Gripvan are Hiring - Kit Room Manager

 

Job Description    

Kit Room Manager

The Company and the Role

- Gripvan is a growing, innovative photographic and film production support business 

- Based in Battersea, London; operating across the UK & Europe 

- Gripvan service productions with its fleet of purpose built Gripvans which hold  ‘everything you need for your shoot day in one van’  

- We are now looking for a Kit Room Manager to help further develop this exciting business 

- The position comes with a good salary and career path opportunities. 

 

Key Responsibilities: 

  • Checking & servicing of equipment 
  • Maintaining & organising all storage
  • General management of fleet
  • Organise deliveries and collections
  • Supervising and daily management of technical assistant
  • Dealing with new and existing orders while managing the picking lists
  • Supervising the loading and unloading of Gripvans

Key Attributes:

You will be given a thorough induction and training for the role, but we require the following:

  • Someone who is highly organised, industrious and interested in the area of stills and moving image production
  • Have some previous experience working within the production industry
  • The ability to work within a team and under own initiative
  • Computer literate
  • Excellent attention to detail 
  • Strong organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise workload
  • Good written and verbal skills, a friendly and confident telephone manner
  • Hold a full UK driving licence 
  • The energy and initiative to help us move the company forward

 

Job Details:

  • Competitive salary dependant on experience includes performance related bonus
  • Based on a 40-hour week at the Gripvan office in Battersea, SW8. 
  • You will be required to work additional hours at busy times
  • 21 paid days holiday plus public holidays. 

 

To apply please email your CV and a covering letter to jobs@gripvan.com addressed ‘Kit Room Manager’. To arrive no later than 23rd October 2016, alternatively apply directly at: https://gripvan.workable.com/j/034F9526A9. Interviews to be staged from 31st October 2016. Please only make contact via the email that has been provided. 

Gripvan FAQS

What is Gripvan, or what does Gripvan do?

Gripvan is a comprehensive and mobile package of stands, grip, accessories and useful bits and pieces that to quote Dean Northcott, "makes shooting on location like being in a studio". We provide peace of mind to photographers, producers and photo assistants alike.

As for what we do? At our core Gripvan does Photo shoots - whether Advertising, Fashion, Editorial or Corporate. We also do Moving Image - Commercials, Documentaries, TV, Music Promos, and more. Of course, we do Gripvans, but we also offer general equipment rental and can dry hire you cameras, digi kit, lighting, styling, and production equipment.

We can help you with power and access requirements, and offer consultancy, alongside crewing and basic production.  

In short Gripvan can get almost anything you need on your set to your set.

What's in the van?

Everything you could possibly think of, and a whole load of things you might have overlooked!

Our Standard Grip Package comes with a full complement of C Stands, Windups, Booms, frames, fabrics, flags, and all the usual grip, electrical and consumable items. All of this neatly packed in one of our custom LWB Renault Master vans.

The mini package is pretty similar, except we've condensed it down to fit in our Renault Trafic, perfect for smaller shoots or when your'e shooting somewhere with restricted headroom - planning a shoot in a multi-storey carpark? This is the one for you.

Why do I need one on my next shoot?

Gripvan solves your problems. It’s a mobile grip and lighting store, keeping kit dry and organised and saving space in your location. Gripvan makes sure all your kit is accessible, saves your crew time and impresses your clients.   

Isn't it really expensive to hire?

In a word, no! Gripvan can save you money on your shoot. Just ask our producer clients who keep coming back because GV helps them work to ever tighter budgets. Typically Gripvan offers a saving of 50% over list hire prices, not to mention the savings on peace of mind.

Do I have to pay for anything else?

Just the driver / assistant, mileage (if you're shooting outside of London) and any consumables you use. Of course if your shoot takes the crew away overnight we'd expect you to put our driver up in a hotel too!

Who can drive the Gripvan

All our vans are driven by a driver-operator who, depending on your requirements, will also be an experienced lighting/camera assistant, dig-op, gaffer or grip. Our drivers all know the vans and equipment inside out.

Where is Gripvan based?

Gripvan is based in Battersea, ideally located for London and for shoots further afield. You're welcome to visit us during working hours, but please call ahead to check we have a van available to show you!

