Casting director vs agent

The differences between casting directors and agents can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a casting director has an average salary of $43,678, which is higher than the $37,864 average annual salary of an agent.

The top three skills for a casting director include contract negotiations, music videos and RAN. The most important skills for an agent are insurance products, customer service, and life insurance.

Casting director vs agent overview

	Casting Director	Agent
Yearly salary	$43,678	$37,864
Hourly rate	$21.00	$18.20
Growth rate	8%	6%
Number of jobs	4,550	184,325
Job satisfaction	-	2
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	40	46
Years of experience	6	-

Casting director vs agent salary

Casting directors and agents have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Casting Director	Agent
Average salary	$43,678	$37,864
Salary range	Between $22,000 And $82,000	Between $19,000 And $72,000
Highest paying City	-	New York, NY
Highest paying state	-	New York
Best paying company	-	Latham & Watkins
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between casting director and agent education

There are a few differences between a casting director and an agent in terms of educational background:

	Casting Director	Agent
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 79%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Photography	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Pennsylvania

Casting director vs agent demographics

Here are the differences between casting directors' and agents' demographics:

	Casting Director	Agent
Average age	40	46
Gender ratio	Male, 41.2% Female, 58.8%	Male, 50.5% Female, 49.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.7% Asian, 6.4% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.8% Asian, 4.9% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage	14%	7%

Differences between casting director and agent duties and responsibilities

Casting director example responsibilities.

Oversee and manage model castings for fashion shows, advertising campaigns, editorials and special projects.
Work closely with top NYC agents and managers to bring in talent for projects.
Work with designers through the preliminary casting process through the completion of their runway shows for NYFW.
Interview candidates for major network reality TV competitions.
Prepare informational biographical sheets on potential participants that are pitched to network executives.

Agent example responsibilities.

Schedule and meet individuals\groups for assign or self-generate leads, assist and enroll eligible individuals in suitable Medicare product.
Verify documentation and coding using CPT and ICD-9 correct coding standards.
Assist TANF customers with obtaining employment.
Direct compliance with all CPT and Medicare guidelines.
Train BDC representatives on phone skills and CRM use.
Bill appropriate ICD-9 codes to the correct insurance companies.

Casting director vs agent skills

Common casting director skills

Contract Negotiations, 25%
Music Videos, 8%
RAN, 6%
Feature Film, 5%
Art Directors, 5%
Comedy, 5%

Common agent skills

Insurance Products, 11%
Customer Service, 10%
Life Insurance, 8%
HR, 6%
Inbound Calls, 6%
Financial Services, 6%

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Casting Director
Casting Director vs Agent

Updated January 8, 2025

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