Every stylist in LA has thought about it at least once: what would it take to do hair or makeup on a real production — a film set, a TV series, an awards show? Living in Southern California puts you closer to that career than almost anyone else in the country. But the path into film and TV work is genuinely different from salon work, and almost nobody explains it clearly. Let's fix that.
The short answer
To become a film and TV hairstylist or makeup artist in LA: get the training you need, build a professional kit and portfolio, work non-union productions until you have enough documented industry days, register with Contract Services, and qualify for IATSE Local 706, the Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild. Local 706 is the gate to major studio film and television work, and it is a numbers game with published rules — not a mystery.
The licensing question is more interesting than most articles admit, so let's start there.
Do you actually need a license to do hair or makeup on set in California?
Almost every "how to become a makeup artist" article says yes, flatly. The real answer has a carve-out written specifically for this industry, and most people have never read it.
Start with the general rule. California's Barbering and Cosmetology Act defines skin care to include "applying makeup" (Business and Professions Code section 7316), and section 7317 makes it unlawful to practice cosmetology for compensation without a license. That's the rule that governs salons, spas, and freelance clients.
But section 7319 lists who's exempt from the whole chapter, and subdivision (c) reads:
Persons employed to render barbering, cosmetology, or electrolysis services in the course of and incidental to the business of employers engaged in the theatrical, radio, television or motion picture production industry.
That's a real exemption, it's been on the books since 1999, and it covers hair as well as makeup — not just makeup. If you're employed by a production, the state's license requirement doesn't reach that work.
Read the limits just as carefully, though. The exemption is tied to being employed by a production. It does not follow you off set. The moment you take a bridal client, rent a salon chair, or do makeup for a paying customer who isn't a production employer, you're back under the license requirement with no exemption to stand on.
What that means in practice
- Makeup artists: for production work, no state license is required under 7319(c). Local 706 doesn't require one either — for its makeup artist category it requires you to pass a color blindness examination through Contract Services. Plenty of working set makeup artists in LA are unlicensed and are breaking no law.
- Hair stylists: the state exemption would cover you, but Local 706 requires a current California cosmetologist license from hair stylist applicants as a condition of membership (California has no separate hairstylist license — cosmetology is the one that covers hair). That's a union rule, not a state rule — and since the union is the destination, the license is the price of admission.
None of this is legal advice, and the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology is the authority on how the exemption applies to any specific job. If you're building a career on it, confirm your situation with the Board or an attorney.
Why most people get licensed anyway
Here's the practical argument, and it has nothing to do with the law. Set work is feast or famine, especially in your first few years. A license is what lets you earn between gigs — bridal and event makeup, salon work, spa work, freelance clients — all of which sit outside the production exemption (and once you're licensed, on-location work like bridal at a venue runs under a personal service permit). It also opens the union door on the hair side, which is where the day rates, health coverage, and pension live.
If you want the widest license, Beyond's 1,000-hour cosmetology program covers hair, color, chemical services, skin, and makeup. It runs about 8 months full-time at $17,560 total cost, daytime only, Tuesday through Saturday 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM (a part-time day track runs 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM). If makeup and skin are where you're headed and you don't need hair, our 600-hour esthetician program ($11,206.50, day or evening) is the shorter route. Weighing the two? Read esthetician vs. cosmetologist before you enroll.
Build your kit and your book
Production work is freelance work. You show up with your own professional kit and a portfolio that proves you can deliver the same result twice, on schedule, on someone else's clock. If you're in school, treat every look as a portfolio piece: photograph your work in consistent lighting, volunteer for student competitions and event styling, and drill period looks and clean, camera-ready beauty work — that's the bread and butter of episodic TV. Our post on career paths for licensed cosmetologists shows where set work sits among your options.
Work non-union and document every single day
Nobody starts on a studio lot. The industry runs on a roster system administered by Contract Services (CSATF), and the only currency it accepts is documented work days. That means indie films, music videos, commercials, and student films from LA's film schools — and it means keeping call sheets, pay stubs, and production contacts for every one of them.
There are a few published routes onto the Industry Experience Roster and into Local 706. The common ones:
- The "60-60-60" route: 60 days of non-union work in each of three different years, within the last five years, on productions in Los Angeles County.
- Off-roster hire: 30 days of union employment within 365 days, with benefit contributions made to the Motion Picture Industry Pension & Health Plans.
- Network broadcasting or legitimate theater: 30 days of union employment in that industry.
Requirements change and each craft has its own fine print, so confirm the current numbers with Local 706 and Contract Services before you count on them. The takeaway doesn't change: start logging days the week you start working.
Register, qualify, join
The application itself is administrative once you have the days. In broad strokes: register with Contract Services, submit your payroll verification and I-9 documents, provide your cosmetology license (hair) or pass the color blindness exam (makeup), complete the required industry safety training, receive your qualification letter from Local 706, then complete the local's application and pay your initiation fee and dues.
What the union actually buys you
Once you're rostered and working union productions, this stops being a hustle and becomes a career: negotiated day rates, health coverage, a pension, and access to the biggest productions in the world. Getting there commonly takes a few years of non-union work. The stylists who make it are the ones who treated every low-budget set like a job interview — because that's exactly what it was.
While you climb, the work is everywhere here
The best part about doing this in LA is that the practice work pays. Commercials, music videos, brand shoots, influencer content, red-carpet prep, and editorial shoots hire freelance hair and makeup constantly, and most of that work is non-union — meaning it's open to you early. Every one of those jobs feeds your book, your network, and your day count at the same time.
Who this path fits
- People who like variable schedules, new crews, and long call days more than a steady salon chair.
- People willing to spend two to four years building days before the money gets good.
- People who are organized — the roster rewards whoever kept the paperwork.
- People already living in or near LA County, since the qualifying days are counted here.
If that doesn't sound like you, that's useful information too. Salon, spa, and freelance bridal work pay sooner and steadier, and a license opens all of them.
Your zip code is an advantage
From Santa Fe Springs you're a freeway drive from every major studio and from the daily churn of independent production across LA and Orange County. Students from our cosmetology school and esthetician school in Santa Fe Springs graduate into the densest market for hair and makeup work in the country. That's not hype, it's geography.
Come talk it through
Tour Beyond in Santa Fe Springs and tell us you're aiming for production work — we'll be straight with you about which license actually helps for the lane you want, and what to photograph while you're here. Federal financial aid is available for our cosmetology and esthetician programs; see financial aid options. Call (562) 404-6193. We're at 13640 Imperial Highway, Suites 6-8, Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670.
