Film Career · Art Director
Senior Art Director
Art Director · IATSE Art Directors Guild, Local 800
- Union
- IATSE Art Directors Guild
- Day rate
- ~$3,000–$7,500/wk
- Experience
- 5–12 yrs
What does a Senior Art Director do?
A senior art director holds one of the senior positions in the art director department, combining craft mastery with responsibility for outcomes.
On union productions the position falls under IATSE Art Directors Guild, Local 800, which sets the rates, hours, and conditions the role works within. Like every art director 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 a Senior Art Director make?
- Art direction is paid weekly: roughly $3,000-$7,500 a week (ADG scale around $3,000-$3,600), or roughly $120K-$300K a year (IATSE Local 800).
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 can draft, budget, and manage a build
Soft skills
- You combine craft mastery with responsibility for the outcome
- You stay calm when the pressure is highest
The ladder
Related chairs in this craft family, ordered from entry toward leadership:
- 1Assistant Art Director
- 2Senior Art Director (this role)
- 3Art Director
- 4Chief Art Director
- 5Executive Art Director
- 6Principal Art Director
- 7Supervising Art Director
Career progression
Within this craft family the recognized progression runs from assistant art director toward supervising art director, with each step earned through set time and the trust of the chairs above. Where this role sits on that ladder is less important than how the art director department works: people move up when the department already believes they can do the next job.
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.
~$50K–$450K+/yr
- Senior Art Directoryou are here
~$120K–$300K/yr
~$120K–$300K/yr
~$120K–$300K/yr
~$120K–$300K/yr
~$120K–$300K/yr
~$120K–$300K/yr
How do you become a Senior Art Director?
The path here is internal: the art director 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.
On covered productions, rates, hours, and conditions for the role are set by IATSE Art Directors Guild, Local 800 contracts.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.