Film Career · Stunts
Fight or Stunt Choreographer
Stunts · SAG-AFTRA
- Union
- SAG-AFTRA
- Day rate
- ~$800–$2,000/day
- Experience
- 3–6 yrs
What does a Fight or Stunt Choreographer do?
Fight choreographers design screen combat that reads clearly on camera and can be performed safely take after take. They rehearse cast and stunt performers, work with the stunt coordinator on safety, and adjust choreography to the director's coverage plan.
What does a Fight or Stunt Choreographer make?
- Day rate about $800-$2,000, or $4,000-$10,000 a week, roughly $70K-$180K a year.
- Often booked as a stunt performer at SAG-AFTRA scale (about $1,100 a day) plus adjustments.
- Fight complexity and project prestige drive it.
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
- Design fights that serve story and character, not just spectacle
- Rehearse cast and doubles until the choreography is safe at speed
- Adapt choreography to lenses, coverage, and editing plans
- Work under the stunt coordinator's safety authority on execution
You’ll like and be good at this job if:
Hard skills
- You can design and teach fight and stunt choreography
- You know rigging, safety, and how action reads on camera
Soft skills
- You understand storytelling through movement
- You put safety and clarity above spectacle
Career progression
On US union productions fight choreography is a function under the stunt-coordinator track, not a separate SAG-AFTRA contract title. Choreographers come from stunt performing, martial arts, and stage combat, and the route runs stunt performer, then fight captain or assistant coordinator, then coordinator, often while continuing to perform. Strong ones become second unit directors on action films.
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.
- Stunt Performer· 3-6 yrs
~$60K–$300K+/yr
- Fight or Stunt Choreographeryou are here· specialist
~$70K–$180K/yr
- Stunt Coordinator· peak of the craft
~$90K–$300K+/yr
How do you become a Fight or Stunt Choreographer?
Train visibly: martial arts credentials, stage combat certifications, and stunt performing days all feed the resume. Choreograph for theater, shorts, and stunt reels to prove the design eye. The stunt community hires from within, so performing is almost always the door.
On covered productions, rates, hours, and conditions for the role are set by SAG-AFTRA contracts.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.