Film Career · Location Management
Trainee Assistant Location Manager
Location Management · Teamsters Local 399 in Los Angeles; varies by market
- Union
- Teamsters Local 399 in Los Angeles
- Day rate
- ~$3,500–$5,500+/wk
- Experience
- 0–2 yrs
What does a Trainee Assistant Location Manager do?
The trainee assistant location manager is an entry position in the location management department, where newcomers learn the craft by supporting the working crew.
Union coverage for the position varies: teamsters local 399 in los angeles; varies by market. Like every location management 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 Trainee Assistant Location Manager make?
- This is an entry or assistant chair, toward the lower end of its department's range.
- Location work is paid weekly with heavy prep and overtime: assistants lower, and location managers roughly $3,500-$5,500+ a week.
- Roughly $60K-$250K+ a year (Teamsters Local 399 in Los Angeles).
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 can scout, permit, and manage locations
Soft skills
- You are reliable, eager to learn, and happy to start at the bottom
- You anticipate what the crew needs and stay a step ahead
Career progression
The role advances the way most location management 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 a Trainee Assistant Location Manager?
This is a chair you can target directly: productions staff it from applicants with related skills and from people already working nearby on the crew. Get onto sets in any capacity, tell the department what you want, and be ready when a slot opens.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.