Union rules touch almost every document a production makes, which is why they feel overwhelming at first. They get easier once you separate the questions and take them in order: which agreements apply to your project, what signing them commits you to, and which rules you have to schedule around every day.
Who covers whom
Start with navigating film unions. It lays out the four main groups on US productions: the DGA for directors, UPMs, and ADs; SAG-AFTRA for performers; IATSE locals for most below-the-line crafts; and the Teamsters for drivers and, in Hollywood, location and casting professionals. It also shows how IATSE locals split up the crew. The glossary entries for signatory, non-union production, and right-to-work states fill in the vocabulary.
A production signs each agreement separately. Being a SAG-AFTRA signatory for cast while hiring a non-union crew is a common setup on independent films.
Agreements scale with the budget
Each union has cheaper agreements for smaller productions, and the budget decides which one you're under. For performers, read SAG-AFTRA low budget agreements, which compares six options from Micro-Budget to Low Budget Theatrical, then how to become a SAG-AFTRA signatory. SAGindie recommends starting that application four to six weeks before performers first travel, rehearse, or shoot, so it's the one to begin early.
For crew, read the IATSE Low Budget Theatrical Agreement, then tier projects, which explains what counts toward the tier and how SAG-AFTRA and DGA tiers work differently. For directors, UPMs, and ADs, the DGA low budget agreement covers theatrical films budgeted at $11 million or less.
What signing commits you to
A signed agreement means paying at least union scale, adding pension and health contributions on top of wages, posting a security deposit where the agreement requires one, and in many cases owing residuals later. Under SAG-AFTRA, every performer has to be cleared through Station 12 before they work, and hiring a non-member means following the preference of employment rules, which is what Taft-Hartley explained covers. The SAG-AFTRA producer's guide walks through consecutive employment, travel and meals, paying on time, and what's due after wrap.
The rules you schedule around
This part lands on the AD department every day. The unions guide puts meals and rest periods at the top of its list of rules that cost money on the day. Read meal penalties explained and turnaround rules compared, then test a real day with the meal penalty calculator, turnaround calculator, and overtime calculator. A schedule has to respect these before anyone signs off on it, so the shooting schedules path and this one should be read side by side.
Minors are governed mostly by state law. Working with minors on set covers permits, hours by age, studio teachers, and trust accounts in California and New York, and how to schedule around child actors turns those limits into a board. If you're casting children, the casting path puts this in context.
The records that prove compliance
Compliance is mostly a paper trail, and the union reads it after the fact. According to the unions guide, the most common claims are meal penalties and forced calls that were owed but never reached payroll, usually because the times on Exhibit G or the time cards don't match the production report.
It pays to know those records well. Exhibit G records each performer's work times, meals, travel, and forced calls, and the Exhibit G walkthrough fills one in line by line. The daily production report guide covers the official record of the day, including its safety section, and crew time cards are checked against it. On a SAG-AFTRA show, unresolved claims can come out of the security deposit, which on a low-budget film is money the producer was probably counting on for post. The day-to-day side of all this is in on-set operations and call sheets.
Budgeting for it
Union status moves every labor line in a budget and the fringes on top of it. Film budgeting covers how tier rates and pension and health contributions get priced.