Night shoot with production lights on the filming set

BotBuhdy · Fan research

The Jobs Behind a Reacher Season

Every job it takes to make a big streaming action series in Ontario, from first idea to restoring the last location.

Unofficial fan research project. Not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Amazon, Amazon MGM Studios, Prime Video, Skydance or the Reacher production.

This page lists 275 roles that a season of a show like Reacher Season 5 can involve, from the studio executives and writers at the start to the crews who strike the sets and put every location back the way they found it. For each role you'll find what the job is, who it reports to, which Ontario union or guild covers it, the published minimum pay where one exists, and a career block with official occupation data.

Every figure is an estimate or a published union minimum from public sources. Nothing here comes from the production. Real pay is often higher: department heads and experienced people regularly negotiate above the minimum.

Station set building and platform beside the tracks on the filming set
The station set on a shoot day. Photo: @BotBuhdy
275roles 40departments 5phases 8episodes
Steel rail structure silhouetted at sunset near the filming set
Sunset on a shoot day
Lighting crane over a station set
A lighting crane over the set
Thumbnail for our jobs video▶ Watch the jobs video
Who Makes Reacher? Our video about this page (on YouTube)

Set photos by @BotBuhdy. Faces, licence plates and signs are blurred.

What a season costs

A rough price tag, built from public rates

These totals come from a scale scenario: a bottom-up estimate where every performer, including series regulars, is paid the published union minimum, and every crew role is costed from public rate cards. Amounts are in Canadian dollars with US dollars alongside, at 1 USD = 1.4145 CAD, for 8 episodes.

Season, grossC$92.58MUS$65.45Mestimate
Season, net of tax creditsC$71.11MUS$50.27Mestimate
Per episodeC$11.57Mgross · C$8.89M netestimate
Basis8 episodes1 USD = 1.4145 CADrate verified
Producer, showrunner and book-rights fees are not public and are not included. Real star deals are private and higher, so the true total is above this. This is not the real budget.
Waterfall chart: season cost categories add up to about C$92.6 million gross, and the Ontario and federal production-services tax credits bring it down to about C$71.1 million net (scale scenario, estimates)
How the season adds up, then the tax credits that flow back (C$ millions, estimates). Tap to enlarge.
Treemap of the season budget by category: crew labour, about C$37.1 million, is the biggest block, followed by post and VFX, equipment and transport, and sets and construction (estimates)
The season budget by category (scale scenario, estimates). Tap to enlarge.
↓ Download the public edition (PDF, 10 pages, 0.5 MB)

The public scale scenario (every performer at union minimum), not the real budget. Location-specific pages are left out.

Data downloads

  • ↓ Crew careers data CSV · 1.7 MB All 275 roles in 110 columns: official occupation match, education, job outlook, Ontario and Toronto job-market wages, union entry, training and AI exposure bands. Unofficial fan research. Estimates, not the real budget.
  • ↓ Jobs & costs workbook Excel (XLSX) · 333 KB Public workbook with the scale-scenario season costs, all 275 jobs, career data, the AI outlook and every source. Unofficial fan research. Estimates, not the real budget.

Where the money goes

Season cost lines, gross, then the two production-services tax credits that flow back to the producer. Bars are scaled to the biggest line.

  1. Writing & directingC$3.82M / US$2.70M
    estimate 4.1% of gross
  2. Cast (above the line)C$2.61M / US$1.84M
    estimate 2.8% of gross
  3. ATL travel & housingC$2.00M / US$1.41M
    estimate 2.2% of grossIncludes producers' travel and housing, which is an expense, not a fee
  4. Cast & performers (below the line)C$3.71M / US$2.62M
    estimate 4.0% of gross
  5. Crew labourC$37.10M / US$26.22M
    estimate 40.1% of gross
  6. Sets & constructionC$8.36M / US$5.91M
    estimate 9.0% of gross
  7. LocationsC$5.23M / US$3.70M
    estimate 5.7% of gross
  8. Equipment & transportC$8.53M / US$6.03M
    estimate 9.2% of gross
  9. Post & VFXC$11.76M / US$8.31M
    estimate 12.7% of gross
  10. OverheadsC$5.17M / US$3.66M
    estimate 5.6% of gross
  11. InsuranceC$1.60M / US$1.13M
    estimate 1.7% of gross
  12. ContingencyC$2.70M / US$1.91M
    estimate 2.9% of gross
  13. Ontario Production Services Tax Credit (OPSTC)−C$15.93M / US$11.26M
    estimate (rate verified) 17.2% of gross
  14. Federal Production Services Tax Credit (PSTC)−C$5.54M / US$3.92M
    estimate (rate verified) 6.0% of gross

Who gets paid

The same season grouped by payee type (likely case). Flows are union plans and payroll taxes; the reserve is contingency.

