Film Career · Electric
Gaffer
Electric · IATSE Local 728 (set lighting technicians, LA); craft locals elsewhere
- Union
- IATSE Local 728
- Day rate
- ~$350–$1,500/day
- Experience
- 6–13 yrs
What does a Gaffer do?
The gaffer is the chief lighting technician and head of the electric department, executing the DP's lighting plan with a crew of electricians. They plan the power, choose the instruments, and run the department. The path usually climbs from electrician through best boy over years of set time.
What does a Gaffer make?
- Day rate about $350-$1,500 (IATSE studio scale around $60 an hour, roughly a $3,650 weekly guarantee), roughly $55K-$180K a year.
- Non-union indie starts around $350-$500 a day; top feature, streamer, and commercial gaffers bill $1,200-$1,500+.
- Budget tier, market, and reel 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
- Translate the DP's lighting intent into instruments, rigging, and power
- Plan the electrical package and generator needs for every location
- Run the electric crew through prep, rigging, and shooting
- Balance creative execution against schedule and budget daily
You’ll like and be good at this job if:
Hard skills
- You know electrical distribution, rigging, and every lighting instrument
- You can pre-plan a rig and run an electric crew safely
Soft skills
- You stay calm under time pressure
- You want a long creative partnership with a DP more than the spotlight
Career progression
The ladder is the department itself: electrician, then best boy electric, then gaffer. Gaffers rise by being the person a DP wants beside them; many gaffer-DP pairs work together for decades. Some gaffers step up to DP, taking the lighting mastery 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.
- Production Assistant· 0-2 yrs
~$35K–$55K/yr
~$45K–$130K/yr
- Best Boy (Electric and Grip)· 3-6 yrs
~$50K–$150K/yr
- Gafferyou are here· peak of the craft
~$55K–$180K/yr
- Director of Photography· some cross over
~$60K–$400K+/yr
How do you become a Gaffer?
There is no shortcut past the truck: start as an electrician, learn every instrument and the physics behind it, and take the best boy years seriously. The gaffer title arrives when a DP hands you their look and trusts you to build it.
On covered productions, rates, hours, and conditions for the role are set by IATSE Local 728 (set lighting technicians, LA); craft locals elsewhere contracts.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.