International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)

Overview

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts (IATSE) is the largest entertainment industry union in North America, representing more than 150,000 technicians, artisans, and craftspeople working in film, television, live event production, and trade shows across the United States and Canada. Founded in 1893, IATSE is one of the oldest entertainment unions in existence and operates as an umbrella organization for dozens of local unions, each covering specific crafts and geographic regions.

IATSE negotiates the Industry Wide Basic Agreement and related agreements with the AMPTP, covering working conditions, minimum wages, benefit contributions, and safety standards for below-the-line crew across virtually every department on a union film or television production. The union's locals cover camera, lighting, grip, art department, costume, hair and makeup, set decoration, locations, post-production, and many other craft departments.

Structure: Locals and Departments

IATSE functions through a network of local unions, each with its own jurisdiction, membership requirements, and specific craft coverage. Key locals relevant to film production include:

Local 600 (International Cinematographers Guild) covering camera department crew, Local 728 (Studio Electrical Lighting Technicians) covering gaffers and best boys, Local 80 (Grips), Local 44 (Affiliated Property Craftspersons) covering prop masters and set dressers, Local 800 (Art Directors Guild), Local 706 (Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild), Local 705 (Costume Designers Guild), Local 891 (British Columbia) and Local 667 (Ontario) covering Canadian IATSE members, and Local 839 (The Animation Guild) covering animation artists.

Each local maintains its own roster, dispatch procedures, and sometimes supplemental agreements beyond the IATSE-wide contract.

IATSE Basic Agreement

The IATSE Basic Agreement establishes minimum hourly rates by classification, overtime and turnaround rules, meal penalty provisions, kit rental fees for crew who supply their own equipment, and pension, health, and retirement benefit contribution rates. The agreement distinguishes between "low-budget" and "basic" agreement tiers, with reduced minimums available to qualifying productions below certain budget thresholds.

In 2021, IATSE members voted to authorize a strike -- the first such vote in the union's 128-year history -- over long-standing grievances about inadequate rest periods, unsafe working conditions, and streaming residuals. The resulting deal with the AMPTP improved minimum rest periods (turnaround), increased minimum rates, and established new provisions for streaming productions.

What Filmmakers Should Know

Signing an IATSE agreement commits a production to hiring IATSE-covered crew in all crafts where IATSE has jurisdiction and to paying IATSE minimums and benefit contributions. For independent productions, IATSE's low-budget and modified agreements provide access to union crews at reduced rates. Understanding which locals cover which departments -- and which locals are active in the production's geographic location -- is essential pre-production planning for any union shoot.

Non-union productions that hire IATSE members without signing an agreement risk unfair labor practice charges and retroactive liability for unpaid benefit contributions.

See Also

For camera-specific IATSE coverage, see International Cinematographers Guild (Local 600) in this directory. For how below-the-line union costs appear in production budgets, see Above the Line vs Below the Line.