DP Career Coachthe honest earnings math for working directors of photography

What does a working DP actually earn? Enter ten things about your career, from experience and market to kit, union status, and the work you actually book. You get a realistic range, low, median, and high, plus a ten-year projection.

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DP Career Coach earnings calculator screen

$9.99No adsNo accountMath runs on-deviceiOS 17+Built by a working DP

SEC · 01The App

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 guesswork), then shows how the trajectory compounds as your reel and network grow.

I built it because I got tired of guessing.

SEC · 02How It Works

Ten inputs. One honest number.two minutes of honesty about your own career

Ten inputs

YOU

01Years of experience: how long you have been working

02Market tier: smaller market through LA / NYC

03Production mix: commercial, narrative, corporate

04Days per month: how often you actually shoot

05Reel strength: how the work reads

06Network strength: who knows you, who calls

07Kit ownership: what camera package you own

08Union status: non-union through IATSE Local 600

09Specialty add-ons: drone, Steadicam, underwater

10Retainer clients: anchor relationships on the books

What comes back

THE APP

Year-one income rangeLow · Median · High

Effective day ratewhat you actually clear

Days booked / monthrealistic utilization

10-year projectionhow it compounds

Calculator showing a year-one income range and projection

SEC · 03The Coach

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.

Gear

Does a full cinema kit pay off for my market?

Union

What changes if I join IATSE Local 600?

Clients

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.

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Coach · 03

SEC · 04Trust

Where the numbers come fromreal schedules, not a hunch

IATSE wage schedulesDGA rate cardsAICP commercial agreementWrapbookMixing LightAIR Rate GuidePeer surveys

Rates compiled May 2026 from published union schedules, rate cards, and working-DP surveys, the same sources you’d triangulate yourself, already done for you.