We are already here
No car train, no overnight stay, no journey home. One call and we are on our way, in the evening and at weekends too when the story demands it.
TV crew and news footage from Sylt
When something happens on Sylt,
we are there in minutes.
Not in four hours. Our TV crew lives and works on Sylt, keeps the kit in the car and knows every road. For newsrooms that means no crew sent across the Elbe, no hotel to book and no broadcast slot lost to travel time.
Available outside office hours too · Same day footage delivery possible
4 hrs
is how long a crew from Hamburg needs to reach Westerland, car train included
We are already here
20,747
views on our report on the shooting on Strandstraße alone
TV Sender Sylt1 on YouTube · June 2026
from €750 net
for a short ENG job with camera, sound and handover of the footage
Guide price, plus VAT
Why a camera crew based on Sylt
Hamburg to Westerland takes around four hours, including the car train across the Hindenburgdamm causeway, which runs to a fixed timetable. If you only set off when the news breaks, you film in the evening what happened at lunchtime.
We know the island
Where to park, whom to ask, where the sun is at six and who will talk on camera. Local knowledge saves more time than any piece of kit.
We deliver the way you need it
All shots cut together in one video, graded to Rec. 709, audio levelled, if your newsroom edits in house. Or the finished package from us.
Projects
Both events were picked up nationwide by BILD, FOCUS online and ZDF. The first Sylt news footage came from us.
3:59
Breaking news · 3 June 2026
Shooting on Strandstraße, Sylt
Live from the scene
Collapse on Sylt: what happened?
4:53
Background · two days later
Crumbling buildings? Behind the collapse
Why this matters for your newsroom
Both stories then ran nationwide: the shooting on BILD with more than 67,000 views and on FOCUS online with almost 19,000, the roof collapse on ZDF. In exactly this window, between the first report and the broadcast, newsrooms lack pictures from the island. That is the gap we close.
Services for broadcasters
A camera crew on Sylt, from the first soundbite to the package ready for air.
- ENG crew for breaking news. ENG means electronic news gathering, in German "EB-Team": camera and sound, soundbites on location, cutaways, pieces to camera with your reporter or our presenter.
- Reports and magazine features. Research on the island, contributors, shooting schedule, from the idea to sign off if you wish.
- Documentaries. Longer formats filmed over weeks and months are part of our work, see three examples.
- Aerial footage. Drone including remote pilot certificate, flight permit and access permits, even in the sensitive areas of the island.
- Archive and mood footage. Beach, mudflats, dunes, village scenes and weather in every season, available without anyone having to travel.
- Stills. Photos from the same shoot, for online teasers and TV listings magazines.
Two options, depending on your newsroom
Some broadcasters only want the pictures and do the rest themselves. Others want the finished package. Both work, and you decide per job, not per contract.
- Footage only, but prepared. No mountain of rushes to sift through: you receive the shots already cut together in one video, colour corrected to Rec. 709, audio levelled. Plus shot list, timecode and soundbite transcript. Your editor can start straight away.
- Edited in house. We edit, mix, write the voiceover and deliver ready for air to your technical specifications.
Documentaries
Three completed long formats between seven and twenty one minutes, researched, shot and edited in house. For broadcasters this means we can follow a story over months without anyone constantly having to come to the island.
What we take care of
- Research on the island. Finding contributors, arranging access, checking locations, all hard to do from Hamburg.
- Filming over time. Seasons, construction phases, developments. We are here anyway, so an extra shoot costs no travel.
- Editing, sound and graphics. Through to sign off if you wish, otherwise we hand over the footage prepared.
- An archive built over years. Footage from earlier shoots stays with us, for flashbacks and before and after comparisons without a new shoot.
Also as a coproduction
If your newsroom wants to keep authorship, we provide camera, sound and the part of the research that needs local knowledge. If you want a finished format, we deliver it complete.
We can also air stories on the island via the TV Sender Sylt1 slot. That increases reach without you having to give up any rights.
Equipment
No setup that takes half an hour. The kit is chosen so that an editor can watch along while we film and so that the soundbite is right first time.
DJI Ronin 4D
Camera and stabilisation in one. No separate gimbal, no rigging changes between shoulder and tripod, which saves the very minutes that are otherwise missing on location.
- Wireless video: your editor watches live, no cables
- Ready instantly, even on the move
- Internal recording in broadcast quality
Lumix S1 II with 70-200 mm
On the gimbal as a second perspective, for interview reverse shots and for details from a distance when you cannot get any closer.
- Two angles from one shoot, without a second crew
- Telephoto range for cordons and emergency scenes
- Same colour look as the main camera
Wireless lavalier microphones
Clipped on in seconds instead of setting up a boom. Clean soundbites even in the wind, separate tracks for each speaker, so nothing needs fixing in the edit.
