Producers and Directors
Produce or direct stage, television, radio, video, or film productions for entertainment, information, or instruction. Responsible for creative decisions, such as interpretation of script, choice of actors or guests, set design, sound, special effects, and choreography.
Also called: Artistic Director · Director · Executive Producer · Multimedia Producer · News Producer · Producer
Median pay (national)
$83,480
$43,060–$198,530 (10th–90th)
Employed (US)
145,270
BLS OEWS, May 2024
Outlook 2024–34
+4.9%
~12,800 openings/yr
Typical entry
Bachelor's degree
What the numbers say
Refit analysis ·Pay for producers and directors shows an unusually wide range: the top 10% earn $198,530 versus $43,060 at the bottom 10% — 4.6x. The median of $83,480 leaves roughly 138% of headroom to the 90th percentile, which is where seniority, specialization, and the skills below tend to pay off.
Refit analysis ·Employment is projected to change +4.9% from 2024 to 2034 — faster than the 3% all-occupation average. Even so, BLS projects about 12,800 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who retire or change careers.
Refit analysis ·Where you work moves the number a lot. Across the 52 states with released data, California pays the most for this role (median $122,150, +46% vs the national median), while West Virginia sits lowest at $39,150 — a 212% spread for the same job title.
Refit analysis ·O*NET rates Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Speaking as the highest-importance skills here — so a resume aimed at this role should lead with evidence of those, not a generic skills list. On the tools side, O*NET flags Adobe After Effects, Adobe Creative Cloud software, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro as in-demand technologies for this role.
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Top skills employers ask for
Ranked by O*NET importance for this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Writing
- Active Learning
- Learning Strategies
- Mathematics
- Science
What they actually do
Core O*NET tasks for this role.
- Research production topics using the internet, video archives, and other informational sources.
- Review film, recordings, or rehearsals to ensure conformance to production and broadcast standards.
- Conduct meetings with staff to discuss production progress and to ensure production objectives are attained.
- Coordinate the activities of writers, directors, managers, and other personnel throughout the production process.
- Obtain rights to scripts or to such items as existing video footage.
- Perform management activities, such as budgeting, scheduling, planning, and marketing.
- Resolve personnel problems that arise during the production process by acting as liaisons between dissenting parties when necessary.
- Plan details such as framing, composition, camera movement, sound, and actor movement for each shot or scene.
- Communicate to actors the approach, characterization, and movement needed for each scene in such a way that rehearsals and takes are minimized.
- Direct live broadcasts, films and recordings, or non-broadcast programming for public entertainment or education.
Tools & technology
- Adobe After Effects
- Adobe Creative Cloud software
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Premiere Pro
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InDesign
- Asana
- Atlassian Confluence
- Atlassian JIRA
- Canva
- Cascading style sheets CSS
- Extensible markup language XML
Knowledge areas
- Communications and Media
- English Language
- Telecommunications
- Computers and Electronics
- Administration and Management
- Customer and Personal Service
- Fine Arts
- Engineering and Technology