Illustration by Peter Oumanski
Hollywood Salaries Revealed: Who Makes How Much
From stylist to star and all the professions in between that make the industry work: here's a snapshot of paychecks now.
Yes, the usual caveats apply: Paychecks vary widely even among industry pros with similar titles. But, generally, from the C-suite to the studio lot trendlines emerge. Here’s a glimpse at what workers are getting paid during this tumultuous year.
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Editor
Image Credit: Illustration by Peter Oumanski Scale for most television editors is around $4,200 per week, and networks rarely pay more than $5,500 per week for the role. Top feature editors, meanwhile, can make as much as $20,000 to $25,000 per week.
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Publicist
Image Credit: Illustration by Peter Oumanski A mid-level publicist at a firm that specializes in personal publicity can make anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000, but veteran flaks who own their own boutique firms can top $1 million. It’s often more lucrative to work for a studio like Disney, which recently advertised a $327,000 to $450,000 salary for an opening as senior vp of communications.
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Studio Executive
Image Credit: Illustration by Peter Oumanski Getting in on the ground floor doesn’t pay particularly well — Paramount Pictures is currently advertising an executive assistant job that starts at $50,000 — but there’s growth potential. A director of development at a legacy studio makes around $120,000, while exec vps earn $500,000 to $600,000. (Everything is still inflated at Netflix, where content vps make over $1 million.) The lucky few who ascend to the studio chief level can net eight figures. Just ask Netflix film boss Scott Stuber, who reportedly made more than $16 million before departing earlier this year.
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Lawyer
Image Credit: Illustration by Peter Oumanski Hollywood dealmakers, who work on a 5 percent commission instead of charging clients by the hour, start in the $175,000 to $250,000 range, with big earners making between $5 million and $15 million per year.
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Director
Image Credit: Illustration by Peter Oumanski Someone at the Ridley Scott level can make $20 million per feature, but most early-career directors are earning $1 million or less. Directors Guild of America scale on a high-budget film is $23,767 per week, with a guaranteed employment period of 10 weeks.
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Stunt Performer, Makeup Artist and Stylist
Image Credit: Illustration by Peter Oumanski Stunt Performer
Pay rates start at $1,200 per day or $4,500 per week but can go up depending on the performer.Makeup Artist
Glam squads typically charge $1,000 to $1,250 to make a star glow ahead of an event, with an additional 20 percent paid out to their booking agency.Stylist
An established stylist can charge on average $1,500 per event, plus additional fees for extras like alterations. Studios, which typically cover the promotional run, are known to pay a premium during awards season. -
Content Creator
Image Credit: Illustration by Peter Oumanski A picture (um, post) can be worth a thousand dollars, and often a lot more. Some micro influencers charge a couple hundred dollars per post, while top-tier creators can charge thousands. Collegiate gymnast and Instagram “It” girl Livvy Dunne made $500,000 off a single brand deal.
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Gaffer
Image Credit: Illustration by Peter Oumanski An IATSE-organized chief lighting technician makes $60.59 per hour minimum and a weekly guarantee of $3,647 on studio projects.
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Agent
Image Credit: Illustrations by Peter Oumanski Agents are feeling the squeeze. Entry-level staffers typically pull in between $80,000 and $100,000 annually, while mid-career agents top out around $600,000, not including discretionary bonuses. Heavy hitters can make eight figures. The Pay Up Hollywood movement helped notch small gains for agency assistants, though rates are still astonishingly low. Per recent job postings, a CAA mailroom trainee earns around $20 per hour — the same as California minimum wage for fast food workers — while assistants at all the major agencies should expect to make less than $25 per hour (not including overtime).
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Intimacy Coordinator, Actor
Image Credit: Illustration by Peter Oumanski Intimacy Coordinator
SAG-AFTRA has taken steps toward organizing this newer Hollywood job, but until then, most make a similar day rate to stunt performers, around $1,200, and can be hired for the duration of a project or to help with select scenes.Actor
The most in-demand stars can still command top dollar. Just look at Robert Downey Jr. and the $80 million-plus he’s reportedly making as Dr. Doom. Someone on the level of Ryan Reynolds, meanwhile, is looking at $30 million per picture. TV actors making $1 million per episode still exist, and there are plenty of big names bringing in between $400,000 and $600,000 an episode. Series background actors make $216 for an eight-hour day. -
Animator
Image Credit: Illustrations by Peter Oumanski A member of the Animation Guild can expect to make $1,800 a week as an assistant staff comic strip story artist, while a supervising animation writer earns nearly $3,000 per week.
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Producer
Image Credit: Illustration by Peter Oumanski First-look deals are still lucrative — in the mid seven figures and up — if you’re lucky enough to land one. Otherwise, veteran producers can make as much as $2 million up front and more on the backend. On the TV side, non-writing producers without studio deals don’t earn a dime until the pilot fee, which can range from $15,000 to $50,000.
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TV Writer/Showrunner
Image Credit: Illustration by Peter Oumanski Workaday scribes got raises after the WGA strike, and now staff writers make $4,940 per week for a guaranteed 20 weeks. Writers who are exec producing and running their own shows can sell a pilot script into development for between $225,000 and $500,000. If it’s ordered to series, they’ll make $60,000 to $75,000 per episode on average to produce, on top of WGA scale for any episodes they write. Meanwhile, those $40 million overall megadeals are now in the $10 million to $15 million range — and the $15 million ones are closer to $8 million.
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Screenwriter
Image Credit: Illustration by Peter Oumanski The average draft sells for between $350,000 and $500,000, though established feature writers can make more than $1 million on the high end. Final credit comes with a $150,000 to $500,000 bonus.
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Union Leader
Image Credit: Illustration by Peter Oumanski SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher doesn’t take a salary, but chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland does, and he’s paid more than $1 million for helping lock down the guild’s contracts. Russell Hollander at the DGA makes $775,000, while WGA West’s Ellen Stutzman makes $683,000. On the low end, Animation Guild business representative Steven Kaplan takes home $215,000.
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CEO
Image Credit: Illustration by Peter Oumanski Hollywood’s belt tightening hasn’t reached the tippy top of the corporate ladder. Netflix’s Ted Sarandos made $49.8 million in 2023, including a $3 million base salary, a bonus and stock awards. Disney’s Bob Iger pulled in $31.6 million in his first year back on the job. Even beleaguered Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav saw his total compensation rise 26 percent to $49.7 million.
This story first appeared in the Oct. 30 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
