key grip

American  

noun

Movies.

1. the chief stagehand on a movie set.

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key grip British  

noun

1. the person in charge of moving and setting up camera tracks and scenery in a film or television studio See also grip 1

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Etymology

Origin of key grip

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

This means he ensures the director feels comfortable with the gaffer, the dolly grip, the key grip, so that there’s no one on set that feels like a stranger.

From Los Angeles Times

Price was the key grip, who handled the nonelectric support gear.

From Los Angeles Times

Bodie Hyman, a key grip, and his wife, a yoga instructor, have spent about $40,000 of their savings, mostly to pay for food and the mortgage on their Woodland Hills home, where they are raising their two children.

From Los Angeles Times

Collaborating with Adam Stockhausen, Anderson’s production designer, and Robert Yeoman, the cinematographer, Sami — whose official title is key grip, the head of his department — has an unusual amount of input.

From New York Times

Anderson said it was achieved with a complicated setup using “a crazy set of dolly tracks, sideways dolly tracks with a with a section of track that glides on the top of the three tracks,” a rig conceived by Anderson’s key grip, Sanjay Sami.

From New York Times