How much is a scenic designer paid?
The answer to this question varies immensly depending upon
market, experience, and demand. Those who start out work virtually
for free most of the time just to build up a portfolio. Theatre is
not known for great pay and smaller comanies have much less to
offer. A community theatre set design can range from maybe $200.
per job to possibly $1000. Larger, professional regional companies
are usually set up on some kind of scale basis depending upon
number of seats, type of show, union affiliation, etc - and
generally offer $1000 to about possibly $5000. for a design
fee.
Better financially endowed organizations can offer more - and
tend to be much more demanding in terms of experience and degree
qualifications. When that level is reached, oftentimes a fee is
negotiated. All theatre companies are different and have different
scales and requirements based on the specific project. The "scenic
artists" union (a couple of years back) seemed to quote the design
fee for one multi-set Broadway musical to being about 40K (with no
negotiating.) These positions are obviously incredibly difficult to
obtain.
I read once that the typical expected salary for a scenic
designer was estimated to be 45K. Most are not employed year round
- and those year round positions are rapidly decreasing because
companies find it more affordable to contract these positions in
with a variety of people willing to work for less (isn't that
sad?)
I estimate - never reaching that Broadway level, that one could
fathomly pull in (if very talented and good at booking jobs and
travelling) approximately 30K a year. Seems very hard work for very
very little pay, huh? SUPPORT THE ARTS PEOPLE!
Cheers!
