How To Become A Production Helper: What It Is and Career Path

What is a production helper and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Research is what it takes to become a production helper. Production helpers work with many film or television crew members to create a movie or television show. They take care of the many administrative tasks behind the scenes of movie or television productions.

You'll often work long and irregular hours in this role and assist several different people, including talent, directors and assistant directors, lighting directors, producers, and camera operators. Examples of the tasks you may be called upon include errands such as deliveries, maintaining silence on the set, assisting with groups, performing research, and conducting phone work.

You aren't required to have a specific degree or certification to work as a PA. Many PAs, however, do have bachelor's degrees in communication, film, television production, or a related field.

The individuals who gravitate towards this field end up laying claim to annual earnings at $37,284. However, this figure can vary significantly depending upon your experience, skills, and academic qualification.

ScoreProduction HelperUS Average

Salary

2.5

Avg. Salary $32,333

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.9

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.13%

Asian 4.20%

Black or African American 11.69%

Hispanic or Latino 19.89%

Unknown 4.10%

White 58.99%

Gender

female 31.37%

male 68.63%

Age - 35

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 - 35

Stress level

4.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.6

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a production helper

Explore production helper education requirements

Most common production helper degrees

High School Diploma

44.5 %

Diploma

17.8 %

Associate

16.3 %

Start to develop specific production helper skills

Skills	Percentages
Cranes	16.49%
Hand Tools	11.74%
Production Process	8.82%
Cleanliness	8.71%
Pallets	4.98%

Complete relevant production helper training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New production helpers 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 production helper based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real production helper resumes.

Research production helper duties and responsibilities

Manage and instruct workers in the art of food preparation as culinary team leader.
Set up wire to be run.
Used safety ppe and follow safety quidelines.
Promote to the extrusion department as an assistant press operator.

Prepare your production helper resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your production helper 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 production helper resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable production helper resume templates

Build a professional production helper 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 production helper resume.