Film Career · Grip
Dolly Grip
Grip · IATSE Local 80 (grips, LA); craft locals elsewhere
- Union
- IATSE Local 80
- Day rate
- ~$350–$1,000/day
- Experience
- 3–5 yrs
What does a Dolly Grip do?
The dolly grip builds and drives the camera dolly, laying track, leveling it to millimeter tolerances, and executing moves in exact sync with the operator and the actors. A great dolly grip repeats a complex move identically across a dozen takes.
What does a Dolly Grip make?
- Day rate about $350-$1,000 (a premium specialist grip; union crab-dolly scale around $59 an hour), roughly $55K-$140K a year.
- Skilled dolly grips on episodic and feature work sit above standard grips, with top rates on complex camera-movement shows.
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
- Lay, level, and true dolly track on any surface a location offers
- Drive the dolly in rehearsed sync with operator, focus, and performance
- Own dance-floor moves, riser builds, and the dolly's maintenance
- Time moves to dialogue and action so the frame lands where the shot needs it
You’ll like and be good at this job if:
Hard skills
- You have smooth hands and precise timing on a dolly
- You know dolly, track, and camera-support gear
Soft skills
- You work as one unit with the operator
- You stay calm and precise on complex moves
Career progression
Dolly grip is a specialization inside the grip department: grip first, then increasing time on the dolly as a key grip trusts you with it. The best become the requested dolly grip of specific operators and DPs and travel show to show with them.
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.
How do you become a Dolly Grip?
Join the grip department and make the dolly your obsession: learn the Fisher and Chapman models cold, practice the moves, and let the key grip see it. When an operator asks for you by name, the specialization has begun.
On covered productions, rates, hours, and conditions for the role are set by IATSE Local 80 (grips, LA); craft locals elsewhere contracts.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.