Film Career · Casting
Background Casting
Casting · Teamsters Local 399 (casting directors); varies
- Union
- Teamsters Local 399
- Day rate
- ~$50K–$250K/yr
- Experience
- 3–7 yrs
What does a Background Casting do?
A background casting carries a hands-on craft within the casting department, delivering their specialty daily as part of the department's crew.
Union coverage for the position varies: teamsters local 399 (casting directors); varies. Like every casting 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 Background Casting make?
- Casting is paid per project or weekly: assistants and coordinators run modest day rates, and casting directors roughly $25K-$100K+ per feature.
- Roughly $50K-$250K a year (Teamsters Local 399 covers casting directors 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 run auditions and deals
Soft skills
- You take pride in doing your specific craft well, day in and day out
- You are a dependable team player who makes the department run
Career progression
The role advances the way most casting 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 Background Casting?
Careers reach this chair through the casting department ladder: entry work first, then increasing responsibility as the crew learns your name. Smaller productions hand out the title earlier, and the credits transfer.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.