The person you call at 7:30pm when the shoot is at 8am.
On-set beverage help for production shoots in NYC. Sourcing, runs, and set backup for the beverage stylist or food stylist. Fast, quiet, professional. I know where to get the right bottle, the right glass, and the right ice in a city that closes half its supply chain by 10pm.
I am not the stylist. I am the person who makes the stylist look good. Barback energy, twenty years of NYC hospitality relationships behind it, and an e-bike so nothing on set is waiting on a delivery window.
The fast layer around the stylist.
Production shoots move on their own timeline. When a beverage brand is on camera, the stylist is locked into the shot and needs someone else to be the fast hands. That is the job.
Sourcing the right spirits, mixers, glassware, ice, and garnish before the shoot. Running for whatever the stylist realizes they need at 11am on a Wednesday. Setting up and breaking down the beverage side of a scene. Making sure every pour looks right in every take. Loading in, loading out, and being invisible when the camera rolls.
None of this is styling. Styling is a craft. This is the layer around it that most shoots either scramble to cover or ask a PA to fake. Neither works.
The list of things I actually do on set.
- Sourcing. Spirits, back-bar mixers, glassware, ice, garnish. I know the vendors and the wholesalers, I know which liquor stores open early, and I know who has real crushed ice at 6am.
- Pre-shoot prep. Setting up the beverage station the way the stylist wants it. Chilling glass, prepping garnish, staging the pour order.
- Stylist backup. Second set of hands for the beverage or food stylist. Never claiming the role, always covering the flank.
- Runs. E-bike based. Fast in Manhattan, faster than a car on most calls. Anything the shoot needs from anywhere in the city, back in minutes.
- On-set awareness. Twenty years of bar experience means I know what a good pour looks like on camera, what garnish holds, and what will collapse under lights.
- Load-in, load-out, quiet floor. Show up early, leave the room the way we found it, do not add noise.
Producers, stylists, and brands with a shoot day.
- Line producers and agency producers running a beverage-forward shoot in NYC.
- Food stylists and prop stylists who need a beverage-side runner or a set of hands that already knows the ingredients.
- Beverage stylists who want a backup they can hand the runs to and know the shoot will not slow down.
- Brand-side beverage marketers (Diageo, Pernod, Campari, Brown-Forman, Beam, Bacardi and the rest) who want to embed someone from their side inside the production.
- Prop houses who need a fast NYC hand on a beverage brief.
Simple day rate, no surprises on the invoice.
| Booking window | Day rate |
|---|---|
| Booked one or more weeks out | $1,500 |
| Booked inside 72 hours | $2,000 |
| Booked inside 24 hours (rush) | $2,500 |
| Prep day (no shoot) | $1,000 |
| Half day (under 5 hours) | $1,000 |
| Overtime after 10 hours | $150 / hour |
| Travel over 45 minutes from NYC | $500 / day added |
Sourcing costs (spirits, ice, glassware, garnish) are billed at cost with receipts. Sales tax and any freight are pass-through. Payment terms are net 15 or on wrap, whichever is sooner.
Bacardi × Paramount, two-day shoot, VMA week.
Two day production for Bacardi and Paramount around the VMAs. Booked at 7:30pm the night before, on set at 8am. Full backup for the beverage stylist, sourcing runs by e-bike, setup and breakdown, kept the shoot on schedule for both days.
Reference contacts available on request from producers or stylists who were in the room.
Three steps, no deck.
- Call or text. 917-553-5409. Tell me the date, the call time, the location, and what the shoot actually needs. Two minutes.
- Confirm. I book the day at the rate on the card. If sourcing is in scope, I get you a rough cost estimate before the run.
- Show up. Early, prepped, and quiet. Full debrief and receipts after wrap.
Phone is fastest.
The nature of this work is that the calls come in short notice. Phone or text always beats email for a same-week booking.
Not urgent? Email a brief.
FAQ.
Are you a beverage stylist?
No. Styling is a craft and the person doing it should own that role. This service is the layer around the stylist. Sourcing, running, setup, breakdown, and the fast hands that keep production moving when the stylist is locked into the shot.
How fast can you get on set?
Same day is possible in NYC with a phone call. Next morning is standard. The last shoot was booked at 7:30 the night before and I was on set at 8am.
What does the day rate cover?
A standard 10-hour production day of on-set beverage support. Prep, setup, runs, on-set hands, breakdown. Overtime after 10 hours is $150 per hour. Sourcing costs are billed at cost with receipts.
Do you invoice through a payroll company?
Yes when the production requires it. Standard is direct invoicing through Critical Mass Events, LLC on net 15 or on wrap. Payroll company routing is available if the production runs everything through one.
Do you travel outside NYC?
Yes. NYC and tri-state at day rate. Anything past 45 minutes out adds a travel day rate. National shoots are possible with reasonable notice, billed with travel and per diem.
Can you also work as a bartender for a wrap party or brand activation?
That is a different service, run through JL Cocktail Co. See Production for cocktail event work. On-set support is set work only.
Do you sign NDAs?
Yes. Send the language with the brief or on set.
What if the shoot has a beverage stylist already?
Even better. That is the ideal setup. The stylist stays on the shot, I run the flank. This is the exact use case that has worked best on recent shoots.
20+ years in NYC hospitality.
Ten years behind the bar in NYC including Death & Co, One World Observatory, Scarr's, Atelier Joël Robuchon, and Stretch Pizza. Ten years as a consultant, event producer, and operator. Past USBG NYC president. Author of Bartender as a Business. Based on the Lower East Side. This service runs under Critical Mass Events, LLC d.b.a. Jason Littrell, Ltd.