# Producers and Directors

US SOC code 27-2012. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/27-2012

Also called: Film director, TV producer, Television producer, Executive producer, Showrunner.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **143,120** US producers and directors, with median pay of **$90,360** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2003, the highest was **154,470**, in May 2023. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/hollywood-studio-system-transformed) of **160** from 1940, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for producers and directors: Streaming production pipeline, 2012 to 2022.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=27-2012&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **47.9%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

## Producers and Directors employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1895
- Latest US employment: 143,120 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [4]
- Latest US median pay: $90,360 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [6]
- Outlook: +4% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [23]

### All 27 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1937 | n/a | $35,500 (estimate) | Est., "Salaries of Hollywood in 1937"… [5] |
| 1940 | 160 (estimate) | n/a | Est., EBSCO Research Starters [1] |
| 1960 | 2,068 (estimate) | n/a | Est., DGA Quarterly [2] |
| 2000 | 12,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., DGA [3] |
| 2003 | 54,370 | $48,200 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [4] |
| 2004 | 55,260 | $52,840 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [4] |
| 2005 | 59,070 | $53,860 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [4] |
| 2006 | 63,840 | $56,310 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [4] |
| 2007 | 72,390 | $61,090 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [4] |
| 2008 | 78,060 | $64,430 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [4] |
| 2009 | 79,780 | $66,720 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [4] |
| 2010 | 83,520 | $68,440 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [4] |
| 2011 | 82,880 | $70,660 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [4] |
| 2012 | 87,010 | $71,350 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [4] |
| 2013 | 92,510 | $69,480 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [4] |
| 2014 | 97,300 | $69,100 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [4] |
| 2015 | 104,650 | $68,440 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [4] |
| 2016 | 114,510 | $70,950 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [4] |
| 2017 | 117,520 | $71,620 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [4] |
| 2018 | 118,630 | $71,680 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [4] |
| 2019 | 129,210 | $74,420 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [4] |
| 2020 | 119,490 | $76,400 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [4] |
| 2021 | 138,250 | $79,000 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [4] |
| 2022 | 153,770 | $85,320 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [4] |
| 2023 | 154,470 | $82,510 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [4] |
| 2024 | 145,270 | $83,480 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [4] |
| 2025 | 143,120 | $90,360 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [4] |

## Sources (88)

### Employment series

1. [EBSCO Research Starters — "Hollywood Studio System Is Transformed" (1944 Southern California motion picture employment survey: 160 directors, 804 actors, 490 writers)](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/hollywood-studio-system-transformed), EBSCO Research Starters
2. [DGA Quarterly — "Guilds Merge: The RTDG-SDG Merger" (Spring 2011): 2,068 combined members at DGA founding January 1, 1960](https://www.dga.org/craft/dgaq/issues/1101-spring-2011/feature-rtdg-sdg-merger), Directors Guild of America
3. [DGA — "The Guild / History": DGA membership approximately 12,000 at year 2000 (cited in DGA historical overview)](https://www.dga.org/The-Guild/History), Directors Guild of America
4. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

5. ["Salaries of Hollywood in 1937" (primary studio payroll records, secondary compilation) — Cecil B. DeMille director salary $35,500; context: average US worker $890/year](https://stuffnobodycaresabout.com/2014/08/30/salaries-hollywood-1937/), Historical Hollywood salary records (secondary compilation)
6. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
7. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Tool eras

