie sets at all: They look like real-world places and spaces.

Although it’s largely the work of talented Set Designers, cinematic scenery wouldn’t be possible without Grips, the unionized workers who set up, move, and dismantle movie cameras, equipment, and scenery. One type of Grip, in particular — called a Rigging Grip, or Rigger — is essential, as Rigging Grips are in charge of all rigging needs on set, from building scaffolding from which to hang lights, cameras, and screens to erecting blackout tents that turn day into night at on-location sets.

Usually, a “chief” Grip, called a Key Grip, oversees and manages all other Grips. In large productions, however, some Film Producers will also hire a second, specialized Key Grip — known as a Key Rigging Grip — to oversee just the Riggers.

If you’re a Key Rigging Grip, you’re the boss in charge of rigging and Riggers during the production of a film or TV show. Like a Key Grip, this means planning and implementing logistics; hiring, scheduling, and supervising workers; and physically building the infrastructure required for lighting, cameras, and scenery. Because set rigs often support expensive — and heavy — hardware, however, it also means the Key Rigging Grip ensures the safety of the equipment, and of the people who work with and around it.

A master of pulleys, cables, and trusses, you’re basically paid to manage the cinematic equivalent of an Erector Set!