PRODUCTIONS WITH A SMILE
Your Berlin production crew — from the airport, in English, in 48h.
Kreuzberg-resident department heads — DP, gaffer, key grip, HMU, stylist, DIT, production coordinator, drivers — assembled inside 48h from a bench we keep warm year-round. English-first, Ordnungsamt-literate, MwSt-clean. Hessnatur, Armed Angels, Club of Gents, Liebeskind — all crewed from the same courtyard office. Crew list back in 24h, business-time CET.
Berlin crew booking in English is the problem most London agencies don’t see until call-time. Half the local roster replies in German, quotes in days not hours, and has never read a luxury NDA. The Ordnungsamt closes its walk-in window at 15:00. A Tempelhof hangar needs a separate application from TempelhofProjekt. The van you rented in Schönefeld won’t fit on Oranienstraße. We run an English-speaking Kreuzberg bench of department heads who already brief in English, invoice in euro, and know which office signs what — German-side detail handled so your London desk never has to. For the full picture on what we file and how, see our Berlin production fixer desk.
What we handle
DP & camera team
Berlin-resident DPs shooting fashion and commercial on Arri Alexa, Sony Venice, Phase One — editorial register or campaign register, your call. 1st and 2nd AC from the same bench, pre-briefed on the kit we supply.
Gaffer & lighting
Berlin gaffers with their own lighting pack — Arri SkyPanel, Aputure LS 600X, Profoto Pro-11, Broncolor Siros. Know which Altbau stairwell needs a genny by 08:00. Best boy included.
Key grip & rigging
Fluent in Ronin, EasyRig, dolly, jib, car-mount and Sprinter-rooftop rigging. Berlin street-closure rigs and BVG tram-stop safety handled.
HMU (hair & makeup)
A bench of HMU artists briefed on luxury fashion, editorial and commercial registers. English, German, French on set. NDA-default before the first look.
Stylist & stylist assistant
Editorial-grade stylists for Berlin-side fittings, steam tent, returns triage and rack-building. Luxury house etiquette — unpacking, garment-bag protocol, NDA-default.
DIT (photo & film)
On-set DIT with Pomfort Silverstack, Capture One live-tether, calibrated monitor cart, Teradek Bolt, LTO offload and client-gallery turnaround inside the shoot day.
Production coordinator
Berlin-resident coordinator running call sheets, per-diems, travel, catering, Drehgenehmigung touchpoint and talent wrangling. The person your London producer dials at 07:30 CET.
Drivers, PAs & runners
Sprinter and 3.5t drivers who know which Altbau courtyards clear a 3.5t. Runner-PA stack. Crew catering covering vegan and halal requirements.
Recent work
How we work
Brief
One call or a one-pager. We check the bench against holds the same afternoon and come back with a crew list and permit flag-list inside 24h. You talk to the producer running the shoot, not a relay desk.
Book
Department heads named, holds confirmed, NDA signed, per-diem schedule and call-sheet draft inside 48h from brief-in. No directory-scraped names — crew we have actually worked with.
Produce
Coordinator on the ground at T-1, vans staged in the Hinterhof, kit checked, talent picked up at BER. Producer stays on WhatsApp from call-time to wrap.
Wrap
Kit back, DIT drives couriered, wrap report and final invoice with MwSt broken out inside 5 working days. Reverse-charge available for EU B2B. Media archived, NDA honoured.
Berlin — our base
Kreuzberg courtyard base, 35 minutes door-to-BER. The crew sleeps in Berlin, not at airport hotels, and the Sprinter is already parked in the Hinterhof by first call. Crew sleeps local, kit is staged the night before, and the coordinator is on the ground a day ahead of the shoot.
| BEST LIGHT WINDOW | Apr–Jun & Sep–Oct · 06:00–10:00, 16:00–19:30 |
| NEAREST AIRPORT | Berlin Brandenburg (BER) · 35 min door-to-Kreuzberg |
| PERMIT LEAD TIME | 5–10 business days (Ordnungsamt) · 15+ for Tempelhof, 10–15 for Teufelsberg |
| CREW BENCH | English-speaking producers and department heads, Berlin-resident |
Lovely CPS is a berlin production crew service running fashion, editorial and commercial shoots out of a Kreuzberg base for agencies booking from London, New York and Paris. The bench is English-speaking by default — DPs, gaffers, stylists, DITs, fixers — so nothing gets lost between the mood board and the Drehgenehmigung. We price in euro, invoice in euro or GBP/USD on request, and break German VAT (MwSt) out cleanly for your finance team. A crew list lands in your inbox inside 24 hours; full department heads confirmed inside 48.
