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Casting director vs freelance producer

The differences between casting directors and freelance producers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a casting director, becoming a freelance producer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a freelance producer has an average salary of $62,218, which is higher than the $43,678 average annual salary of a casting director.

The top three skills for a casting director include contract negotiations, music videos and RAN. The most important skills for a freelance producer are music videos, news stories, and video content.

Casting director vs freelance producer overview

Casting DirectorFreelance Producer
Yearly salary$43,678$62,218
Hourly rate$21.00$29.91
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs4,5509,703
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 79%Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Average age4040
Years of experience612

Casting director vs freelance producer salary

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

Casting DirectorFreelance Producer
Average salary$43,678$62,218
Salary rangeBetween $22,000 And $82,000Between $33,000 And $113,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between casting director and freelance producer education

There are a few differences between a casting director and a freelance producer in terms of educational background:

Casting DirectorFreelance Producer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 79%Bachelor's Degree, 80%
Most common majorPhotographyPhotography
Most common collegeStanford UniversityHarvard University

Casting director vs freelance producer demographics

Here are the differences between casting directors' and freelance producers' demographics:

Casting DirectorFreelance Producer
Average age4040
Gender ratioMale, 41.2% Female, 58.8%Male, 58.7% Female, 41.3%
Race ratioBlack 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, 7.8% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.3% Asian, 6.3% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage14%14%

Differences between casting director and freelance producer 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.

Freelance producer example responsibilities.

  • Drive engagement by managing the brand's YouTube channel, as well as all other social media outlets.
  • Manage production shoots for image campaigns and monthly communications meetings for CNN newsroom and internal in-house creative services department.
  • Manage creative release process working closely with site merchandising, content engineering, release engineering, QA, buyers and marketing.
  • Manage the QA process including test/debug cycles and platform compliance/compatibility testing.
  • Produce for Chubb s website, YouTube, Facebook and on DVD.
  • Help maintain social media presence on Facebook and Instagram.
  • Show more

Casting director vs freelance producer skills

Common casting director skills
  • Contract Negotiations, 25%
  • Music Videos, 8%
  • RAN, 6%
  • Feature Film, 5%
  • Art Directors, 5%
  • Comedy, 5%
Common freelance producer skills
  • Music Videos, 20%
  • News Stories, 6%
  • Video Content, 5%
  • Video Production, 4%
  • Live Events, 4%
  • Photography, 4%

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