The union figures below are published minimums with their effective dates. Plenty of experienced crew work above scale, and none of this is legal or tax advice. Check the current rate card for your agreement and your state's wage rules before you send offers.
Why crew rates are quoted by the hour
Union crew minimums are hourly rates with overtime rules on top, and a "day rate" is what that works out to for a given length of day. Non-union crew often quote a day rate, but payroll still has to back an hourly rate out of it to pay overtime. So for any rate, the useful questions are how many hours it covers and what happens after that.
Budgets usually assume a 12-hour shooting day. The tables below convert hourly minimums to that length so you can compare positions.
Los Angeles minimums by position
These are Hollywood-area minimums for theatrical features and top-tier television, drawn from union rate cards and the Storiara role pages that cite them.
| Position | Union and schedule | Minimum | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Director of photography | IATSE Local 600, Panel 1, daily | $1,204.32 per 8-hour day | Aug 2, 2026 |
| Camera operator | IATSE Local 600, Panel 1, daily | $744.48 per 8-hour day | Aug 2, 2026 |
| 1st assistant camera | IATSE Local 600, Schedule A-1, daily | $67.99 per hour | Aug 2, 2026 |
| 2nd assistant camera | IATSE Local 600, Schedule A-1, daily | $62.71 per hour | Aug 2, 2026 |
| Digital imaging technician | IATSE Local 600, Schedule A-2, daily | $744.32 per 8-hour day | Aug 2, 2026 |
| Gaffer (chief lighting technician) | IATSE Local 728, Wage Schedule 1 | $65.22 per hour | Aug 2, 2026 |
| Best boy electric | IATSE Local 728, Wage Schedule 1 | $59.20 per hour | Aug 2, 2026 |
| Set lighting technician | IATSE Local 728, Wage Schedule 1 | $56.70 per hour | Aug 2, 2026 |
| Script supervisor, 3rd year and up | IATSE Local 871, Wage Schedule 1 | $55.36 per hour | Aug 2, 2026 |
| 1st assistant director | DGA Basic Agreement, daily studio | $1,711 per day | Jul 1, 2026 |
| Key 2nd assistant director | DGA Basic Agreement, daily studio | $1,146 per day | Jul 1, 2026 |
Details for each are on the individual role pages, such as 1st assistant camera, script supervisor, and 1st AD. Low budget and new media productions pay less than these schedules.
What a 12-hour day costs at LA scale
For Local 728 daily hires, the gaffer role page shows time and a half after 8 hours. Using that rule:
| Position | 8 straight hours | 4 hours at 1.5x | 12-hour day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gaffer, $65.22 | $521.76 | $391.32 | $913.08 |
| Best boy electric, $59.20 | $473.60 | $355.20 | $828.80 |
| Set lighting technician, $56.70 | $453.60 | $340.20 | $793.80 |
Those totals are wages only. Pension, health, and payroll taxes are budgeted separately as fringes.
Regional minimums under the Area Standards Agreement
Outside the Hollywood and New York agreements, many IATSE productions work under the Area Standards Agreement (ASA). Instead of setting a rate for every classification, the wage schedule puts each job into one of four groups: Key, Second, Third, or Utility. For theatrical motion pictures, the rates for August 2, 2026 to July 31, 2027 are:
| Group | Examples in the ASA classification schedule | "Non-Maryland" states | "Maryland rate" areas |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key | Key grip, chief lighting technician, sound mixer, script supervisor and key hair or makeup (if hired locally) | $50.26 | $54.55 |
| Second | Dolly grip, assistant chief lighting technician, boom operator, key craft service | $45.85 | $49.45 |
| Third | Grips, electricians, sound utility, craft service assistant | $41.47 | $46.30 |
| Utility | Utility classifications | $37.12 | $40.15 |
"Non-Maryland" rates apply in states including Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, and Oregon, plus Pittsburgh and San Diego. "Maryland rates" apply in California outside the Hollywood agreements' scope (and outside San Diego and Local 16's jurisdiction), Florida, Maryland, and Southeastern Michigan. Washington, D.C. has its own higher scale.
