← Occupation guides

27-2012.00 · Task explorer

Producers and Directors: reported tasks and exploration worksheet

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.

Use the skill profile to plan your next practice →

Read the task inventory

This source lists 30 tasks, including 17 marked Core and 10 marked Supplemental. Labels and dates are retained below. Employers can combine or divide these responsibilities differently; explore the task itself before assuming it belongs in every version of the role.

Task source dates: 08/2022, 11/2020.

30 tasks shown

Core · Task 22515 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Plan details such as framing, composition, camera movement, sound, and actor movement for each shot or scene.

Core · Task 22516 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Communicate to actors the approach, characterization, and movement needed for each scene in such a way that rehearsals and takes are minimized.

Core · Task 22517 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Direct live broadcasts, films and recordings, or non-broadcast programming for public entertainment or education.

Core · Task 22522 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Research production topics using the internet, video archives, and other informational sources.

Core · Task 22523 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Review film, recordings, or rehearsals to ensure conformance to production and broadcast standards.

Core · Task 22519 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Study and research scripts to determine how they should be directed.

Core · Task 22520 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Supervise and coordinate the work of camera, lighting, design, and sound crew members.

Core · Task 22521 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Confer with technical directors, managers, crew members, and writers to discuss details of production, such as photography, script, music, sets, and costumes.

Core · Task 22532 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Perform management activities, such as budgeting, scheduling, planning, and marketing.

Core · Task 22524 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Consult with writers, producers, or actors about script changes or "workshop" scripts, through rehearsal with writers and actors to create final drafts.

Core · Task 22525 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Identify and approve equipment and elements required for productions, such as scenery, lights, props, costumes, choreography, and music.

Core · Task 22526 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Establish pace of programs and sequences of scenes according to time requirements and cast and set accessibility.

Core · Task 22527 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Conduct meetings with staff to discuss production progress and to ensure production objectives are attained.

Core · Task 22528 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Compile scripts, program notes, and other material related to productions.

Core · Task 22530 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Resolve personnel problems that arise during the production process by acting as liaisons between dissenting parties when necessary.

Core · Task 22518 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Coordinate the activities of writers, directors, managers, and other personnel throughout the production process.

Core · Task 22538 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Obtain rights to scripts or to such items as existing video footage.

Supplemental · Task 22539 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Write and submit proposals to bid on contracts for projects.

Supplemental · Task 22533 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Compose and edit scripts or provide screenwriters with story outlines from which scripts can be written.

Supplemental · Task 22535 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Cut and edit film or tape to integrate component parts into desired sequences.

Supplemental · Task 22514 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Write and edit news stories from information collected by reporters and other sources.

Supplemental · Task 22536 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Choose settings and locations for films and determine how scenes will be shot in these settings.

Supplemental · Task 22537 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Review film daily to check on work in progress and to plan for future filming.

Supplemental · Task 22534 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Negotiate with parties, including independent producers and the distributors and broadcasters who will be handling completed productions.

Supplemental · Task 22529 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Perform administrative duties, such as preparing operational reports, distributing rehearsal call sheets and script copies, and arranging for rehearsal quarters.

Supplemental · Task 22540 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Develop marketing plans for finished products, collaborating with sales associates to supervise product distribution.

Supplemental · Task 22531 · 08/2022 · Incumbent

Arrange financing for productions.

Unspecified · Task 22541 · 11/2020 · Analyst

Hire principal cast members and crew members, such as art directors, cinematographers, and costume designers.

Unspecified · Task 22542 · 11/2020 · Analyst

Hold auditions for parts or negotiate contracts with actors determined suitable for specific roles.

Unspecified · Task 22543 · 11/2020 · Analyst

Select plays, scripts, books, news content, or ideas to be produced.

Make the shortlist useful

  1. Choose one to three activities that tell you something different about the work. Avoid selecting several ways of describing the same interest.
  2. For each, write an example you can discuss or a question that would change your understanding of the role.
  3. Keep source task IDs with your notes so you can return to the same description. Do not include private employer or customer information.

The exported worksheet distinguishes the reported task from your own notes. It supports exploration, not a hiring decision or a validated assessment.

Keep your worksheet

Download before leaving this page. Unsaved writing remains only in the page and is cleared on refresh. Notes and learning actions are not sent to a server. This guide describes an occupation and supports study planning; it does not provide clinical, legal or equipment-operating procedures.

Source and practice material

Occupational context uses the O*NET® 31.0 Database from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, under CC BY 4.0. View the occupation.

Skill Workbench selected and adapted the occupational information and added its own fictional cases, calculations, guidance and worksheets. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these additions. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.