Film Career · Hair and Makeup
Hair Department Head (Key Hair)
Hair and Makeup · IATSE Local 706 (LA) / Local 798 (NY)
- Union
- IATSE Local 706
- Day rate
- ~$699/day
- Experience
- 3–6 yrs
What does a Hair Department Head do?
Key hair designs and maintains every hairstyle on the production, from lead character looks to background continuity. Wig work is its own craft within the department. Continuity photography and meticulous notes keep looks identical across shooting days that may be months apart.
What does a Hair Department Head make?
- Day rate about $699 at Local 706 department-head scale (10 hours at about $69.91 an hour) up to $1,000-$1,500 with overtime and a weekly guarantee around $3,500-$4,500, roughly $120K-$220K a year.
- The department-head premium over stylist scale, plus feature-versus-TV negotiation, drives the top.
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) ↗
On the job
- Design character hair looks with the director, designer, and actors
- Execute and maintain looks through shooting, weather, and stunts
- Manage wig builds, fittings, and application where designs need them
- Run the department: staffing, scheduling, and continuity records
You’ll like and be good at this job if:
Hard skills
- You are a skilled stylist across periods and styles
- You can run a department, a schedule, and continuity
Soft skills
- You collaborate on character with an artist's eye
- You stay calm and fast under a shooting day
Career progression
Licensed stylists enter as assistants or background hair, rise to working principal actors, and step up to department head as trust and credits build. Wig specialists follow a parallel craft track that period and fantasy productions depend on.
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.
- Hair Stylist· 3-6 yrs
~$75K–$220K/yr
- Hair Department Head (Key Hair)you are here· peak of the craft
~$120K–$220K/yr
How do you become a Hair Department Head?
A cosmetology license is the baseline in most jurisdictions. Salon skill does not automatically translate to set: learn continuity discipline and camera awareness by assisting an established key. Background hair days on big shows are the traditional first rung and where locals notice you.
On covered productions, rates, hours, and conditions for the role are set by IATSE Local 706 (LA) / Local 798 (NY) contracts.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.