The ASA's overtime rules for theatrical films are time and a half after 8 hours, double time after 12, and, on films starting principal photography on or after August 4, 2024, triple time after 15 elapsed hours. Overtime is paid in tenths of an hour. So in Georgia:
| Group | 12-hour day | 13-hour day |
|---|---|---|
| Key, $50.26 | $402.08 + $301.56 = $703.64 | $703.64 + $100.52 = $804.16 |
| Second, $45.85 | $366.80 + $275.10 = $641.90 | $641.90 + $91.70 = $733.60 |
| Third, $41.47 | $331.76 + $248.82 = $580.58 | $580.58 + $82.94 = $663.52 |
The 13th hour is double time, which is why the jump from 12 to 13 hours costs more than any hour before it.
Films under about $16.5 million often sign the IATSE Low Budget Theatrical Agreement instead, with lower rates by budget tier. The IATSE low budget guide has those tiers and camera rates.
Setting non-union rates
Non-union rates don't come from a rate card, and there's no reliable public survey to copy. Line producers usually work from three things: the local union minimum for the job (as a ceiling or reference point), what the budget can carry for the department, and what the department head says their people will accept. Department heads often bring their own crews and know what those people took on their last show.
Two rules apply no matter what you agree to.
Minimum wage. The hourly base you back out of a day rate can't fall below the applicable minimum wage. California's state minimum is $16.90 an hour from January 1, 2026, and some cities are higher.
Overtime. Crew paid as employees get overtime under the law. The US Department of Labor says covered employees must receive time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek, and the federal rule is weekly, not daily. Some states go further. California's Wage Order 12, which covers the motion picture industry, requires time and a half after 8 hours in a workday up to 12, double time after 12, and premium pay on the seventh consecutive day. It also caps a workday at 16 hours including meal periods.
Converting a non-union day rate in California
An electrician agrees to $400/12 on a California shoot. Under Wage Order 12, that 12-hour day contains 8 straight hours and 4 hours at time and a half, which is 8 + (4 x 1.5) = 14 straight-time hours.
- Hourly base: $400 / 14 = $28.57
- Time and a half: $28.57 x 1.5 = $42.86
- Double time after 12: $28.57 x 2 = $57.14
A week with three 12-hour days and two 14-hour days:
| Day | Pay |
|---|---|
| Mon, Tue, Wed (12 hrs each) | 3 x $400.00 = $1,200.00 |
| Thu, Fri (14 hrs each) | 2 x ($400.00 + 2 x $57.14) = 2 x $514.28 = $1,028.56 |
| Week | $2,228.56 |
Wage Order 12 says daily overtime isn't compounded with weekly overtime, so those 64 hours don't get time and a half again on top for being over 40. If you'd divided $400 by 12 and used $33.33 as the base, you'd have overpaid every overtime hour and put the wrong regular rate on the time card. The overtime calculator runs this for any rate and day length.
The same $400/12 in a state that only follows the federal weekly rule is a different number. There, a 12-hour day with no weekly overtime might be $400 for 12 straight hours, a $33.33 base, until the week passes 40 hours. Confirm your state's rule before you set rates, because the same quote means different money in Sacramento and Savannah.
Keep kit rental out of the rate
A key grip's day rate and the rental on their truck or kit are separate lines. When a kit fee is folded into the day rate, it gets multiplied by overtime and inflates the regular rate. Pay kit rental or box rental on its own invoice against an inventory, and put both on the crew deal memo.
Budgeting a department
A 20-day non-union indie in California budgets its electric department at a planned 12-hour day, five days a week, with one 14-hour day a week as cushion:
| Position | Rate | Base | 12-hr day x 16 | 14-hr day x 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gaffer | $500/12 | $35.71 | $8,000.00 | 4 x $642.84 = $2,571.36 | $10,571.36 |
| Best boy electric | $425/12 | $30.36 | $6,800.00 | 4 x $546.44 = $2,185.76 | $8,985.76 |
| Electrician | $400/12 | $28.57 | $6,400.00 | 4 x $514.28 = $2,057.12 | $8,457.12 |
That's $28,014.24 in wages for three people over 20 days, before prep, wrap, kit rental, payroll fees, and employer taxes. Keep the cushion day in, or put the same money in contingency.
The crew rate lookup gives starting figures by position, and crew deal memos covers how to get these terms agreed in writing.
Rates in Storiara
In Storiara, crew are added in the Cast & Crew module, where you can select a union and contract for each person and a rate fills in, or type your negotiated rate. The Budget module uses those rates when you sync crew lines from story data, and your manual budget edits are kept. Check union figures against the current rate card before the budget goes out.