Top Skills for This Career
BLS identifies these as the three highest-rated skills for this detailed occupation. TrustInEd adds the plain-language explanations so visitors understand what each skill means.
Adjusting effectively when priorities, conditions, tools, or expectations change.
Communicating clearly through speech while listening carefully to understand others.
Identifying problems, considering possible solutions, and choosing appropriate actions.
How Do You Prepare for This Career?
BLS describes the typical preparation for this occupation. Requirements can vary by employer, state, licensing rules and individual circumstances.
How to Become One
How to Become a Producer or Director Producers and directors ensure that a project stays on schedule and within budget. Producers and directors typically have a bachelor’s degree. They also typically need several years of experience working on set in film, TV, stage, or other productions in positions such as actors, cinematographers, or film and video editors or in related occupations, such as theater managers.
Education
Producers and directors typically need a bachelor's degree in film or cinema studies or a related field, such as arts management, business, communications technology, or theater. In film or cinema studies programs, students learn about film history, editing, screenwriting, cinematography, and the filmmaking process. Stage directors may complete a degree in theater, and some go on to earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree. Courses may include directing, playwriting, set design, and acting. Work Experience in a Related Occupation Producers and directors might start out working in theatrical management offices as business or company managers. In television or film, they may begin as assistants or in other low-profile studio jobs. They may also participate in internships that provide opportunities to work alongside producers and directors. For more information, see the profile on film and video editors and camera operators. Advancement As a producer’s or director’s reputation grows, he or she may work on increasingly large, challenging, and expensive projects that attract publicity.
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Pay
the median annual wage for all workers was $50,980.
Job Outlook
Job Outlook Employment of producers and directors is projected to grow 4 percent from 2025 to 2035, about as fast as the average for all occupations. About 12,100 openings for producers and directors are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to different occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire. Employment Demand for video advertising across platforms is projected to increase demand for these workers. Additionally, new TV shows and movies, especially on online and streaming platforms, are expected to continue to create some opportunities for producers and directors. Demand for theater producers and directors will depend on funding availability. If there is a steady revenue stream, these workers may be in demand. However, opportunities for producers and directors may be limited in theaters with funding challenges. Producers and Directors Percent change in employment, projected 2025–35 Producers and directors 4% Entertainers and performers, sports and related workers 4% Total, all occupations 3% Note: All Occupations includes all occupations in the U.S. Economy.
What They Do
What Producers and Directors Do
Producers and directors make business and creative decisions about, film, television, stage, and other productions. They interpret a writer’s script to entertain, inform, or instruct an audience.
Duties
Producers and directors typically do the following:
- Select scripts or topics for a film, television, video, stage, or radio production
- Audition and select cast members and the film or stage crew
- Approve the design and financial aspects of a production
- Oversee the production process, including sound, lighting, and performances
- Oversee the postproduction process, including editing, music selection, special effects, and a performance’s overall tone
- Ensure that a project stays on schedule and within budget
- Promote finished productions or works through advertisements, film festivals, and interviews
Although producers and directors have distinct roles in a production, their work may overlap. For example, directors ultimately answer to producers, but some directors share producing duties for their own films.
Producers make the business and financial decisions for a film, stage production, or TV show. They raise money for the project and hire the director and crew, which may include designers, editors, and other workers. Some producers also assist in the selection of cast members. Producers set the budget and approve any major changes to the project. They make sure that the production is completed on time, and they are ultimately responsible for the final product.
Various producers often share responsibilities on large productions. For example, on a large movie set, an executive producer is in charge of the entire production and a line producer runs the day-to-day operations. A TV show may employ several assistant producers to whom the head or executive producer gives certain duties, such as supervising the costume and makeup teams.
Directors are responsible for the creative decisions of a production. They select cast members, conduct rehearsals, and direct the work of the cast and crew. During rehearsals, they work with the actors to help them portray their characters accurately. For nonfiction video, such as documentaries or live broadcasts, directors choose topics or subjects to film. They research the topic and may interview experts or relevant participants on camera. Directors also work with cinematographers and other crew members to ensure that the final product matches the overall vision.
Directors work with set designers, location scouts, and art directors to build a project’s set. They also work with costume designers to ensure that clothing suits the overall look of the production. During a film’s postproduction phase, they work closely with film editors and music supervisors to make sure that the final product meets the producer’s and director’s vision. Stage directors, unlike television or film directors, who document their product with cameras, make sure that the cast and crew give consistently strong live performances.
As with assistant producers, several assistant directors may work on large productions. Assistant directors help the director with small production tasks, such as making set changes or notifying the performers when it is their time to go onstage. Their specific responsibilities vary with the size and type of production they work on.
For more information about occupations related to producers and directors, see the profiles on actors, writers and authors, film and video editors and camera operators, dancers and choreographers, and multimedia artists and animators.
Work Environment
Work Environment
Producers and directors held about 181,000 jobs in 2025. The largest employers of producers and directors were as follows:
| Self-employed workers | 20% |
| Motion picture and video industries | 19 |
| Media streaming distribution services, social networks, and other media networks and content providers | 13 |
| Performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries | 9 |
| Television broadcasting stations | 7 |
Producers and directors are often under pressure to finish their work on time. Work assignments may be short, ranging from 1 day to a few months. They sometimes must work in unpleasant conditions, such as bad weather.
Theater directors and producers may travel with a touring show across the country, while those in film and television may work on location (a site away from the studio and where all or part of the filming occurs).
Work Schedules
Workdays for producers and directors may be long and irregular. Many do not have a standard workweek, because their schedules may change with each assignment or project. Evening, weekend, and holiday work is common. Most producers and directors work full time, and some work more than 40 hours per week.
Important Qualities
The following are examples of qualities that are important for these workers to perform their duties. For more information, visit the Employment Projections (EP) skills data page. Communication skills. Producers and directors must convey information and ideas clearly in order to coordinate many people to finish a production on time and within budget. Creativity. Because a script may be interpreted in different ways, directors must decide on their approach and on how to represent the script’s ideas for the production. Decision-making skills. Producers must find and hire, within budget, the best director and crew for the production. Directors must make choices that affect the look and feel of the production. Leadership skills. Directors instruct actors and help them portray their characters in a believable manner. They also supervise the crew, which is responsible for behind-the-scenes work.
More Information
More Information, Including Links to O*NET
Learn more about producers and directors by visiting additional resources, including O*NET, a source on key characteristics of workers and occupations.
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Start with ED →Career data and occupational profile text are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook and Employment Projections program. Education requirements are typical entry-level requirements and may vary by employer, state, occupation or individual circumstance. View the official BLS profile.