Where has Gripvan worked?

We spend most of our time in and around London but the vans are well travelled across the UK and further afield. We frequently work in Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland, as well as Bristol, Ireland, Wales and the South West. The vans have visited the continent a fair few times and we've sent kit as far as the Maldives and Butan.

If you're planning a shoot in Europe we can help with logistics, carnets and kit transport.

Who have Gripvan worked with?

We've had the pleasure of working with and alongside some incredible people, brands and organisations. Just a few of those are:

 

How long have you been going?

Gripvan was founded as an LLP back in 2011 by our Technical Director Andrew Howe and colleagues working in production and location management. With a career stretching back 20+ years, Andrew noticed a gap in the market to provide a full service grip package for stills and small video productions, based on a condensed version of feature film grip trucks.  We became a limited company in 2012 and moved to our current premises in Battersea in 2014.

Can I work for Gripvan?

We're always looking for great freelance crew to work with, so if you know what you're doing on set, are 25 or over, with a clean licence and experience driving LWB vans, get in touch. Occasionally we have full or part time positions available. These will be advertised on our website as well as on the AOP job board and other job-hunt websites.

Gripvan are Hiring - General Manager

Job Opportunity - Gripvan Ltd: General Manager

 

The Company and the Role

Gripvan is unique within the photographic rental companies in the UK and Europe as it offers fully equipped tailor made vans for photographic shoots. Gripvan was set up in 2012 to fill this gap in the market and has been growing ever since. We are now looking for a General Manager to help move this exciting company forward. 

 

Key Responsibilities: 

 

  • The day-to-day running of company operations and staff. 
  • Organising the diary and quoting jobs.
  • To carry out administrative tasks and oversee the invoicing of jobs.
  • Liaising with the bookkeeper and overseeing the PL figures.
  • Responsible for maintaining existing client relationships and establishing new ones.
  • Oversee marketing, social media and advertising.

 

Key Attributes:

 

You will be given a thorough induction and training for the role, but we require:

  • A good knowledge of lighting and camera equipment currently used in the stills & TV industry.
  • Have previous experience working within the photographic or TV rental industry.
  • The ability to work both in a team and under own initiative.
  • An understanding of OSX and Microsoft office.
  • Strong organisational skills and the ability to prioritise a workload.
  • Strong written and verbal skills with a friendly and confident telephone manner.
  • Good attention to detail.
  • To have the drive and initiative to take on and move this exciting company forward.
  • To hold a full UK drivers license. 

 

Job Details:

  • Competitive salary dependant on experience including company performance related bonus.
  • Based on a 40-hour week at the Gripvan office in Battersea, SW8.
  • 21 paid days holiday plus public holidays. 

 

To apply please email your CV and a covering letter to info@gripvan.com addressed ‘General Manager Application’. To arrive no later than 30th June 2016.  Any questions, please email or call the office on 020 3002 9130.

 

New Kit: Dana Dolly

As photographers get asked more frequently to shoot video alongside their stills work, we at Gripvan get asked more and more for video equipment alongside the usual photographic equipment, lighting and grip.

The latest bit of video kit to be added to our rental stock is the incredibly versatile Dana Dolly. We stock the universal version of this dolly which means it's able to take any cylindrical tube between 1 1/4" and 1 1/2" in diameter. As a standard rental we offer the dolly with 1 1/2" aluminium alloy tube in 8' lengths and two lowboy combo stands.

The DanaDolly is perfect for travel since you're able to take just the dolly and mounting kit in their dedicated hard travel case and source rails locally. One DOP we spoke to mentioned using cheap PVC pipe for a plumbers' merchant to save on weight when carrying the kit across rough terrain. 

Neatly packaged in its own dedicated case, the Dana Dolly is perfect for travelling film makers.

Neatly packaged in its own dedicated case, the Dana Dolly is perfect for travelling film makers.

Adding to the versatile nature of this rail dolly, we supply it as standard with three bowls, 75mm, 100mm and 150mm. It can also be mounted to either baby spigots or stands with a junior receptor thanks to the universal mounting system.

If taken with one of our Standard Grip Packages, you'll already have everything you need to get the dolly set up. All that's needed is the camera rig and head of your choice.