Film Career · Production Support
Technical Director
Production Support · Varies by craft and market
- Union
- Varies
- Day rate
- ~$200–$700/day
- Experience
- 8–18+ yrs
What does a Technical Director do?
A technical director leads within the production support department, answering for its output while managing the people and logistics behind it.
Union coverage for the position varies: varies by craft and market. The role is engaged show by show, and careers in production support are built on the department heads and crews who hire the same trusted people back.
What does a Technical Director make?
- This is a department-head chair, toward the top of its department's range.
- Pay for these support roles is by the day and varies widely by craft and market, typically roughly $200-$700 a day, or roughly $40K-$130K a year with steady work.
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 have a practical craft the production needs
Soft skills
- You can lead a crew, hold a budget, and answer for the department
- You make decisions calmly and own the results
Career progression
The role advances the way most production support 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 Technical Director?
The path here is internal: the production support 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.
Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.