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At Wrapbook, we pride ourselves on providing outstanding free resources to producers and their crews, but this post is for informational purposes only as of the date above. The content on our website is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for legal, accounting, or tax advice. You should consult with your own legal, accounting, or tax advisors to determine how this general information may apply to your specific circumstances.
If you're working on a production that employs a director, unit production manager, or assistant director, you're working under the Directors Guild of America's minimum rate requirements. That applies whether you're a producer building a budget from scratch, a production accountant breaking down a series, or a DGA member looking to confirm your own scale.
DGA rates are among the more complex in the industry. Unlike a simple day rate, they involve guaranteed work periods, fringe contributions, vacation and holiday pay, and budget-dependent tiers that vary significantly across theatrical, television, pilot, and commercial productions. Getting them right from the start isn't just good practice—it's a contractual requirement.
In this guide, we'll walk you through the updated 2026-2027 DGA Rate Card across all major production categories. These figures reflect the minimums. Many DGA members are paid well above scale, but the minimums are where every budget conversation starts.
For reference, the 2026-2027 DGA Rate Card for films, television, and pilots is valid through June 30, 2027. The Commercial Rate Card runs on a separate cycle, currently in effect through November 30, 2026.
Please note: The rates in this guide are drawn from the official DGA minimum salary schedules and are intended as a reference starting point. Always confirm current rates, fringe obligations, and applicable terms directly with the Directors Guild of America before finalizing any budget or employment agreement. This guide does not constitute legal or contractual advice.
DGA rates set the floor for compensation, and unlike SAG rates, they don't stop at a daily or weekly fee. DGA agreements also guarantee time for pre-production, shooting, and post. In most cases, productions pay a lump sum covering the entire process, with daily or weekly overages kicking in if additional days are required.
Before you can move forward with hiring, the DGA will require you to submit a production budget to confirm eligibility. You don't need specialized software, but having a clear picture of your costs is essential. If you need a starting point, Wrapbook's film budget template can help.
One more thing to keep in mind: base pay is only part of the picture. On top of scale, employers are responsible for mandatory pension, health, and other fringe contributions that add substantially to your total payroll cost. Those are broken down in detail in the next section.
For productions commencing principal photography on or after July 1, 2026, employers are required to contribute 22.25% of covered earnings to the DGA-Producer Pension and Health Plans—specifically 8.75% to the Pension Plan and 13.5% to the Health Plan. Employees contribute an additional 2.5% to the Pension Plan. Employers must also contribute 0.25% toward the Paid Parental Leave Fund. Additionally, all UPMs and ADs receive 14.5% health plan contributions on their vacation pay, extended workday payments, and Completion of Assignment (COA) pay. These contributions—known collectively as "fringes"—are non-negotiable and represent a significant portion of payroll.
For theatrical and television projects, unit production managers (UPMs) and assistant directors (ADs) may also be subject to training and qualification list fees, which vary by work zone (New York, Los Angeles, or a third area). Always confirm the applicable rates directly with the DGA or the DGA-Producer Pension and Health Plans to ensure accuracy.
On full theatrical productions and established TV, employers are also responsible for 8.583% in vacation and holiday pay—4% for vacation and 4.583% for holidays. Vacation pay is disbursed at the close of employment, while holiday pay is paid by April 15 of the following calendar year.
Because the rules vary widely across categories and budget tiers, it's always best to double-check the latest contract language with the DGA.
If you're producing a feature film, the DGA Theatrical Agreement is your primary reference. Like SAG agreements, DGA theatrical minimums are tied directly to your project's budget, but the structure is more involved. Because directing a feature requires substantial time across prep, production, and post, rates are expressed as weekly salaries with guaranteed minimum work periods rather than simple day rates. In this context, a "week" is defined as five days. If your production extends beyond the guaranteed periods, daily and weekly overage rates apply, and you'll also need to account for any applicable state overtime requirements.
The Theatrical Agreement covers several budget tiers, each with its own rate structure. The tiers are outlined below, starting with the Basic Agreement for high-budget productions and working down through the various low-budget levels.
