Film Career · Casting
Executive In Charge Of Casting
Casting · Teamsters Local 399 (casting directors); varies
- Union
- Teamsters Local 399
- Day rate
- ~$50K–$250K/yr
- Experience
- 8–18+ yrs
What does an Executive In Charge Of Casting do?
A executive in charge of casting leads within the casting department, answering for its output while managing the people and logistics behind it.
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 an Executive In Charge Of Casting make?
- This is a department-head chair, toward the top of its department's range.
- 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) ↗
You’ll like and be good at this job if:
Hard skills
- You know talent and can run auditions and deals
Soft skills
- You can lead a crew, hold a budget, and answer for the department
- You are as comfortable managing people as doing the craft
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 an Executive In Charge Of Casting?
The path here is internal: the casting 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.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.