  • IndividualsC$40.99M / US$28.98M
  • Property owners & communityC$2.98M / US$2.11M
  • Companies & vendorsC$36.74M / US$25.97M
  • Flows (not payees)C$9.18M / US$6.49M
  • Reserve (not a payee)C$2.70M / US$1.91M
  • Tax credits flowing back−C$21.47M / US$15.18M
Crew labour by department

Estimated wages for each crew department across the season, likely case with low–high range. Benefits and employer payroll taxes are shown as their own line.

  • Union benefits & employer payroll taxes (crew)C$8.49M (range C$4.04M–C$13.07M)
  • ConstructionC$5.50M (range C$1.84M–C$7.70M)
  • Production management & ADsC$3.33M (range C$2.38M–C$4.75M)
  • TransportationC$3.30M (range C$1.80M–C$4.50M)
  • Grip & electricC$3.25M (range C$1.48M–C$4.55M)
  • Second unitC$2.40M (range C$0.50M–C$3.30M)
  • Art departmentC$1.71M (range C$1.08M–C$2.52M)
  • Set decoration, greens & propsC$1.60M (range C$1.00M–C$3.02M)
  • CameraC$1.50M (range C$0.90M–C$2.24M)
  • Locations staffC$1.20M (range C$0.80M–C$1.78M)
  • Scenic paintC$1.12M (range C$0.70M–C$2.23M)
  • WardrobeC$0.96M (range C$0.60M–C$1.73M)
  • Hair & makeupC$0.75M (range C$0.45M–C$1.12M)
  • Special effectsC$0.70M (range C$0.40M–C$1.20M)
  • Production soundC$0.42M (range C$0.21M–C$0.56M)
  • Catering & craft serviceC$0.36M (range C$0.24M–C$0.52M)
  • Picture vehiclesC$0.20M (range C$0.10M–C$0.40M)
  • Basecamp & parkingC$0.17M (range C$0.10M–C$0.26M)
  • Production office, health & safetyC$0.14M (range C$0.09M–C$0.22M)
Bar chart of crew labour by department: union benefits and employer payroll taxes about C$8.5 million, construction about C$5.5 million, then production management, transportation and grip and electric at about C$3.3 million each (estimates)
Crew labour by department across the season (C$ millions, estimates). Tap to enlarge.

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The crew

All 275 roles

Search by job, skill or union, or filter by department, by phase of the production and by AI exposure. Open Career path & job outlook on any card for education, demand, Ontario wages and how people get in.

Tap a photo to see every role in that crew group (all other filters are cleared). Set photos by @BotBuhdy, used as illustrations; faces and plates blurred.

Bar chart of the 15 jobs with the biggest total season pay across everyone in the role, led by drivers (30 people), carpenters (25) and background performers (30); union minimum or proxy rates, estimates
Top 15 jobs by total season pay for everyone in the role (union minimum or proxy rates; head counts are estimates). Tap to enlarge.
How to read the tags
  • VERIFIED taken directly from an official or union source.
  • ESTIMATE worked out by the research project from public data, or a proxy from a related job.
  • REPORTED reported by a secondary source, or a source page that could not be fully read.
  • general description a typical industry pattern, not specific to this show.
  • PROXY a stand-in measure (for example a US survey), not a direct measurement.

Union minimum means the lowest rate a union agreement allows. Experienced people and department heads often earn more. Career data (Canada's NOC, Job Bank and COPS; the US O*NET and BLS) describe whole occupations across all industries, not just film. Where there is no reliable public data on job satisfaction, the card says so.

Loading roles…

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Sources

Where the numbers come from

Public sources cited by the research behind this page, as checked on September 26, 2026. Source IDs on the cards (such as S23) link here. Rates and rules change, so check the source before relying on a figure. One news link from the research list is withheld here and a municipal filming guide is left out; neither is needed for the figures shown.

↓ Download the public edition (PDF, 10 pages, 0.5 MB) The public scale scenario (every performer at union minimum), not the real budget. CSV and Excel downloads.

