Film Career · Hair and Makeup
Makeup Artist
Hair and Makeup · IATSE Local 706 (LA) / Local 798 (NY)
- Union
- IATSE Local 706
- Day rate
- ~$546/day
- Experience
- 1–3 yrs
What does a Makeup Artist do?
Makeup artists execute the key's designs across cast and background, holding continuity through long schedules. The craft ranges from invisible beauty work to full character transformations, with dailies and background handled by additional artists on crowd-heavy days.
What does a Makeup Artist make?
- Day rate about $546 at Local 706 scale (10 hours at about $54.63 an hour) up to $700-$1,000 with overtime and kit, roughly $75K-$150K a year.
- Income is hours-driven; non-union and commercial gigs pay less, around $325-$475 a day.
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
- Apply and maintain makeup to the key's design and continuity notes
- Handle background and day players quickly without losing standards
- Track continuity with photos and notes across the schedule
- Keep kit hygiene and product safety beyond reproach
You’ll like and be good at this job if:
Hard skills
- You have makeup skill and a steady hand across looks
- You can hold continuity across a shoot
Soft skills
- You work fast and calmly under time pressure
- You collaborate well with actors
Career progression
From background and assistant work to personal artist for principal actors, then toward key makeup artist. Specializing, whether in beauty, character, or airbrush speed, shapes which shows call.
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.
- Assistant Makeup Artist· 1-3 yrs
~$75K–$220K/yr
- Makeup Artistyou are here· 3-6 yrs
~$75K–$150K/yr
- Key Makeup Artist· peak of the craft
~$90K–$180K/yr
How do you become a Makeup Artist?
Film makeup generally needs no cosmetology license (California exempts theatrical makeup), so the gate is set hours: background makeup calls on large productions take newcomers with clean kits and speed. Assist established artists and let your work stay on faces for twelve hours without touchups becoming emergencies.
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.