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NewsCrew safety when withdrawing money on a production |
We recently talked to a Filmbase member, a Petty Cash Buyer, who was approached by a group of men on the street after withdrawing a large amount of cash for a market trip. Her laptop was stolen, but thankfully she was unhurt and the float money was not taken. However, the experience was very upsetting and she's keen to share the details to help guard against it happening to others. What happened? When returning to her car after withdrawing cash at a bank, a group of men distracted the crew member by dropping coins by her front tyre and then puncturing it. Others then offered to help change the tyre, while two further men took her laptop from the car boot. She had the cash for the market trip in a bag strapped to her body and this was not taken. This incident took place in Slough, near Pinewood Studios, and the Petty Cash Buyer, who wishes to remain anonymous, had collected the money in a private room inside the bank, not at an ATM. Despite this, CCTV footage suggests she may have been observed within the bank by some of the men involved, who then followed her back to her car. After the incident, her Set Decoration department has instigated a policy where Petty Cash Buyers are driven to any cash withdrawals by a unit driver - and are accompanied inside the bank, as well as on the street. What is normal production policy? There have been safety concerns amongst crew when withdrawing cash for productions for a while. Currently, the following policies are the most common on productions: 
Float advance to Buyer's account Productions act as 'Cashless productions' and the Production Buyers will raise a float request in order to get cash. The float (often up to £5,000 - 10,000) is then paid into the Buyer's personal or business account and withdrawn as cash from a bank or ATM. This is convenient for the production, but potentially problematic for the crew members who will need to keep records of where the cash came from (for example a copy of the float request and acknowledgment) for tax reasons to make sure that the cash is not viewed as income by HMRC at a later date. It also puts the onus on the crew member to withdraw the cash. Some Buyers will provide floats for other department members from this allocation which puts an additional level of responsibility on them. There is also concern that some banks may flag large amounts of money passing through a personal or business bank account as money laundering and attempt to shut down the crew member's account. 
Cash advance from the Accounts Department On some productions, Buyers are able to request a cash float directly from the Accounts department. This practice used to be commonplace. The disadvantage of this option for the Buying department is that requests for large floats must be put through several days to a week in advance to give the Accounts department time to acquire the cash. 
Production Cards Productions often make use of 'Production' or 'P' cards. Purchases can be made on these cards, and cash can be withdrawn. There is often a charge for cash withdrawals on P cards, which mean productions do not favour this method for obtaining floats. The P cards do avoid the use of personal accounts, which is preferable for crew, but still means that the crew member must withdraw the cash from a bank or ATM. As mentioned above, some productions are providing a unit driver to accompany crew members when they are withdrawing cash. What is the best practice? Many of the Set Dec HoDs that we spoke to had a preference for the Account Department providing cash for Buyers, from a safe in the Production department. This is unfortunately not common practice these days, so the second preference was to use a Production card (P card) for withdrawing cash, and request to be accompanied by a unit driver. All the HODs we spoke to stressed that crew should never be using their own cash up front. Police advice on staying safe PSI Amber Jackman of Thames Valley Police said: “Nationwide there have been reports similar to this incident. I would urge employees to be vigilant. If you feel you are being followed you should call on 999 immediately. Do not engage in conversation with anyone who is not known to you, if you do not have a reason to speak to them.
She added: “When incidents like this occur I recommend companies and the [film and TV] industry to review their policies and procedures to assess the risk to their employees.” Request for response from Production Companies Filmbase has received another report of a Buyer being targeted in a similar incident, although it is clear that these incidents are not common. Nevertheless, Buyers should be encouraged to make productions aware of the dangers when withdrawing cash and discuss options to reduce these risks and keep crew safe. We have sent a copy of this story to the big studios and production companies. We’ll publish their response as soon as we have it.
Other articles by Filmbase State of the Industry, summer 2025 "Does copyright mean I can't show my film and TV work in my portfolio?" The Side Hustle - selling on Etsy Looking after your crew's wellbeing and mental health Which Programs to Learn for the Art Department How do you find out what productions are starting up? Negotiating and Holding Your Rate About the Departments - which suits you best? | Upcoming webinars
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