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

Talent Directors

Audition and interview performers to select most appropriate talent for parts in stage, television, radio, or motion picture productions.

Also called: Artistic Director, Casting Agent, Casting Coordinator, Casting Director, Extras Casting Director, Model Booker, Talent Producer, Talent Scout.

O*NET 27-2012.04

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; 42% 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.

Audition and interview performers to match their attributes to specific roles or to increase the pool of available acting talent.
Prepare actors for auditions by providing scripts and information about roles and casting requirements.
Select performers for roles or submit lists of suitable performers to producers or directors for final selection.
Contact agents and actors to provide notification of audition and performance opportunities and to set up audition times.
Serve as liaisons between directors, actors, and agents.
Negotiate contract agreements with performers, with agents, or between performers and agents or production companies.
Arrange for or design screen tests or auditions for prospective performers.
Review performer information, such as photos, resumes, voice tapes, videos, and union membership, to decide whom to audition for parts.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.9 / 5
Critical Thinking3.9 / 5
Monitoring3.4 / 5
Writing3.3 / 5

Knowledge areas

English Language4.2 / 5
Customer and Personal Service4.0 / 5
Communications and Media3.6 / 5
Personnel and Human Resources3.6 / 5
Administration and Management3.5 / 5
Administrative3.4 / 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.

Realistic4
Investigative7
Artistic78
Social54
Enterprising82
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)

casting director · DE Casting Director · FR directeur de casting/directrice de casting
talent agent · DE Künstleragent/Künstleragentin · FR agent de talents/agente de talents

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Graphic and multimedia designers (2142)123,000 employed
Arts officers, producers and directors (3416)113,500 employed
Web design professionals (2141)31,200 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.

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