Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media · Holland code AEC

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, News Producer, Producer, Executive Producer, Multimedia Producer, Production Director, Radio Producer.

O*NET 27-2012.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $90,360; Middle half earn $62,670 to $134,800. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 57% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +5% · Faster than average; 167,000 jobs in 2024, projected 175,200. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Producers and directors".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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.
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.
Study and research scripts to determine how they should be directed.
Supervise and coordinate the work of camera, lighting, design, and sound crew members.
Confer with technical directors, managers, crew members, and writers to discuss details of production, such as photography, script, music, sets, and costumes.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening4.4 / 5
Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
Monitoring4.0 / 5
Writing3.8 / 5

Knowledge areas

Communications and Media4.7 / 5
English Language3.9 / 5
Telecommunications3.7 / 5
Computers and Electronics3.6 / 5
Administration and Management3.4 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.2 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic19
Investigative21
Artistic86
Social35
Enterprising80
Conventional43

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

stage director · DE Regisseur/Regisseurin · FR metteur en scène/metteuse en scène
video and motion picture director · DE Film- und Fernsehregisseur/Film- und Fernsehregisseurin · FR réalisateur de films cinématographiques et vidéos/réalisatrice de films cinématographiques et vidéos
producer · DE Produzent/Produzentin · FR producteur/productrice
video and motion picture producer · DE Film- und Fernsehproduzent/Film- und Fernsehproduzentin · FR producteur cinéma et vidéo/productrice cinéma et vidéo
radio producer · DE Radioproduzent/Radioproduzentin · FR producteur radio/productrice radio
assistant stage director · DE Regieassistent/Regieassistentin · FR assistant metteur en scène/assistante metteuse en scène

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Arts officers, producers and directors (3416)113,500 employed
Photographers, audio-visual and broadcasting equipment operators (3417)81,300 employed
Artists (3411)64,500 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.94. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (27-2012).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test