Film Career · Producer
Chief Producer
Producer · Not unionized; PGA is a professional association
- Union
- Non-union
- Day rate
- ~$90K–$300K/yr
- Experience
- 8–25+ yrs
What does a Chief Producer do?
A chief producer leads within the producer department, answering for its output while managing the people and logistics behind it.
Union coverage for the position varies: not unionized; pga is a professional association. The role is engaged show by show, and careers in producer are built on the department heads and crews who hire the same trusted people back.
What does a Chief Producer make?
- This is a department-head chair, toward the top of its department's range.
- Producing has no union floor and pay is negotiated per project: roughly $50K-$250K on indie features and $250K-$1M+ on studio films.
- Working producers land roughly $90K-$300K a year, established ones far more.
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) ↗
Government wage data
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the closest federal occupation.
You’ll like and be good at this job if:
Hard skills
- You can build budgets, schedules, and teams
Soft skills
- You can lead a crew, hold a budget, and answer for the department
- You are as comfortable managing people as doing the craft
The ladder
Related chairs in this craft family, ordered from entry toward leadership:
Career progression
Within this craft family the recognized progression runs from assistant producer toward supervising producer, 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 producer 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.
~$90K–$300K/yr
~$90K–$300K/yr
~$90K–$300K/yr
~$90K–$300K/yr
~$90K–$300K/yr
~$90K–$300K/yr
~$90K–$300K/yr
- Chief Produceryou are here
~$90K–$300K/yr
~$150K–$500K/yr
~$90K–$300K/yr
How do you become a Chief Producer?
The path here is internal: the producer department promotes this position from within, based on a track record built in its junior chairs. Start at the department's entry level and let the work argue for you.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.