Film Career · Casting
Extras Casting
Casting · Teamsters Local 399 (casting directors); varies
- Union
- Teamsters Local 399
- Day rate
- ~$50K–$250K/yr
- Experience
- 3–7 yrs
What does an Extras Casting do?
The extras casting is a working craft position in the casting department on film and television productions.
Union coverage for the position varies: teamsters local 399 (casting directors); varies. The role is engaged show by show, and careers in casting are built on the department heads and crews who hire the same trusted people back.
What does an Extras Casting make?
- Casting is paid per project or weekly: assistants and coordinators run modest day rates, and casting directors roughly $25K-$100K+ per feature.
- Roughly $50K-$250K a year (Teamsters Local 399 covers casting directors in the West).
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 know talent and can run auditions and deals
Soft skills
- You are a dependable team player who makes the department run
- You take pride in doing your specific craft well, day in and day out
Career progression
The role advances the way most casting careers do: repeat hires from the same department heads, growing responsibility within the craft, and a reputation that travels between productions faster than any resume.
How do you become an Extras Casting?
The working route in is through the casting 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.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.