Film Career · Production Support
Office Production Assistant
Production Support · Varies by craft and market
- Union
- Varies
- Day rate
- ~$200–$700/day
- Experience
- 1–4 yrs
What does an Office Production Assistant do?
A office production assistant is the supporting chair in the production support department, executing the department head's plan and managing the details that shooting days depend on.
Union coverage for the position varies: varies by craft and market. The role is engaged show by show, and careers in production support are built on the department heads and crews who hire the same trusted people back.
What does an Office Production Assistant make?
- This is an entry or assistant chair, toward the lower end of its department's range.
- Pay for these support roles is by the day and varies widely by craft and market, typically roughly $200-$700 a day, or roughly $40K-$130K a year with steady work.
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 a practical craft the production needs
Soft skills
- You have the energy for long days and a good attitude under pressure
- You are reliable, eager to learn, and happy to start at the bottom
Career progression
The role advances the way most production support 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 Office Production Assistant?
Entry runs through availability and attitude: departments fill this position from crew lists, referrals, and people already on set who asked for the chance. Day-playing on smaller productions is the fastest way to be seen doing the work.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.