How To Become A Key Grip: What It Is and Career Path

What is a key grip and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a key grip. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.49 an hour? That's $42,609 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 358,300 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreKey GripUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,609

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.4

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.15%

Asian 5.55%

Black or African American 14.48%

Hispanic or Latino 23.16%

Unknown 5.32%

White 50.34%

Gender

female 11.11%

male 88.89%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

6.4

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

4.7

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a key grip

Explore key grip education requirements

Most common key grip degrees

Bachelor's

72.9 %

Associate

17.0 %

High School Diploma

4.3 %

Start to develop specific key grip skills

Skills	Percentages
Gaffer	29.47%
Production Equipment	21.90%
Music Videos	14.50%
DP	8.31%
JIB	6.20%

Complete relevant key grip training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New key grips learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a key grip based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real key grip resumes.

Research key grip duties and responsibilities

Work with the cinematographer to achieve the right look for the film in terms of lighting (ARRI, Kino).
Work on the UCLA student film as key grip and gaffer.
Implement the lighting setup design by the director of photography and gaffer.
Work with DP to create the aesthetic of the film using lighting.

Prepare your key grip resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your key grip resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a key grip resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable key grip resume templates

Build a professional key grip resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your key grip resume.