Occupation salary profile

Producers and Directors

SOC 27-2012 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

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.

National median · BLS
$90,360
▲ +8.24% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$97,636
▲ +1.62% YoY · 166 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$113,300
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
143,120
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Producers and Directors

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 166 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$45,780$60,809
25th$62,670$70,500
Median (50th)$90,360$97,636
75th$134,800$135,056
90th — top pay$198,540$165,000
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $97,636 for Producers and Directors — 8.1% above the BLS national median of $90,360.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

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Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Producers and Directors

BLS projects employment of producers and directors to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, faster than the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 12,100 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
181,000 → 188,300
+7,300 jobs
Projected change
+4%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
12,100
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Plus less than 5 years experience
Self-employed
20.4% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 4)
Considerable Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Fastest-growing jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a bachelor's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $97,636
Change vs prior year +1.62%
After inflation (CPI-U) -1.46%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 68 41% $66,030 $70,000 $85,000
Level II 46 27.7% $82,180 $102,518 $114,400
Level III 25 15.1% $134,264 $149,500 $159,999
Level IV 23 13.9% $137,312 $181,999 $201,632
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Producers and Directors

The 1 most-filed job titles inside SOC 27-2012, from 166 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Producer 28 16.87% $72,000 $91,903 $114,400 -7.05%

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Producers and Directors

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Active Listening4.4
  • Critical Thinking4.0
  • Monitoring4.0
  • Reading Comprehension4.0
  • Speaking4.0
  • Coordination3.9
  • Social Perceptiveness3.9
  • Writing3.8
  • Management of Personnel Resources3.6
  • Time Management3.6
Top knowledge areas
  • Communications and Media4.7
  • English Language3.9
  • Telecommunications3.7
  • Computers and Electronics3.6
  • Administration and Management3.4
  • Customer and Personal Service3.2
  • Fine Arts2.8
  • Engineering and Technology2.7
Software and technology used
Adobe After EffectsAdobe Creative Cloud softwareAdobe PhotoshopMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft PowerPointAdobe Premiere ProAdobe AcrobatAdobe IllustratorAdobe InDesignAsanaAtlassian ConfluenceAtlassian JIRACanvaCascading style sheets CSSExtensible markup language XMLFacebookGoogle Analytics

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What producers and directors do

  • 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.
Also called
Artistic DirectorDirectorNews ProducerProducerExecutive ProducerMultimedia ProducerProduction DirectorRadio ProducerTelevision News Producer (TV News Producer)Television Producer (TV Producer)
Specialties within this occupation
  • Media Programming Directors
  • Talent Directors
  • Media Technical Directors/Managers
More job titles for this occupation (80)
Animation DirectorAnimation ProducerArt Framing ManagerArtist ManagerBroadcast Content ManagerBroadcast DirectorBroadcast News ProducerBroadcast Operations DirectorBroadcast ProducerCable TV Program Director (Cable Television Program Director)Casting AgentCasting CoordinatorCasting DirectorCommercial DirectorContent ProducerContestant CoordinatorCreative DirectorCreative ProducerDigital Media DirectorDigital Media ManagerDigital Media ProducerDigital ProducerDramatic DirectorEducational Programming DirectorEntertainment AgentEntertainment DirectorExecutive News ProducerExtras Casting DirectorFilm MakerFilm ProducerIndependent Film MakerIndependent Video ProducerLine ProducerMedia CoordinatorMedia DirectorMedia ManagerMedia Planning DirectorMedia ProducerMedia Relations DirectorMedia Strategy DirectorMorning News ProducerMorning Show Newscast ProducerMotion Picture DirectorMovie ProducerMoving Picture ProducerMusic Video DirectorMusic Video ProducerNews DirectorNews Production SupervisorNewscast DirectorNewscast ProducerOn-Air DirectorPaid Media DirectorPaid Media ManagerPodcast ProducerProduction ManagerProduction Stage ManagerProduction SupervisorProgram AssistantProgram CoordinatorProgram Director (PD)Program ManagerProgram SupervisorProgramming DirectorPromotions ProducerPublic Service DirectorRadio Services DirectorSports DirectorStage DirectorStage ManagerStation ManagerTelevision Newscast Director (TV Newscast Director)Television Program Director (TV Program Director)Television Technical Director (TV Technical Director)Theater Company ProducerTheater DirectorTV Director (Television Director)TV Program Director (Television Program Director)Video DirectorVideo Producer

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.