Best Boy

Best Boy

noun | Production

The first assistant to either the gaffer (in which case the role is Best Boy Electric) or the key grip (in which case the role is Best Boy Grip). The best boy is the department's logistics and operations manager: they schedule and manage the crew, organise and track the equipment, liaise with the production office on labour and equipment costs, and ensure that everything the gaffer or key grip needs is available at the right place and the right time. The best boy is the backbone of department operations, freeing the department head to focus on creative and technical execution on set.

Quick Reference

The Explanation: How & Why

The best boy exists because department heads on a working film set cannot simultaneously manage creative execution and department logistics. A gaffer calling lighting adjustments from the set floor, working with the DP on instrument placement, and monitoring the monitor cannot also be answering calls from the rental house about tomorrow's equipment, scheduling which electricians are on call for the night shoot, tracking which gel colours have been used up, and submitting the department's daily timesheet to the production accountant. The best boy handles all of these things.

The Best Boy Electric's primary responsibilities include:

Crew management: Hiring and scheduling electricians for each day's requirements. On a large production, the electrical crew may number 10 to 20 people; on a small production, 2 to 4. The BBE ensures the right number of qualified people are on set at the right call time and manages overtime, turnaround, and rest-period compliance.

Equipment management: Maintaining the production's lighting package -- tracking what instruments are on the truck, what is rigged on the stage, what needs to be ordered or exchanged with the rental house, and what consumables (gel, diffusion, tape, spare bulbs) are running low.

Department finances: Tracking expenditure against the lighting budget, submitting purchase orders, reconciling rental house invoices, and flagging overages to the gaffer and production manager.

Coordination: Liaising with other departments -- the art department about which set areas need to be lit, the production office about schedule changes, the locations department about power availability at upcoming locations.

The Best Boy Grip performs identical management functions for the grip department, supporting the key grip rather than the gaffer.

The title "best boy" is gender-neutral in professional usage. Women working in these roles are correctly referred to as best boys. The term has no gender implication; it derives from the historical practice of the senior craftsperson requesting their "best boy" -- best apprentice or assistant -- to serve as their first assistant.

Historical Context & Origin

The title "best boy" originates in the hierarchical craft apprenticeship traditions of the American studio system, where guild members were organised in strict seniority hierarchies. The senior department head (gaffer or grip) would designate their most trusted and capable assistant as their "best boy" -- the best among the available junior crew members, selected for competence and reliability. The term entered industry usage in the 1920s and 1930s as the studio system standardised crew hierarchies and IATSE formalised the department structures and minimum rate scales. The title remains in standard use across American and most English-language film production, though European countries often use different terminologies -- "chief electrician's assistant," "first electrical assistant," or similar titles depending on the national production culture and union agreements.

How It's Used in Practice

Scenario 1 -- Pre-Production (Best Boy Electric): Three days before the start of principal photography, the BBE calls the rental house to confirm the lighting package pickup time and arrange transport. She checks the package manifest against the gaffer's approved list, flags two HMI heads that are on back-order, and identifies a substitute from another rental house. She confirms 12 electricians are hired for the first week, calls each of them with the call time and parking arrangements, and submits the crew list to the production coordinator for insurance certification.

Scenario 2 -- On Set (Best Boy Electric): During a shooting day, the gaffer asks for a 1.2K HMI that is not currently in the rigged package -- it is on the truck. The BBE radios the truck driver, confirms the HMI's location, and dispatches a set PA to bring it to the stage. Simultaneously, the BBE is noting which gels have been used from the stock, making a mental note to order more 250 diffusion and full CTO before Thursday. At wrap, the BBE ensures all instruments are safely struck, cables are coiled, and the truck is loaded before releasing the electrical crew.

Scenario 3 -- Budget Tracking (Best Boy Electric): The production is halfway through a 30-day shoot and the lighting department is running 15% over budget on rentals. The BBE compiles the weekly cost report for the gaffer and production manager, identifying two instruments that were rented but rarely used. The gaffer agrees to return them after this week's work, reducing the ongoing rental cost. The BBE calls the rental house to arrange the return and updates the budget projection.

Usage Examples in Sentences

"Tell the best boy we need another 4x4 Astera panel on the stage by 2pm."

"The BBE is the operational brain of the electrical department -- without them, the gaffer couldn't function."

"Best boy is a gender-neutral title; she is one of the best BBEs working in the industry."

"The best boy submitted the department's daily to production before wrap -- timesheet, purchase orders, and the updated equipment manifest."

Common Confusions & Misuse

Best Boy Electric vs. Best Boy Grip: Both titles follow the same structure -- first assistant to the department head -- but they serve different departments. The Best Boy Electric assists the gaffer in the electrical/lighting department. The Best Boy Grip assists the key grip in the grip department. The two roles are parallel in function but serve entirely different equipment categories and crew pools. On a production call sheet, both may be listed, and they should not be confused with each other.

Best Boy vs. Third Electrician / Set Electrician: Below the best boy in the electrical department hierarchy are set electricians (also called third electricians or lamp operators in some systems). The best boy manages these crew members; the set electricians handle the physical rigging, striking, and operation of instruments under the gaffer's and best boy's direction. The hierarchy is: gaffer, best boy electric, set electricians (3rd, 4th, etc.).

Related Terms

• Gaffer -- The department head the Best Boy Electric directly assists
• Grip -- The parallel department; the Best Boy Grip performs the same role for the grip department
• Crew -- The broader category; the best boy manages the crew within their department
• Director of Photography -- The best boy's work enables the DP's lighting vision to be executed efficiently
• Production -- The best boy liaises between the department and the production office on logistics, crew, and budget

See Also / Tools

The Production Schedule Calculator reflects the crew hours and department setup times that the best boy schedules and manages on each shooting day. For productions managing lighting department budgets, the Lighting Power Calculator supports the kind of equipment planning the best boy maintains throughout the shoot.