Best boy
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In a film crew there are two kinds of best boy; Best Boy Electric and Best Boy Grip. In the simplest forms, they are assistants to their department heads, the Gaffer and the Key Grip, respectively.
On films with very small crews, the Electric (lighting) department often consists of only a Gaffer and Best Boy. The Grip department, only a Key Grip and Best Boy. On very large crews these numbers can hit up to 12 or 24 people per department (depending on the situation).
As would be expected, the responsibilities of a Best Boy change depending on the size of the crew. On small shows, they simply place and operate the Grip and Lighting equipment and ensure its continuous and safe operation. On a large show, the Best Boy position at times can resemble more of a management position; often they hire the crew and do things like ensure that sets that are being pre-rigged for the Gaffer or Key Grip are ready. It also can entail many other responsibilities such as preparing weekly invoices that are handed over to production for their departments, ensuring that due over-time is paid and handling negotiations with the production team.
Female Best Boys are, as a rule, still credited as a "Best Boy", but often are called "Best Girl" on-set.
Best Boy is also the title of a 1979 film which won the Academy Award for Documentary Feature. Despite its title, it is not about film production.