  1. S01 Prime Video Renews Global Hit Series Reacher for Fifth Season Ahead of Season Four Premiere · Amazon MGM Studios (press release)
  2. S03 REACHER Season 5 With Alan Ritchson Shooting in Toronto This Summer & Fall (Susan Gittins) · Hollywood North Buzz (Toronto production trade blog)
  3. S04 REACHER Season 4 With Alan Ritchson: Toronto Filming Dates (Susan Gittins) · Hollywood North Buzz
  4. S05 'Reacher' wraps up filming at Minden Whitewater Preserve in the Haliburton Highlands (Bruce Head) · kawarthaNOW
  5. S06 'Reacher' to make appearance in Minden · The Highlander (Haliburton County)
  6. S07 Filming for 'Reacher' Season 5 Starts in Oshawa · Ontario Chronicle
  7. S09 Make Me by Lee Child (Jack Reacher 20) · Penguin Books UK
  8. S14 'The Pitt' Is Case Study For Fixed-Fee Cast Payment Model (Nellie Andreeva) · Deadline
  9. S17 Ontario Production Services Tax Credit (OPSTC) · Ontario Creates (Government of Ontario agency)
  10. S18 OPSTC Guidelines · Ontario Creates
  11. S20 Film or video production services tax credit - Overview · Canada Revenue Agency
  12. S21 Application Policy FMTC 2017-01: Assistance · Canada Revenue Agency
  13. S22 2025 Film and Television Production Statistics · Ontario Creates
  14. S23 2024-28 I.A.T.S.E. Local 873 wage schedules (incl. Television Production Rate Card, 3rd+ seasons of Tier 1 HB SVOD series for 20M+ subscribers) · IATSE Local 873 (Toronto)
  15. S24 2025-2027 Independent Production Agreement (IPA) - Rate Chart · ACTRA
  16. S25 2026-2028 DGC/CMPA Standard Agreement - Ontario rates · Directors Guild of Canada Ontario / CMPA
  17. S26 Plan Your Shoot · City of Toronto Film, Television & Digital Media Office
  18. S27 Guidelines for Filming in Toronto · City of Toronto
  19. S28 Request a Paid Duty Officer · Toronto Police Service
  20. S29 Valet API: FXUSDCAD daily average exchange rate · Bank of Canada
  21. S31 'Reacher' Season 4 Release Date (Josh Sorokach) · Decider
  22. S32 2018-2021 IATSE Local 873 Long Term Agreement (Article 14 and fringe tables) · IATSE Local 873
  23. S33 IATSE Local 873 Contract Ratification Information 2021 · IATSE Local 873
  24. S34 General Memorandum of Agreement of January 20, 2024 (IATSE 873 2024-2028) · IATSE Local 873
  25. S35 2023-2025 DGC/CMPA Standard Agreement, Schedule 5 (DGC Ontario), Article ON5.07 · DGC Ontario / CMPA
  26. S36 IPA 2025 - 2027 is Ratified · ACTRA Toronto
  27. S37 T4032-ON Payroll Deductions Tables, January 2026: general information · Canada Revenue Agency
  28. S38 Employer Health Tax (EHT) · Government of Ontario
  29. S39 2026 premium rates · WSIB Ontario
  30. S40 2023 Premium Rates Manual · WSIB Ontario
  31. S41 Your guide to the Employment Standards Act: Vacation · Government of Ontario
  32. S42 Wages: Security guards and related security service occupations (NOC 64410), Toronto Region · Job Bank, Government of Canada
  33. S43 Rates · Ontario Grip Truck (GTA rental company)
  34. S44 Screen Industry Pathways - Toronto Career Guide · City of Toronto
  35. S45 Pre-Production Roles (Careers in the Toronto Film Industry) · City of Toronto
  36. S46 Production Roles (Careers in the Toronto Film Industry) · City of Toronto
  37. S47 Post-Production Roles (Careers in the Toronto Film Industry) · City of Toronto
  38. S48 Visual Effects Roles (Careers in the Toronto Film Industry) · City of Toronto
  39. S49 Departments · IATSE Local 411
  40. S50 Who We Are / Categories & How To Join · IATSE Local 667
  41. S51 Producers / Departments · NABET 700-M UNIFOR
  42. S52 Independent Production Agreement 2024-2027, Article A1 · Writers Guild of Canada
  43. S53 Independent Production Agreement 2024-2027, Article A8 (Story Editors) · Writers Guild of Canada
  44. S54 Safety guidelines for the film and television industry · Government of Ontario
  45. S55 Guideline No. 1: First aid · Government of Ontario
  46. S56 Guideline No. 39: Firearms · Government of Ontario
  47. S57 Security guard or private investigator licence (individuals) · Government of Ontario
  48. S58 Careers in Film (career directory and profiles) · REEL CANADA
  49. S59 Organize Today · Teamsters Local 419
  50. S60 2025-2027 Craftservice Providers and Honeywagon Operators Agreement · IATSE Local 411 / CMPA
  51. S61 IATSE Local 411 Production Coordinators 2026 Contract Summary · IATSE Local 411
  52. S62 WGC/CMPA Independent Production Agreement 2024-2027 Script Fees (rate sheet) · Writers Guild of Canada
  53. S63 2026-2028 DGC/CMPA Standard Agreement - Directors Schedule · CMPA / Directors Guild of Canada