The Basic Agreement applies to feature films with budgets greater than $11 million, the standard rate structure for studio productions and larger independent films. It sets the minimum weekly salary for directors, the guaranteed number of weeks for prep, production, and post, and the rates for any days worked beyond those guarantees.
Short films and documentaries are also covered under this agreement. Confirm the applicable terms directly with the DGA based on your specific project.
UPM and AD rates for this budget range are:
For features with budgets between $8.5 million and $11 million, the Level 4C agreement applies. The guaranteed prep period, employment period, and cutting allowance remain the same as the Basic Agreement, but the director's weekly salary is set at 90% of the Basic rate, a 10% reduction that carries through to compensation for days worked beyond the guarantee and daily employment rates as well.
The UPM and AD rates for this tier follow the same 90% structure relative to the general Article 13 minimums.
A note on low budget rates: The rates in this section are drawn from the DGA's Low Budget Side Letter and are considered tentative—they remain subject to change. Always confirm current low budget rates, terms, and conditions directly with the DGA before finalizing any budget or employment agreement.
UPM and AD rates for this budget range are:
Levels 4A and 4B cover features with budgets between $4 million and $8.5 million, with Level 4A applying to budgets between $4 million and $5.5 million and Level 4B covering $5.5 million to $8.5 million. Both tiers set the director's weekly salary at 75% of the Basic Agreement rate—a 25% reduction—while keeping the guaranteed prep period, employment period, and cutting allowance unchanged. UPM and AD rates differ between the two levels, so it's worth confirming which tier applies to your production before budgeting.
It's also worth noting that the DGA Rate Card establishes minimum work periods, not the actual duration of a project. Richard Linklater's Boyhood, budgeted at approximately $4 million, was filmed over 12 years—far beyond any contractual minimum. The guarantee sets the floor; productions routinely exceed it.
The DGA rates for UPMs and ADs vary whether it’s level 4A or 4B:
Level 3 applies to features with budgets between $3 million and $4 million. At this tier, the director's weekly salary drops to 33% of the Basic Agreement rate—a significant reduction that reflects the leaner budgets typical of independent productions in this range. Despite the reduced pay, the guaranteed prep period, employment period, and cutting allowance remain the same as higher budget tiers.
For UPMs and ADs at this budget level, the weekly minimums are:
For features with budgets under $3 million, the DGA does not set a fixed minimum rate for directors. Compensation is negotiable between producer and director under the 2026-2027 DGA Rate Card, but that flexibility comes with obligations.
Employers are still required to contribute 22.25% in pension and health fringes on top of whatever rate is agreed to. Additionally, the director must be given the same number of days in post-production to supervise the edit as were spent on principal photography—with a minimum of 20 days guaranteed regardless of the length of the shoot.
For UPMs and ADs, minimums do apply at this level and vary by tier. Level 2 covers budgets between $1.1 million and $3 million, while Level 1B applies to budgets between $500,000 and $1.1 million. For Level 1A productions—those budgeted at $500,000 or less—director and AD/UPM compensation is fully negotiable, though all employers must still comply with applicable federal and state minimum wage laws regardless of budget tier.
Television DGA rates are structured differently from theatrical rates. Rather than budget tiers, the primary factors are where the show airs, how long each episode is, and whether you're producing an established series or a pilot. Because a pilot director is responsible for setting the creative tone, visual language, and overall framework of a series, pilot rates are higher and are covered separately in the next section. The rates below apply to episodic television—existing series with an established creative foundation already in place.
The major broadcast networks—ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC—operate under their own rate structure and generally offer the highest director minimums in episodic television. When calculating rates for network prime-time, the key variable is episode length. Budget is not a factor at this level.
The DGA Rate Card categorizes these as "dramatic programs,"but that term covers all scripted narrative programming, including comedies. Reality and non-scripted programming is excluded.
Non-network, non-prime-time rates apply to scripted programming produced outside of the four major broadcast networks, covering syndication, local broadcast, and similar distribution channels. Like network prime-time, episode length is the primary variable driving the rate, and the same "dramatic programs" definition applies: scripted narrative programming including comedies, but excluding reality and non-scripted content.
