What is production logistics?
Entertainment logistics in Los Angeles, often called production logistics on set, is mostly short, time-sensitive runs. A revised script has to reach a stage before the table read. A drive of the day’s footage has to get to the post house. A rack of wardrobe has to make the call time, and a truckload of set pieces has to move from storage to a stage and back again at wrap. None of it is complicated on its own. The pressure comes from the schedule.
Alvy Logistics runs this work from Valencia, in the Santa Clarita Valley, which has its own sound stages and designated movie ranches. Burbank and Glendale are a straight run down the I-5, with Hollywood and the rest of the 30-mile studio zone just beyond. One coordinator can book a studio courier run by car and a set move by box truck, because one rate card prices a car, a cargo van or a 20 to 26 ft box truck.
Production courier runs: scripts, drives, equipment and wardrobe
A production courier in Los Angeles is usually a car or a cargo van:
- By car for scripts, contracts, payroll paperwork, keys and media drives between production offices, stages, locations and post houses. From $45 for the first 20 miles.
- By cargo van for wardrobe racks, camera and lighting cases, expendables and returns to rental houses. From $80 for the first 20 miles.
Each handoff is signed for, which matters when the item is a drive holding a day of footage, and drivers sign your delivery receipts or custody forms when your process requires it. For one-off runs, book a same-day courier. For a production that sends the same runs every day, we set them up as a scheduled route, quoted per stop or per route, or hold a dedicated driver and vehicle for the day. Runs are booked and followed in Alvy’s online shipper portal.
These runs are covered by drivers based in the San Fernando Valley, including the Burbank studio lots, and in Santa Monica and the Westside.
Set and prop delivery by box truck
Set and prop delivery needs a box truck, a liftgate and usually two people. Flats, furniture, set dressing and large props move between shops, storage, stages and locations in a 20 to 26 ft truck from $200 for the first 20 miles; a liftgate and a second person are added when the load needs them and listed on your quote. See box truck delivery for what fits in a truck and how the crew works. Tell us about stage doors, freight elevators, location parking and load-in windows when you book, so the crew and the truck fit the access. The crew delivers to the stage door or the spot you name; building and dressing the set stays with your art department.
Storage between shoots
Productions build things they will need again: a standing set for the next block, props for a returning series, dressing for reshoots. Instead of paying for stage space to hold them, they can sit in our Valencia warehouse. Storage starts at $25 per pallet per month, or dedicated floor space from $2.50 per sq ft a month for flats and large pieces, on terms that are not annual-only. How holds are booked and released is covered under short-term warehouse storage.
Merch and promo kits
Entertainment marketing creates its own logistics: tour and show merch, cast and crew gifts, press kits and promo mailers. These are stored, assembled and shipped from the same building. See marketing fulfillment services for how kit projects run, and kitting and assembly for larger builds. When the same displays, cases and merch are headed to a convention or live event venue, move-in timing, show paperwork and storage between shows are covered under trade show logistics.
Night, weekend and early call runs
Productions do not keep office hours, so we plan for that. Night work (8pm to 8am) and Saturday or Sunday runs carry an added charge, listed on your quote before the run. What we will not promise is someone answering the phone at 3am. Our phones are answered Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm Pacific, so night, weekend and early call work is booked ahead, and the driver has the details before the run.
Who production logistics is for
- Production offices and transportation coordinators who need runs covered without pulling a production assistant off set.
- Studios and stage operators moving equipment and dressing between stages, lots and storage.
- Post houses receiving drives and returning them to production.
- Set shops and prop houses delivering builds and rentals, then collecting them at wrap.
- Entertainment marketing teams shipping merch, press kits and promo mailers.
In every case the production company or business books the run and is invoiced for it.
What to send before a production run
For a written quote, tell us where the run starts and ends, what is going (sizes, weights, how many racks or cases), the call time or window, and any stage, lot or location access rules. For storage, send a rough pallet count or floor area and how long you need it. Book during business hours, ideally a day ahead for early calls and weekend moves.