  54. S64 2026-2028 DGC/CMPA Standard Agreement - Budget Tiers · CMPA / Directors Guild of Canada
  55. S65 ACTRA-CMPA-AQPM Independent Production Agreement 2025-2027 (official copy) · ACTRA
  56. S66 Child performers guideline, Part II: Protecting Child Performers Act, 2015 · Government of Ontario (Ministry of Labour)
  57. S67 Guideline No. 24: Child performers · Government of Ontario (Safety guidelines for the film and television industry)
  58. S68 NABET 700-M UNIFOR/CMPA 2025-2027 Collective Agreement, Schedule 2 Minimum Rates · CMPA / NABET 700-M UNIFOR
  59. S70 Independent Production Agreement 2024-2027, Article A13 (Insurance and Retirement Plan) · Writers Guild of Canada
  60. S72 Wages: Cook (NOC 63200), Toronto Region · Job Bank, Government of Canada
  61. S73 Wages: Paramedic (NOC 32102), Toronto Region · Job Bank, Government of Canada
  62. S74 Wages: Casting director (NOC 51120), Toronto Region · Job Bank, Government of Canada
  63. S75 Wages: Executive assistant (NOC 12100), Toronto Region · Job Bank, Government of Canada
  64. S76 Wages: Lifeguard (NOC 54100), Toronto Region · Job Bank, Government of Canada
  65. S77 Wages: Flagperson (NOC 75110), Toronto Region · Job Bank, Government of Canada
  66. S78 Wages: Animal trainer, except horses or marine mammals (NOC 65220), Toronto Region · Job Bank, Government of Canada
  67. S79 Wages: Health and safety officer (NOC 22232), Toronto Region · Job Bank, Government of Canada
  68. S80 Wages: First aid attendant - emergency (NOC 33102), Toronto Region · Job Bank, Government of Canada
  69. S81 Wages: Secondary school teacher (NOC 41220), Toronto Region · Job Bank, Government of Canada
  70. S82 2026-30 SAG-AFTRA Agreement Wage Tables (Television Agreement minimums) · AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers)
  71. S83 Television contribution rates (pension and health) · SAG-AFTRA Health Plan and SAG-Producers Pension Plan (sagaftraplans.org)
  72. S84 Global Rule One · SAG-AFTRA
  73. S85 The Cross-Border Challenge (Law Society of Upper Canada symposium paper) · Dentons Canada LLP
  74. S86 Essential Guide to SAG-AFTRA Rates 2026 · Wrapbook (payroll company blog)
  75. S87 What to know when working with Toronto Locations (property owners) · Toronto Locations (location services company)
  76. S88 How it Works · MyLocations.tv (location agency)
  77. S90 National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 Version 1.0: unit group profiles (index of titles, employment requirements) · Employment and Social Development Canada / Statistics Canada
  78. S91 Introduction to the National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 Version 1.0: TEER categories · Statistics Canada
  79. S92 O*NET 31.0 Database (Job Zones, Education, Work Context, Abilities, Job Titles, Sample of Reported Titles) · National Center for O*NET Development, for the U.S. Department of Labor
  80. S93 Employment Projections 2025-35, Table 1.2: Occupational projections and worker characteristics · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
  81. S94 3-Year Employment Outlooks 2025-2027 (open data, NOC 2021) · Job Bank, Employment and Social Development Canada (open.canada.ca)
  82. S95 Wages 2025 (open data, NOC 2021) · Job Bank, Employment and Social Development Canada (open.canada.ca)
  83. S96 Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS) 2024-2033: summary of job openings and job seekers, and projected labour market conditions · Employment and Social Development Canada (open.canada.ca)
  84. S97 Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, 2025 annual averages, Table 11: Employed persons by detailed occupation, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
  85. S98 Apply for membership · IATSE Local 873 (Toronto film technicians)
  86. S99 FAQ · IATSE Local 873
  87. S100 Departmental Mandatory Requirements and Certifications · IATSE Local 873
  88. S101 Apply for Permittee Status · NABET 700-M Unifor
  89. S102 Becoming a Member · NABET 700-M Unifor
  90. S103 How to join · ACTRA Toronto
  91. S104 Become a Member/Permittee · IATSE Local 411 (production coordinators, craft service, honeywagon operators, production assistants)
  92. S105 Guild Apprenticeship Program (GAP) · Directors Guild of Canada, Ontario District Council
  93. S106 Benefits of Membership · Writers Guild of Canada
  94. S107 Compulsory trades and enforcement · Government of Ontario
  95. S108 Compulsory Trades (list) · Skilled Trades Ontario