Rates here are lower than network prime-time, reflecting the smaller budgets typical of non-broadcast productions. Basic cable productions operate under their own separate rate structure, covered in the next section.
Basic cable rates apply to scripted dramatic programming on cable channels and are structured differently from both network and non-network, non-prime-time rates. Rather than a single rate per episode length, basic cable minimums vary based on a combination of episode length, budget, and—in some cases—whether the series is in its first season or a subsequent one. This makes the basic cable rate table the most nuanced of the episodic television categories.
As with other television categories, "dramatic programs" includes comedies and other scripted narrative formats. Reality and non-scripted programming is excluded.
Rates at this level are generally lower than network prime-time, and in some first-season or lower-budget scenarios, may also be lower than non-network, non-prime-time minimums. Always confirm which category applies to your specific production before budgeting.
Directing a pilot carries a different weight than directing an episode of an existing series. As the first installment, a pilot establishes the tone, visual language, and creative framework for everything that follows, requiring directors to make a far greater number of creative and logistical decisions than they would on an established show. It's also why pilot directors often receive an executive producer credit. The DGA Rate Card reflects this added responsibility with higher compensation and more generous guaranteed prep and shooting periods than standard episodic rates.
As with episodic television, the exact minimums depend on where the pilot will air—network versus cable or non-network—and the program's length.
Network pilot rates are structured as a flat fee that scales with episode length, and they are consistently the highest pilot minimums in the rate card, reflecting the larger budgets and elevated expectations of the major broadcast networks.
Unlike episodic television, pilot agreements bundle prep and shooting days into a single set of included days rather than separating them. If production extends beyond those included days, additional compensation is owed at a fixed daily rate that varies by episode length.
Non-network and basic cable pilot rates follow the same structural framework as network pilots—the same number of included days, the same overage structure—but compensation is lower across the board, both for the flat program fee and for additional days worked beyond the guarantee.
It's worth keeping in mind that everything in this section represents the floor, not the going rate. In practice, directors—particularly those with established track records—routinely negotiate well above scale. The minimums are the contractual baseline; actual deals for high-profile talent often look very different.
Commercial productions operate under a separate DGA agreement from theatrical and television work—and on a different cycle. The current DGA Commercial Rate Card is effective December 1, 2025 through November 30, 2026.
The commercial agreement is more straightforward than the theatrical or television rate card. Rates are expressed as flat daily and weekly minimums rather than guaranteed work periods tied to budget tiers. That said, there are still important obligations beyond base pay to factor in.
For commercial productions, the Pension and Health contribution rate is 20.5%, broken down as 8.75% to the Pension Plan, 11.25% to the Health Plan, 0.25% to the Diversity Program Fund, and 0.25% to the Commercial Qualifications List Administration. Note that this is a different rate from theatrical and television productions. Employers must also contribute 14.5% to the Health Plan on vacation pay, plus 4% vacation pay and 3.292% in unworked holiday pay, both disbursed at layoff or termination.
The DGA also has specific provisions for low-budget commercials—defined differently for AICP and non-AICP companies—so if your production falls below certain cost thresholds, it's worth contacting the DGA directly to confirm which terms apply.
DGA rates are among the more layered compensation structures in the industry, and even experienced producers and production accountants benefit from a careful read before budgeting. The figures in this guide reflect the minimums established in the current agreements, but contracts evolve and edge cases are common. When in doubt, confirm directly with the Directors Guild of America.
The theatrical, television, and pilot rates outlined here are valid through June 30, 2027. The Commercial Rate Card runs on a separate cycle through November 30, 2026. We'll update this guide when new rates take effect; bookmark it as a reference point for your current and upcoming productions.
If you're also budgeting for talent, our Essential Guide to SAG-AFTRA Rates 2026 covers the latest minimums across theatrical, television, commercial, and new media agreements. And if you're looking for a more streamlined way to manage entertainment payroll and production accounting, watch our demo to see how Wrapbook can help.
