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.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Social Perceptiveness
- Coordination
- Writing
Key knowledge
- Communications and Media
- English Language
- Telecommunications
- Computers and Electronics
- Administration and Management
- Customer and Personal Service
- Fine Arts
- Engineering and Technology
What the work involves
- Hire principal cast members and crew members, such as art directors, cinematographers, and costume designers.
- Hold auditions for parts or negotiate contracts with actors determined suitable for specific roles.
- Select plays, scripts, books, news content, or ideas to be produced.
- 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.
- Coordinate the activities of writers, directors, managers, and other personnel throughout the production process.
- Study and research scripts to determine how they should be directed.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Artistic, Enterprising, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (56.7% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (23.8%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (29.3%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Producers and Directors is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 84% of occupations compared | 87% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Moderate | Higher on dealing with the public than 57% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 97% of occupations compared | 88% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 68% of occupations compared | 49% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 85% of occupations compared | 73% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 82% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | High | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 73% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 66% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: high
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 8.25%
- Contact with others most of the time: 4.87%
- Constant contact with others: 86.88%
n = 37, Incumbent 08/2022
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0.95%
- Fairly important: 28.02%
- Important: 19.81%
- Very important: 11.74%
- Extremely important: 39.48%
n = 38, Incumbent 08/2022
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 12.19%
- Extremely important: 87.81%
n = 38, Incumbent 08/2022
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 8.6%
- Some freedom: 49.36%
- A lot of freedom: 42.04%
n = 38, Incumbent 08/2022
Time pressure
- Never: 8.55%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 11.52%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 7.12%
- Every day: 72.82%
n = 38, Incumbent 08/2022
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 14.1%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 36.07%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 43.62%
- Every day: 6.21%
n = 38, Incumbent 08/2022
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 7.04%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 29.2%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 19.06%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 19.71%
- Every day: 25%
n = 37, Incumbent 08/2022
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 10.4%
- Fairly serious: 42.5%
- Serious: 27.64%
- Very serious: 10.54%
- Extremely serious: 8.92%
n = 38, Incumbent 08/2022
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O*NET-SOC 27-2012.00 · SOC 27-2012 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8