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The differences between casting assistants and assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a casting assistant, becoming an assistant takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, an assistant has an average salary of $37,363, which is higher than the $32,144 average annual salary of a casting assistant.
The top three skills for a casting assistant include music videos, reality and imovie. The most important skills for an assistant are patients, customer service, and patient care.
| Casting Assistant | Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $32,144 | $37,363 |
| Hourly rate | $15.45 | $17.96 |
| Growth rate | 8% | -8% |
| Number of jobs | 136 | 557,900 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Average age | 40 | 50 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 2 |
A casting assistant performs various support tasks to assist casting directors in selecting actors, models, and performers for fashion shows, commercials, film, television, and other productions. They participate in sorting through headshots and applications to come up with an initial list of talents, determining their availability, arranging meeting schedules, organizing auditions, and sending out materials for audition such as scripts or guidelines. They are also in charge of welcoming and briefing talents and agents, answering inquiries, filming the auditions, handling calls and correspondence post-audition, and running errands for the casting director as needed.
An assistant intern is responsible for facilitating administrative and clerical tasks as assigned by the management. Assistant interns' duties include keeping records of meetings, receiving calls and handling customer inquiries, assisting on writing reports and data entry processing, cooperating and providing support for business events, and adhering to company policies and regulatory procedures. Successful assistant interns must have excellent time-management, multi-tasking, and communication skills. They must be a team player and fast-learner to handle various tasks in the corporate industry.
Casting assistants and assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Casting Assistant | Assistant | |
| Average salary | $32,144 | $37,363 |
| Salary range | Between $21,000 And $47,000 | Between $16,000 And $82,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | - | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | - | Latham & Watkins |
| Best paying industry | - | Education |
There are a few differences between a casting assistant and an assistant in terms of educational background:
| Casting Assistant | Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 49% |
| Most common major | Photography | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Western Carolina University |
Here are the differences between casting assistants' and assistants' demographics:
| Casting Assistant | Assistant | |
| Average age | 40 | 50 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 37.2% Female, 62.8% | Male, 40.7% Female, 59.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.4% Asian, 6.4% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.4% Asian, 3.8% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 14% | 6% |