- Quick changes between interviewees
- Separate tracks, ready to edit
- Wind protection for the beach, the norm on Sylt
Drone with permits
Remote pilot certificate, flight permit and access permits are in place. Where flying is not allowed, we tell you beforehand and solve the shot another way.
- Nature reserves and village areas cleared in advance
- No waiting for permits
- Footage in the same quality as on the ground
We follow your broadcaster's delivery specs
Codec, resolution, frame rate, colour space, loudness to EBU R 128, file naming, audio track layout: tell us beforehand what applies at your end and we deliver exactly that. If we do not know your specifications, we deliver to common standards: Rec. 709, levelled audio, one continuous video. When in doubt, ask once too often. Redelivering in another format is possible, but it takes time that nobody has with breaking news.
Your advantage
The difference rarely lies in the day rate. It lies in everything around the shoot when a crew from outside has to get to the island.
Crew from the mainland
- ✕Around four hours to get there, plus the journey back
- ✕Car train on a fixed timetable, waiting times impossible to plan
- ✕Overnight stay, expensive and scarce on Sylt in high season
- ✕A whole working day for a 90 second package
- ✕No local knowledge: searching, asking, detours
- ✕Too late on location when news breaks
Crew on the island
- On location in minutes instead of hours
- No travel costs, no overnight stay, no expenses
- Your own crew stays free for other stories
- Contacts, locations and routes are known
- Footage in your edit suite the same day
- Pickups possible without anyone travelling again
And if the story develops?
Then we are still here. A pickup shoot the next day, an extra soundbite, a shot in better light: for us that is a short drive, for a crew from the mainland a new shooting day with everything that comes with it.
How it works
Call, shoot, delivery.
-
Call or email
Topic, required length, deadline and technical specs. We tell you straight away whether and when we can do it, no callback the next day.
immediately -
On our way
With breaking news we set off while we are still on the phone. For planned stories we agree contributors, locations and permits in advance.
within one hour for breaking news -
Shoot with live feedback
If you wish, your editor watches live via wireless video and tells us what else is needed, as if they were there. That saves the follow up request in the evening.
1 to 4 hours, depending on the story -
Review and delivery
All shots cut together in one video, graded to Rec. 709 and with audio levelled, plus shot list and soundbite transcript, via cloud or FTP. Or we edit and deliver ready for air to your specifications.
footage the same day, package as agreed
FAQ
What newsrooms want to know.
How quickly can your TV crew be on location on Sylt?
On the island, usually within a few minutes and at most just under half an hour, depending on where we are and where we need to go. What matters is that we do not have to travel in first. During the shooting in Westerland and the collapse of the canopy, we were filming while the situation was still unfolding.
Do you deliver footage only, or finished packages as well?
Both, and you decide per job. If your newsroom edits in house, you receive the raw footage with a shot list, timecode and soundbite transcript. If you need the finished package, we handle editing, sound, graphics and sign off to your technical specifications.
In what format do we receive the footage?
You do not get a folder with a hundred clips, but one video: all usable shots cut together, colour already corrected to Rec. 709, audio levelled. That saves your editor half the preparation time. We agree codec, resolution, frame rate and loudness in advance. Delivery by cloud link, FTP or drive, or we ingest directly into your system. We also supply the individual clips if you need them.
Can you work with our reporter?
Yes. If your reporter travels to Sylt, we are camera and sound and know our way around. If nobody can come, we conduct the interviews and record pieces to camera ourselves; the freelance presenter Alex Lenz works with us.
What about drone filming on Sylt?
We hold a remote pilot certificate, a flight permit and the necessary access permits, including for the sensitive areas of the island. Where flying is not allowed, we tell you beforehand instead of leaving you without the shots you need.
Do you also produce longer formats?
Yes. Documentaries filmed over weeks and months are part of our work, for example a long documentary about the island's water cycle for the Entsorgungsverband Sylt and a branded documentary for the Lanserhof Sylt. For broadcasters this means we can follow a story over time without anyone having to keep travelling to the island.
How much does a TV crew on Sylt cost?
A short ENG job with camera, sound and handover of the footage starts at €750 net. A full shooting day with two cameras, drone and editing costs more. We give you the figure in the first phone call and confirm it in writing afterwards, even for breaking news, so your planning desk can budget.
Do you also work outside Sylt?
Yes. Beyond the island, our ENG crew also works in North Frisia on the German North Sea coast, as well as in Flensburg, Kiel and Hamburg. The advantage of being local naturally applies only partly there, so we will tell you honestly if a crew closer to you would be faster.
Enquiry
For breaking news, better give us a call: we will be on our way before the email is read. For planned stories, the form is all you need.
- Reply within one hour for breaking news
- Price in the first phone call, confirmed in writing
- Your broadcaster's technical specs are met
Phone, also at short notice+49 162 7670872
Emailmoin@sylter-filmmanufaktur.de
WhatsAppFor quick coordination on the go
LocationWeesterstich 2 · 25980 Sylt, Archsum