Producers and Director 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.
Producers and Director is Also Know as
In different settings, Producers and Director is titled as
- Artistic Director
- Director
- Executive Producer
- Multimedia Producer
- News Producer
- Producer
- Production Director
- Radio Producer
- Television News Producer (TV News Producer)
- Television Producer (TV Producer)
Education and Training of Producers and Director
Producers and Director is categorized in Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Producers and Director
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Education Required for Producers and Director
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Degrees Related to Producers and Director
- Bachelor in Radio and Television
- Associate Degree Courses in Radio and Television
- Masters Degree Courses in Radio and Television
- Bachelor in Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General
- Associate Degree Courses in Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General
- Masters Degree Courses in Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts, General
- Bachelor in Directing and Theatrical Production
- Associate Degree Courses in Directing and Theatrical Production
- Masters Degree Courses in Directing and Theatrical Production
- Bachelor in Musical Theatre
- Associate Degree Courses in Musical Theatre
- Masters Degree Courses in Musical Theatre
- Bachelor in Theatre and Dance
- Associate Degree Courses in Theatre and Dance
- Masters Degree Courses in Theatre and Dance
- Bachelor in Dramatic/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, Other
- Associate Degree Courses in Dramatic/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, Other
- Masters Degree Courses in Dramatic/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft, Other
Training Required for Producers and Director
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Producers and Director in different industries are
- Media Technical Directors/Managers
- Media Programming Directors
- Art Directors
- Talent Directors
- Film and Video Editors
- Music Directors and Composers
- Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys
- Writers and Authors
- News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists
- Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers
- Special Effects Artists and Animators
- Editors
- Actors
- Public Relations Specialists
- Audio and Video Technicians
- Choreographers
- Graphic Designers
- Camera Operators, Television, Video, and Film
- Video Game Designers
- Sound Engineering Technicians
What Do Producers and Director do?
- Write and edit news stories from information collected by reporters and other sources.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Consult with writers, producers, or actors about script changes or "workshop" scripts, through rehearsal with writers and actors to create final drafts.
- Identify and approve equipment and elements required for productions, such as scenery, lights, props, costumes, choreography, and music.
- Establish pace of programs and sequences of scenes according to time requirements and cast and set accessibility.
- Conduct meetings with staff to discuss production progress and to ensure production objectives are attained.
- Compile scripts, program notes, and other material related to productions.
- Perform administrative duties, such as preparing operational reports, distributing rehearsal call sheets and script copies, and arranging for rehearsal quarters.
- Resolve personnel problems that arise during the production process by acting as liaisons between dissenting parties when necessary.
- Arrange financing for productions.
- Perform management activities, such as budgeting, scheduling, planning, and marketing.
- Compose and edit scripts or provide screenwriters with story outlines from which scripts can be written.
- Negotiate with parties, including independent producers and the distributors and broadcasters who will be handling completed productions.
- Cut and edit film or tape to integrate component parts into desired sequences.
- Choose settings and locations for films and determine how scenes will be shot in these settings.
- Review film daily to check on work in progress and to plan for future filming.
- Obtain rights to scripts or to such items as existing video footage.
- Write and submit proposals to bid on contracts for projects.
- Develop marketing plans for finished products, collaborating with sales associates to supervise product distribution.
- 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.
Qualities of Good Producers and Director
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
Tools Used by Producers and Director
- Digital video cameras
- Electronic news gathering ENG cameras
- Grass Valley Ignite Automated Production System
- Laptop computers
- Lens finders
- Multi-line telephone systems
- Multimedia editing equipment
- Newsroom digital audio workstations
- Notebook computers
- Personal computers
- Robotic cameras
- Sound mixing equipment
- Studio lighting systems
- Tablet computers
- Teleprompters
- Vectorscopes
- Video editing equipment
- Video switchers
- Waveform monitors
Technology Skills required for Producers and Director
- Adobe Acrobat
- Adobe ActionScript
- Adobe After Effects
- Adobe Audition
- Adobe Creative Cloud software
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Adobe Dreamweaver
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Premiere Pro
- Airtable
- AP ENPS
- Apple Final Cut Pro
- Asana
- Atlassian Confluence
- Atlassian JIRA
- Avid Digidesign Pro Tools
- Avid Technology iNEWS
- Avid Technology Media Composer
- Avid Technology NewsCutter
- Avid Technology Pro Tools
- Blogging software
- Broadcast Electronics AudioVAULT FleX
- Cascading style sheets CSS
- Chyron CAMIO
- Content management systems CMS
- Drupal
- Eko
- Email software
- Extensible markup language XML
- FaceTime
- Google Ads
- Google Analytics
- Google Docs
- Google Drive
- Google Workspace software
- Graphics creation software
- Grass Valley EDIUS
- Hypertext markup language HTML
- JavaScript
- Live streaming software
- MAGIX Software Sound Forge
- Magix Vegas Pro
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Project
- Microsoft Publisher
- Microsoft Visio
- Microsoft Word
- PHP
- Project management software
- Ross Video Xpression
- Screencastify
- Scripting software
- Slack
- Snapchat
- Social media sites
- TikTok
- Video editing software
- Web content management system CMS software
- WideOrbit
- WordPress
- YouTube
- Zoom