Film Career · Cinematographer
Segment Cinematographer
Cinematographer · IATSE Local 600, International Cinematographers Guild
- Union
- IATSE Local 600
- Day rate
- ~$650/day
- Experience
- 3–7 yrs
What does a Segment Cinematographer do?
The segment cinematographer is a working craft position in the cinematographer department on film and television productions.
On union productions the position falls under IATSE Local 600, International Cinematographers Guild, which sets the rates, hours, and conditions the role works within. The role is engaged show by show, and careers in cinematographer are built on the department heads and crews who hire the same trusted people back.
What does a Segment Cinematographer make?
- Cinematography pay is negotiated, not fixed by scale: roughly $650 a day on indies to $5,000+ on features, with A-list DPs far above.
- Roughly $60K-$400K+ a year.
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 light, lens, and camera movement
Soft skills
- You are a dependable team player who makes the department run
- You like hands-on work and getting the details right
Career progression
The role advances the way most cinematographer 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 Segment Cinematographer?
The working route in is through the cinematographer department's junior positions: assist the people holding this chair, learn the standards the department runs on, and take the small versions of the job wherever they are offered.
On covered productions, rates, hours, and conditions for the role are set by IATSE Local 600, International Cinematographers Guild contracts.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.