DP Career Coachthe honest earnings math for working directors of photography
What does a working DP actually earn? Ten inputs in — experience, market, kit, union, the work you actually book. A real number out: low, median, high, and a ten-year projection. Built by a working cinematographer who got tired of guessing.
Why it existsthe number nobody tells you when you start
Every cinematographer asks the same question, and almost nobody answers it honestly: what does this career actually pay? DP Career Coach gives you the real range for the US market — built on union schedules and rate cards, not vibes — then shows how the trajectory compounds as your reel and network grow.
Built by a working commercial cinematographer who got tired of guessing.
Ten inputs in. A real number out.two minutes of honesty about your own career
Ten inputs
YOUWhat comes back
THE APP
A coach that runs your numbersnot generic advice — your math
The calculator gives you the number. The built-in AI coachhelps you change it — read your results, pressure-test a decision, or run the math on a move you’re weighing, all in plain language and grounded in the same rate data.
Does a full cinema kit pay off for my market?
What changes if I join IATSE Local 600?
Is chasing a retainer client worth the trade?
Private by design: the calculator math runs entirely on your device — no network required. The chat connects to a small backend so the coach can reason about your numbers. No account, no login.
Where the numbers come fromreal schedules, not a hunch
Rates compiled May 2026 from published union schedules, rate cards, and working-DP surveys — the same sources you’d triangulate yourself, already done and kept current.
Private by default
- Free, with no ads and no account
- Your calculator inputs stay on your device
- No analytics SDK, no tracking, no ad networks
- Chat sends only your message — nothing is retained
This is my first app. Twenty years behind a camera, and the thing I shipped is a calculator — because when I started, the number nobody would tell me is the one I needed most.
Free on iPhone · iOS 17 and up · No account required