A film's cast is everyone who performs on screen. Its crew is everyone who works behind the camera to make production happen. Saturation.io lists the two groups separately in its cast and crew guide.
That split helps you read credits, job posts, and call sheets faster. If a name appears with a character, it is cast. If it appears with a craft or department, it is crew.
Table of Contents
- Who counts as cast?
- Who counts as crew?
- How do hiring and pay differ?
- Why does above-the-line cause confusion?
Who counts as cast?
Principal actors carry the story, while supporting actors, day players, stunt performers, and background actors fill smaller or specialized on-screen roles. All of them perform for the camera, so all belong to cast.
That is why a lead and an extra appear under the same broad heading despite very different billing. SAG-AFTRA represents about 160,000 actors, announcers, dancers, stunt performers, voiceover artists, and other media professionals. The union describes them as the faces and voices entertaining audiences in its membership overview.
Who counts as crew?
Crew covers every behind-camera job needed to shoot and support the film. That range runs from the director of photography to production assistants, plus camera, lighting, sound, art, and related crafts. No crew member performs as a character in the story.
IATSE counts more than 168,000 workers in arts, media, and entertainment crafts in its union profile. The Directors Guild of America represents directors and the directorial team, including assistant directors and unit production managers. That placement puts directors in crew leadership, not cast.
How do hiring and pay differ?
Cast and crew enter through different doors. According to Saturation.io, cast are booked by the casting director and paid under SAG-AFTRA agreements on union shows. Crew are hired by department heads under IATSE, Teamsters, and other agreements, so payroll and work rules differ.
That difference also affects pay structure. Above-the-line deals for directors, producers, writers, and principal cast are fixed or negotiated. Below-the-line crew are generally hourly or daily under guild rules.
- Cast route: casting-director booking, SAG-AFTRA terms
- Crew route: department-head hiring, craft-union terms
- Pay result: negotiated deal versus hourly or daily rate
Why does above-the-line cause confusion?
People often mix cast and crew with above-the-line and below-the-line. Merriam-Webster still defines cast and crew broadly as all the actors and other people who work to produce a show in its dictionary entry.
New Mexico Film Office guidance treats extras as below-the-line but featured or principal talent as above-the-line. It defines below-the-line as temporary technical crew without creative or financial control who do not receive residuals.