How To Become A Production Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a production director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

As a production director, you will have the privilege of working in a variety of sectors, from industrial manufacturing to the entertainment industry. Your main purpose as a production director will be to ensure that staff members meet the production needs set by the management while also ensuring that high-quality products are manufactured for the customers.

Some of the duties and responsibilities that you will be performing in this capacity include planning and organizing schedules, assessing the project and its resource requirements, estimating and negotiating budgets and timescales, ensuring health and safety regulations are adhered to, liaising with buyers and the marketing department, organizing relevant training sessions, and supervising the work of juniors and subordinates. Essential skills required for this role are analytical, attention to detail, leadership, communication, and organization skills.

To qualify for this role, you will need a bachelor's degree in an industry-specific field; however, some employers may prefer a master's degree. Moreover, prior work experience in an industry-related field is also required. The average hourly pay for this position is $45.83, which amounts to $95,330 annually. The career is projected to grow, resulting in various new opportunities emerging all across the United States.

ScoreProduction DirectorUS Average

Salary

8.1

Avg. Salary $118,207

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.8

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 6.38%

Black or African American 7.92%

Hispanic or Latino 14.56%

Unknown 5.59%

White 65.38%

Gender

female 29.97%

male 70.03%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

6.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a production director

Explore production director education requirements

Most common production director degrees

Bachelor's

73.2 %

Associate

13.3 %

Master's

7.5 %

Start to develop specific production director skills

Skills	Percentages
Video Production	9.57%
Project Management	8.13%
Oversight	6.24%
Production Process	5.80%
Audio Production	4.90%

Complete relevant production director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New production directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a production director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real production director resumes.

Research production director duties and responsibilities

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Manage theatrical release masters and digital content for Netflix, DVD / BluRay release.

Get production director experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a production director. The most common roles before becoming a production director include production manager, production assistant team lead and internship.

Prepare your production director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your production director resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a production director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable production director resume templates

Build a professional production director resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your production director resume.