Aziz Bizzi

The key grip is responsible for the carpentry and for readying and moving sets and camera dollies. Usually, a grip is a person responsible for the adjustment and maintenance of production equipment on the set.

A key grip is the chief of a group of grips, and works closely with the gaffer (the head of the electrical department, responsible for the design and execution of the lighting plan for a production).

A key grip is actually the chief supervisor of a union crew responsible for moving lights, dolly tracks, cranes and scenery. While grips are primarily hired for their physical strength and construction skills, a key grip also has some administrative responsibilities.
A key grip works very closely with the head electrician, known in the movie business as a gaffer. As part of a pre-production movie crew, the key grip, gaffer, director of photography and a location producer will discuss the logistics of a specific filming site. All of these people must understand the needs of the script and have an understanding of how difficult a particular location shot might be.

The key grip must determine if lights can be rigged up safely on a mountainous set, for example. Cameras often work on a system of tracks called dollies. It is the work of grips, working under the supervision of a key grip, to install these tracks and remove them after the shots. Even if the film is shot on a set inside a studio, grips must move walls and lights to accommodate cameras and dollies.