A writer/producer is responsible for developing, writing, and producing scripts of new stories for television programs or episodes. Writers are always passionate about their job, which makes it more exciting for them. You are expected to research topics to deliver stories that are entertaining and engaging. You will be responsible for sourcing audio and video footage for editors and spearheading and collaborating for both pre-production and post-production with the editors. As a writer, you are also expected to edit, submit and dub material for program inclusion, coordinating the day-to-day activities of a support production staff to ensure quality, style, and content.
Depending on where you are working, you may be required to operate video editing equipment, report and narrate stories, and assist show producers in organizing and planning the show. You may also be required to prepare fundraising campaigns. In terms of skill requirements, the ability to communicate well, knowledge of various production formats and specs, attention to detail, excellent time management skills, and leadership skills are all essential. The average salary of a writer/producer annually is $93,378. A bachelor's degree in journalism or other related field is the minimum qualification for the role.
How to Become a Writer/Producer
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a writer/producer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $29.14 an hour? That's $60,606 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 0% and produce -100 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Writer/Producer Do
There are certain skills that many writer/producers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed social perceptiveness, writing skills and creativity.
How To Become a Writer/Producer
If you're interested in becoming a writer/producer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 81.3% of writer/producers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 9.4% of writer/producers have master's degrees. Even though most writer/producers have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a writer/producer. When we researched the most common majors for a writer/producer, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on writer/producer resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a writer/producer. In fact, many writer/producer jobs require experience in a role such as producer. Meanwhile, many writer/producers also have previous career experience in roles such as production assistant or associate producer.
Writer/Producer Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of senior producer you might progress to a role such as production manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title marketing and creative director.
Average Salary for a Writer/Producer
What Am I Worth?
Top Colleges for Writer/Producers
1. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
2. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
4. University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA • Private
5. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC • Private
6. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
7. Emory University
Atlanta, GA • Private
8. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Private
9. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
10. California State University - Long Beach
Long Beach, CA • Private
Top Skills For a Writer/Producer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 12.5% of writer/producers listed instagram on their resume, but soft skills such as social perceptiveness and writing skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Writer/Producer Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Writer/Producer templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Writer/Producer resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Writer/Producer Demographics
Writer/Producer Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among writer/producers, 38.0% of them are women, while 62.0% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among writer/producers is White, which makes up 79.5% of all writer/producers.
- The most common foreign language among writer/producers is Spanish at 46.2%.
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How Do Writer/Producer Rate Their Jobs?
Top Writer/Producer Employers
Most Common Employers For Writer/Producer
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AT&T | $87,544 | $42.09 | 8 |
| 2 | HBO | $78,850 | $37.91 | 11 |
| 3 | ESPN | $78,456 | $37.72 | 14 |
| 4 | NBCUniversal | $75,879 | $36.48 | 31 |
| 5 | Fox News | $72,900 | $35.05 | 30 |
| 6 | A+E Networks | $72,309 | $34.76 | 12 |
| 7 | National Geographic | $71,485 | $34.37 | 17 |
| 8 | Showtime Networks | $71,204 | $34.23 | 9 |
| 9 | Discovery | $71,105 | $34.19 | 15 |
| 10 | CNN | $70,201 | $33.75 | 62 |
Writer/Producer Videos
