Film Career · Casting Director
Senior Casting Director
Casting Director · Teamsters Local 399 (casting directors)
- Union
- Teamsters Local 399
- Day rate
- ~$3,000–$6,000/wk
- Experience
- 5–12 yrs
What does a Senior Casting Director do?
A senior casting director holds one of the senior positions in the casting director department, combining craft mastery with responsibility for outcomes.
On union productions the position falls under Teamsters Local 399 (casting directors), which sets the rates, hours, and conditions the role works within. Like every casting director role, the job is hired production by production, and repeat work comes from department heads who trust the name on the call sheet.
What does a Senior Casting Director make?
- Casting directors are paid per feature or weekly: roughly $25K-$100K+ a project, $3,000-$6,000 a week, or roughly $80K-$250K a year (Teamsters Local 399 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) ↗
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 know talent and can negotiate deals
Soft skills
- You stay calm when the pressure is highest
- You are trusted with the work that has the least room for error
The ladder
Related chairs in this craft family, ordered from entry toward leadership:
- 1Assistant Casting Director
- 2Senior Casting Director (this role)
- 3Associate Casting Director
- 4Casting Director
- 5Main Casting Director
- 6Supervising Casting Director
Career progression
Within this craft family the recognized progression runs from assistant casting director toward supervising casting director, 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 casting director 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.
~$50K–$250K/yr
- Senior Casting Directoryou are here
~$80K–$250K/yr
~$50K–$250K/yr
~$80K–$250K/yr
~$80K–$250K/yr
~$50K–$250K/yr
How do you become a Senior Casting Director?
The path here is internal: the casting director 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.
On covered productions, rates, hours, and conditions for the role are set by Teamsters Local 399 (casting directors) contracts.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.