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

What is a studio director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Yash Egami

Knowing just what the studio director is doing at any point in the life cycle of production is essential to progress in the industry. Their job involves participating in nearly every phase of a project. Since the idea of the studio director has a huge influence on the finished result, they collaborate closely with department heads and technicians to bring it to life.

Studio directors in the industry vary greatly from one production or station to another. In addition, their responsibilities can also vary depending on the market share and the size of the media outlet. In general, studio directors oversee the productions and the performance of managerial tasks for stations. They help to determine program schedules and ensure conformity with broadcast laws and government regulations.

Job experience is just as important, if not more so, to prospective employers, and applicants can pursue internships and summer or part-time jobs on stations. Studio directors normally require a bachelor's degree and working experience, but certain entry-level jobs might be open to those with a high school diploma.

What general advice would you give to a studio director?

Yash Egami

VP, The One Club

A recent Forrester report says that the ad industry will lose 50,000 jobs through 2021, with 35,000 of them already lost since the pandemic. The traditional ad agency model was already in trouble, with many brands hiring away talent and creating their own in-house agencies. Add to that the recent reckoning with the Black Lives Matter movement, and what we're seeing is an industry that is being forced to go through monumental change in order to survive.

While traditional roles like art director or copywriter are on the decline, the good news is that, in an effort to reinvent themselves, agencies are seeking creatives with digital skills like UX design and programming. The rise of in-house creative departments has also meant more opportunities for job seekers within brands rather than agencies. And because of the demand for more diversity from clients and those within advertising, recruiters are making more of an effort to hire multicultural talent.

At The One Club for Creativity, we've been at the forefront of change in the industry through our diversity and inclusion, professional development and gender equality programs. We recently hosted our annual multicultural career fair, "Where Are All the Black People?" that brought together thousands of diverse talent with 40 agencies and companies looking to hire. We launched One School, a free online program for Black creatives who want to get into the industry but don't have a portfolio or the economic means to afford to go to ad school. And we're working on upskilling courses for professionals who want to reinvent themselves or keep up with the changing demands of our industry.

So if you're a recent graduate who specializes in art direction, our advice would be to keep an open mind about what kind of company you want to work for and think about expanding your skillset to include digital skills so that you can future-proof your career. Where you are isn't as important because, since the pandemic, agencies have become more comfortable with working remotely and they are more open to having a workforce not centered on the traditional agency hubs, like New York or Los Angeles.

ScoreStudio DirectorUS Average

Salary

7.6

Avg. Salary $99,189

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.9

Growth rate 4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.67%

Asian 7.61%

Black or African American 4.32%

Hispanic or Latino 14.16%

Unknown 5.63%

White 67.61%

Gender

female 48.04%

male 51.96%

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

7.9

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.2

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.0

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a studio director

Explore studio director education requirements

Most common studio director degrees

Bachelor's

78.4 %

Associate

9.3 %

Master's

8.3 %

Start to develop specific studio director skills

Skills	Percentages
Business Development	17.30%
Studio Operations	13.03%
Video Production	11.91%
Lead Generation	9.43%
Design Studio	6.33%

Complete relevant studio director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New studio 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 studio director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real studio director resumes.

Research studio director duties and responsibilities

Develop and manage business-to-business PowerPoint presentation service that create new business opportunities and increase revenue for the company.
Retouch photos using Photoshop and Lightroom creating special effects in post-production.
Provide technical support towards the creation of corporate presentations for conference room environments using Microsoft PowerPoint and digital projection systems.
Provide creative copy direction and copywriting for pharmaceutical clients' internal corporate communications programs, training programs and sales force meetings.

Get studio director experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a studio director. The most common roles before becoming a studio director include internship, studio manager team lead and director.

Prepare your studio director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your studio 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 studio 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 studio director resume templates

Build a professional studio 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 studio director resume.