Producers and Directors
SOC 27-2012 · 2024-2034
Produce or direct stage, television, radio, video, or film productions for entertainment, information, or instruction. Responsible for creative decisions, such as interpretation of script, choice of actors or guests, set design, sound, special effects, and choreography.
How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.
What California expects of this job
- Typical pay in California
- $133,423per year
- Projected openings
- 31,850
- Projected change
- +12.2%
- Usually needs
- Bachelor's degree
Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth
The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.
Skills this work uses most
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, rates how important each of these is to this work, and they are listed in that order, most important first. The ratings themselves are not shown, because the data carries the number without the scale it was measured on. The names are as published, in English.
- Active Listening
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Speaking
- Social Perceptiveness
Pay by region
| Region | Typical pay in California | Projected openings |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County) | $132,448 | 22,380 |
| San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties) | $125,526 | 3,870 |
| Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) | $108,286 | 750 |
| Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County) | $99,964 | 1,750 |
| San Rafael MD (Marin County) | $95,871 | 130 |
| San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County) | $90,484 | 930 |
| Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County) | $86,961 | 40 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties) | $85,872 | 520 |
| Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) | $83,941 | 680 |
| Napa MSA (Napa County) | $80,911 | 40 |
| Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County) | $80,346 | 40 |
| Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County) | $80,068 | 130 |
| San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County) | $79,935 | 40 |
| Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County) | $79,041 | 100 |
| Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties) | $77,757 | 370 |
| Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County) | $74,881 | 120 |
| Modesto MSA (Stanislaus County) | $68,348 | 30 |
| Chico MSA (Butte County) | $68,307 | 30 |
| Redding MSA (Shasta County) | $62,555 | 20 |
| North Valley-Northern Mountains Region (Colusa, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Nevada, Plumas, Sierra, Siskiyou, Tehama, and Trinity Counties) | $61,641 | 30 |
| North Coast Region (Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, and Mendocino Counties) | $61,446 | 30 |
| Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County) | Not reported | 210 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties) | Not reported | 940 |
What the pay actually ranges across
- The lowest-paid tenth earn under
- $65,350
- A quarter earn under
- $85,436
- Half earn under
- $133,423
- Three quarters earn under
- $177,236
- The highest-paid tenth earn over
- $315,440
A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.
Similar work
O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.
| Occupation | Typical pay in California | Projected openings | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Film and Video Editors | $90,967 | 10,010 | +7.9% |
| Art Directors | $141,637 | 30,370 | +5.5% |
| Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys | Not reported | 1,760 | 0% |
| Music Directors and Composers | $95,696 | 4,320 | +4.5% |
| Writers and Authors | $88,901 | 23,670 | +7% |
| Editors | $100,774 | 15,620 | +2.8% |
Programs that train for this job — 13
Occupational Training for Intermediate Digital Post Production: Video Post-production Full Certificate
Bay Area Video Coalition · San Francisco · $4,390
Directing Certificate of Achievement
City College of San Francisco · San Francisco · $1,209
Cinema Foundations Certificate of Achievement
City College of San Francisco · San Francisco · $1,059
Film Studies Certificate of Achievement
City College of San Francisco · San Francisco · $1,299
Digital Cinematography
Kern High School District-Rop · Bakersfield · $1,700
Video Production Assistant
Venice Community Adult School - LAUSD · Los Angeles · $1,474
Video Production 1
Venice Community Adult School - LAUSD · Los Angeles · $540
Assistant Editor Apprenticeship Program
Handy Foundation Corporation · Pasadena · $2,500
Certificate of Achievement, Theatrical Technologies
College of Marin · Greenbrae · $3,148
Film, TV & Electronic Media: Associate in Arts degree Television Arts
Diablo Valley College · Pleasant Hill · $4,767
Film, TV & Elec. Media: Studio Production Cert. of Accomplishment
Diablo Valley College · Pleasant Hill · $810
MUSX: Music Industry Studies Associate in Arts degree
Diablo Valley College · Pleasant Hill · $4,772
Radio Broadcasting
Hollywood Cultural College · Los Angeles · $8,450