Film Career · Make-Up
Associate Makeup Artist
Make-Up · IATSE hair and makeup locals
- Union
- IATSE hair and makeup locals
- Day rate
- ~$546–$1,000/day
- Experience
- 3–7 yrs
What does an Associate Makeup Artist do?
The associate makeup artist is a working craft position in the make-up department on film and television productions.
On union productions the position falls under IATSE hair and makeup locals, which sets the rates, hours, and conditions the role works within. Like every make-up role, the job is hired production by production, and repeat work comes from department heads who trust the name on the call sheet.
What does an Associate Makeup Artist make?
- Hair and makeup crews are paid by the day with overtime and kit fees: artists roughly $546-$1,000 a day, and department heads $700-$1,500.
- Roughly $75K-$220K a year (IATSE Local 706).
Film work is gig based, so crew are paid a day or weekly rate rather than a salary. These are realistic 2024-2025 ranges grounded in union rate cards and industry data; actual pay swings with budget tier, market, overtime, and reputation.
Sources & how we estimate pay
Union scale is the floor; the ranges above also reflect market day rates above scale. They are grounded in the following 2024–2025 sources:
Union rate cards & wage schedules
Official guild scale — the floor each craft is paid from.
- IATSE — 2024 Basic Agreement wage scales (PDF) ↗
- IATSE Local 600 (International Cinematographers Guild) — camera rate cards ↗
- DGA — minimum salary rate cards (director, unit production manager, assistant directors) ↗
- WGA — schedule of minimums (writers) ↗
- SAG-AFTRA — theatrical & background rate sheets (cast, stunts, background) ↗
- Teamsters Local 399 — basic feature wage rates, 2024–27 (transportation, locations, wranglers) (PDF) ↗
You’ll like and be good at this job if:
Hard skills
- You have hair or makeup skill and a steady hand
Soft skills
- You like hands-on work and getting the details right
- You are a dependable team player who makes the department run
The ladder
Related chairs in this craft family, ordered from entry toward leadership:
- 1Assistant Makeup Artist
- 2Second Makeup Artist
- 3Associate Makeup Artist (this role)
- 4Makeup Artist
- 5First Assistant Makeup Artist
- 6Key Makeup Artist
Career progression
Within this craft family the recognized progression runs from assistant makeup artist toward key makeup artist, with each step earned through set time and the trust of the chairs above. Where this role sits on that ladder is less important than how the make-up department works: people move up when the department already believes they can do the next job.
A typical path, from entry to the top of the craft. Times are rough and vary by market, luck, and how steadily the work comes.
~$75K–$220K/yr
~$75K–$220K/yr
- Associate Makeup Artistyou are here
~$75K–$220K/yr
~$75K–$150K/yr
~$75K–$220K/yr
~$90K–$180K/yr
How do you become an Associate Makeup Artist?
The working route in is through the make-up department's junior positions: assist the people holding this chair, learn the standards the department runs on, and take the small versions of the job wherever they are offered.
On covered productions, rates, hours, and conditions for the role are set by IATSE hair and makeup locals contracts.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.