The crew covers every department a fashion shoot needs: DP, 1st and 2nd AC, gaffer, key grip, HMU, stylist and assist, DIT, production coordinator, drivers, PA stack. Berlin districts we crew across: Kreuzberg (Oranienstraße, Bergmannkiez), Mitte (Altbau stairwells, rooftops), Friedrichshain (Oberbaumbrücke, RAW), Prenzlauer Berg (Mauerpark, Kollwitzkiez), Tempelhof (airfield and hangars via TempelhofProjekt), Teufelsberg (domes, Grunewald via Berliner Forsten), Spreeufer (Oberbaumbrücke to Treptow). Kit partners cover Arri Alexa, Sony Venice, Phase One XF IQ4, Profoto Pro-11 and a full Broncolor pack. A named berlin fashion crew roster published before the quote is signed.
Booking from London, New York or Paris, you get one producer who runs the shoot end to end — brief, holds, call sheet, wrap report. We crew around an existing Berlin location scout or DP you are flying in, splitting the call sheet so your home crew only sees their workflow. For the wider service or the cross-market option, see Berlin production services and, when a brief runs Berlin plus Ibiza, our Ibiza production crew.
Questions we get a lot
Can you assemble a full Berlin crew in 48 hours?
For standard fashion packs inside the Apr–Oct window — yes, typically. The bench is already ours — people we have worked with, not a directory pull. Brief-in Monday, holds confirmed by end-of-day Tuesday, call sheet Wednesday. September Fashion Week weeks are tighter — flag the dates first so we can shuffle holds before other agencies do.
Is the crew actually English-speaking, or English on CV?
Actually English-speaking, every department head on the bench. We brief, quote, call-sheet and wrap in English by default. German is used only where the law requires it — Polizei pre-notifications, Ordnungsamt filings, Berliner Forsten sign-offs — and we handle that side. Your crew quote lands in English; the Drehgenehmigung summary in English; the wrap pack in English with MwSt broken out.
Do your crew know luxury-fashion etiquette?
Yes. The HMU, stylist and DIT bench has worked editorial-register and campaign-register in the same quarter. That means unpacked-garment protocol, NDA-default before any on-set photo, no Instagram stories from crew accounts, no talent-photography on personal phones, and a DIT who treats rushes as embargoed by default.
How does Ordnungsamt compliance work in Berlin?
Every Berlin district (Bezirk) runs its own Ordnungsamt for shoot permits — Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Mitte, Pankow, Neukölln, Treptow-Köpenick. Filing is German-language, 5–10 business days, with Polizei pre-notification for anything after 22:00 or with talent-vehicle staging. TempelhofProjekt (airfield and hangars) and Berliner Forsten (Teufelsberg and Grunewald) are separate applications, 15 or more days. We file, chase and carry the paper to set. You get an English summary before the call sheet signs off. For the full permit picture, see our Berlin film permits page.
Can you handle permits for Tempelhof, Teufelsberg and Spree locations?
Yes — these three are where the friction lives. Tempelhof is a separate application to TempelhofProjekt (15 or more business days; hangar use is a different tier than airfield). Teufelsberg requires Berliner Forsten plus operator sign-off, typically 10–15 days with an access window negotiated per shoot. Spree waterline depends on Bezirk — Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg for Oberbaumbrücke, Mitte for Museumsinsel.
Can you crew around an existing DP or stylist we’re flying in?
Yes — a common shape for our Berlin work. You fly the DP, stylist, casting; we crew 1st and 2nd AC, gaffer, key grip, HMU, DIT, coordinator, drivers, PA stack, catering. We brief your DP’s 1st AC on the kit we supply 72h in advance and split the call sheet so your London crew sees only their workflow. German-side operational detail (vans, permits, Bezirksamt) stays on our thread.
How do invoicing and MwSt work?
Default is EUR with 19% MwSt broken out. EU B2B clients with a valid VAT ID get reverse-charge. USD and GBP invoicing available on request. US clients with no EU VAT ID get an invoice net of MwSt with a German tax-residency letter. Payment terms and any rush-window arrangements are agreed with the brief.
What about Berlin plus Ibiza on one contract?
A common pattern. One contract covers Berlin plus Ibiza, same producer, same NDA, one wrap report. Typical shape is a Kreuzberg street story combined with an Ibiza finca or Cala d’Hort resort beat — we crew both cities separately but manage contracts on one thread. The Ibiza leg runs out of our Ibiza base; Berlin runs out of Kreuzberg.
Send us the brief
Tell us the brief. We’ll come back with a crew list and the names of the department heads on hold — inside 24 hours, business time CET.
NDA on request before any crew list goes out. Responses in English or German.
