Film Career · Producer
Senior Executive Producer
Producer · Not unionized; PGA is a professional association
- Union
- Non-union
- Day rate
- ~$90K–$300K/yr
- Experience
- 8–25+ yrs
What does a Senior Executive Producer do?
The senior executive producer is a senior craft chair in the producer department, trusted with the work that has the least room for error.
Union coverage for the position varies: not unionized; pga is a professional association. Like every producer 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 Executive Producer make?
- Producing has no union floor and pay is negotiated per project: roughly $50K-$250K on indie features and $250K-$1M+ on studio films.
- Working producers land roughly $90K-$300K a year, established ones far more.
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 build budgets, schedules, and teams
Soft skills
- You are trusted with the work that has the least room for error
- You combine craft mastery with responsibility for the outcome
The ladder
Related chairs in this craft family, ordered from entry toward leadership:
- 1Assistant Producer
- 2Associate Producer
- 3Producer
- 4Senior Associate Producer
- 5Senior Executive Producer (this role)
- 6Senior Producer
- 7Senior Supervising Producer
- 8Chief Producer
- 9Executive Producer
- 10Supervising Producer
Career progression
Within this craft family the recognized progression runs from assistant producer toward supervising producer, 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 producer 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.
~$90K–$300K/yr
~$90K–$300K/yr
~$90K–$300K/yr
~$90K–$300K/yr
- Senior Executive Produceryou are here
~$90K–$300K/yr
~$90K–$300K/yr
~$90K–$300K/yr
~$90K–$300K/yr
~$150K–$500K/yr
~$90K–$300K/yr
How do you become a Senior Executive Producer?
Nobody is hired into this chair from outside: it is a promotion earned inside the producer department, from the people who watched you hold the junior versions of the job. The route in starts at the department's entry positions and runs through years of trusted work.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.