  96. S109 1.4 Employment and economic contribution (Profile 2025, overview of the screen sector in Canada, 2024/25) · Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), with AQPM and Canadian Heritage; research by Nordicity
  97. S110 Training for working at heights · Government of Ontario
  98. S111 A and D licence classes and requirements (Official MTO Truck Handbook) · Government of Ontario, Ministry of Transportation
  99. S112 Bus licence classes C and F (Official MTO Bus Handbook) · Government of Ontario, Ministry of Transportation
  100. S113 Getting a drone pilot certificate · Transport Canada
  101. S114 Film and Television Production (advanced diploma) · Humber Polytechnic (Toronto)
  102. S115 Visual Effects (Ontario College Graduate Certificate) · Sheridan College (Oakville)
  103. S116 Makeup for Media and Creative Arts (diploma) · Sheridan College (Trafalgar Campus, Oakville)
  104. S117 Experimental Estimates of Potential Artificial Intelligence Occupational Exposure in Canada (Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series, 11F0019M no. 478); companion article "Exposure to artificial intelligence in Canadian jobs: Experimental estimates" (Economic and Social Reports 36-28-0001) · Statistics Canada (Tahsin Mehdi and Rene Morissette)
  105. S118 Correspondence Table: National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2016 V1.3 to NOC 2021 V1.0 (CSV) · Statistics Canada
  106. S119 AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) data appendix, from Felten, Raj and Seamans, "Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses" (Strategic Management Journal, 2021) · Edward Felten, Manav Raj, Robert Seamans (AIOE-Data GitHub repository)
  107. S120 "GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs" (Science, 2024), occupation-level data file occ_level.csv · Tyna Eloundou, Sam Manning, Pamela Mishkin, Daniel Rock (OpenAI / University of Pennsylvania; GitHub repository openai/GPTs-are-GPTs)
  108. S121 Anthropic Economic Index, labor market impacts: job_exposure.csv; method in Massenkoff and McCrory, "Labor market impacts of AI: A new measure and early evidence" · Anthropic (Hugging Face dataset Anthropic/EconomicIndex; research post)
  109. S122 Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140) · International Labour Organization (Pawel Gmyrek, Janine Berg and co-authors)
  110. S123 ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC crosswalk (ISCO_SOC_Crosswalk.xls, August 2012, updated June 2015) · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (read from an Internet Archive copy)
  111. S124 O*NET-SOC 2010 to O*NET-SOC 2019 Crosswalk · National Center for O*NET Development
  112. S125 The Future of Employment: How Susceptible are Jobs to Computerisation? (DATED 2013 REFERENCE) · Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne, Oxford Martin School
  113. S126 The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on the Labor Market (working paper) · Michael Webb
  114. S127 Artificial Intelligence (Know Your Rights: 2023 MBA AI provisions) · Writers Guild of America
  115. S128 TV/Theatrical Contracts 2023 Summary Agreement (November 16, 2023) · SAG-AFTRA (read from an Internet Archive copy)
  116. S129 2024 Summary of Basic Agreement Negotiations (June 28, 2024) · IATSE
  117. S130 Memorandum of Agreement, IATSE Local 873 (2024 renewal), item 17 Generative AI side letter · IATSE Local 873
  118. S131 DGC-CMPA Standard Agreement 2026-2028, Core Agreement, Letter of Understanding No. 11 (Generative Artificial Intelligence) · Canadian Media Producers Association / Directors Guild of Canada
  119. S132 AI in VFX: Netflix Tests the Creative Waters · postPerspective
  120. S133 The $50 Million Movie 'Here' De-Aged Tom Hanks With Generative AI · WIRED
  121. S134 Lionsgate 'Fall' Used Deepfake-Style Tech to Change 30-Plus F-Bombs · Variety
  122. S135 How the Rise of AI Tools Like Runway Are Changing Filmmaking · Variety
  123. S136 New AI Innovation in Industry-Leading Adobe Premiere Pro Empowers Video Pros to Generate, Edit and Search Footage at Lightning Speed · Adobe (news release)
  124. S137 Bolt: High-Speed Cinema Robot (product page) · Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC)
  125. S138 Production Pros Weigh Pros and Cons of Helicopters vs. Drones · Variety
  126. S139 'The Brutalist' Editor Says Filmmakers Used AI Tools To Enhance Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones' Hungarian Dialogue · Deadline

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