8. [Library of Congress — "History of Edison Motion Pictures: Fictional Films Dominate" (Edwin S. Porter and early director-cameraman practice)](https://www.loc.gov/collections/edison-company-motion-pictures-and-sound-recordings/articles-and-essays/history-of-edison-motion-pictures/fictional-films-dominate/), Library of Congress
9. [Britannica — "History of Film: Edison and the Lumiere Brothers" (emergence of film directing practice)](https://www.britannica.com/art/history-of-film/Edison-and-the-Lumiere-brothers), Encyclopaedia Britannica
10. [History.com — "How TV Killed Hollywood's Golden Age" (sound transition context, 1927 Jazz Singer)](https://www.history.com/articles/how-tv-killed-hollywoods-golden-age), HISTORY
11. [Britannica — "History of Film: The Hollywood Studio System" (sound era production structure)](https://www.britannica.com/art/history-of-film/The-Hollywood-studio-system), Encyclopaedia Britannica
12. [DGA Quarterly — "Guilds Merge: The RTDG-SDG Merger" (Spring 2011): founding of RTDG 1947, DGA merger 1960, 2,068 combined members](https://www.dga.org/craft/dgaq/issues/1101-spring-2011/feature-rtdg-sdg-merger), Directors Guild of America
13. [US History.org — "Land of Television" (three-camera studio sitcom origins, I Love Lucy format)](https://www.ushistory.org/us/53c.asp), USHistory.org
14. [Wikipedia — Video assist (invention history: early 1970s adoption on feature film sets)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_assist), Wikipedia
15. [StudioBinder — "The History of Film Timeline: All Eras of Film History Explained" (1970s-1980s technology transitions)](https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/the-history-of-film-timeline/), StudioBinder
16. [Wikipedia — Avid Technology (Media Composer history, 1989 introduction)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avid_Technology), Wikipedia
17. [Wikipedia — Final Cut Pro (release 1999, democratization of video editing)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Cut_Pro), Wikipedia
18. [DGA — "The Guild / History": DGA membership grew to over 19,500 (current)](https://www.dga.org/The-Guild/History), Directors Guild of America
19. [Seat11a.com — "The Evolution of Netflix: From DVD Rentals to Global Streaming Leader" (Netflix original content and content spend growth)](https://seat11a.com/blog-the-evolution-of-netflix-from-dvd-rentals-to-global-streaming-leader/), Seat11a
20. [Variety — Runway Gen-4 Ultra: AI Video in Working Productions (Apr 2026)](https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/runway-gen-4-ultra-ai-video-productions/), Variety
21. [DGA — "DGA Endorses Generative AI Copyright Disclosure Act" (April 2024): AI must augment not replace human creative authorship; directors' IP rights must be protected from generative AI training use](https://www.dga.org/News/PressReleases/2024/240409_DGA-Endorses_Generative_AI_Copyright_Disclosure_Act), Directors Guild of America
22. [PwC Global Entertainment and Media Outlook 2025-2029 (4.6% CAGR entertainment sector projection)](https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/tmt/media/outlook.html), PwC

### Forecasts and exposure studies

23. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 27-2012 Producers and directors (2025: 181.0 thousand; 2035: 188.3 thousand; +4.0%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=27-2012&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
24. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 27-2012.00, human-rated β 0.479)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

25. [Britannica — "History of Film: The Silent Years 1910-27" (D. W. Griffith and the emergence of film grammar)](https://www.britannica.com/art/history-of-film/The-silent-years-1910-27), Encyclopaedia Britannica
26. [Britannica — "Thomas H. Ince" (Inceville studio system 1913-1918, producer-director role separation)](https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-H-Ince), Encyclopaedia Britannica
27. [DGA — "A Guild is Born" (Winter 2006 DGA Quarterly): founding January 13, 1936, 29 charter members, King Vidor president](https://www.dga.org/craft/dgaq/issues/0604-winter-2006/features-a-guild-is-born), Directors Guild of America
28. [History.com — "How TV Killed Hollywood's Golden Age" (1948 Paramount antitrust ruling and studio system decline)](https://www.history.com/articles/how-tv-killed-hollywoods-golden-age), HISTORY
29. [DGA Quarterly — "Guilds Merge: The RTDG-SDG Merger" (Spring 2011)](https://www.dga.org/craft/dgaq/issues/1101-spring-2011/feature-rtdg-sdg-merger), Directors Guild of America
30. [Screen Rant — "The 2023 Hollywood Strikes: What Was Won and What Is The Impact A Year Later, Part 3: AI Protections"](https://screenrant.com/hollywood-writers-actors-strikes-2023-movies-tv-impact-ai-protections/), Screen Rant

### Predecessors & successors

31. [Britannica — "History of Film: Edison and the Lumiere Brothers" (itinerant projectionists as first directors, 1896-1904)](https://www.britannica.com/art/history-of-film/Edison-and-the-Lumiere-brothers), Encyclopaedia Britannica
32. [Britannica — "History of Film: The Hollywood Studio System" (stage directors entering film in the sound era)](https://www.britannica.com/art/history-of-film/The-Hollywood-studio-system), Encyclopaedia Britannica
33. [WGA Basic Agreement 2023 — AI Provisions (showrunner = writer-EP, the dominant creative leadership model in US television)](https://www.wga.org/contracts/contracts/mba), Writers Guild of America

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Producers and Directors (27-2012.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/27-2012.00), accessed 2026-05-23
- [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Producers and Directors, 2024-25](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/entertainment-and-sports/producers-and-directors.htm), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-23
- [DGA — Basic Agreement 2023-2026 (includes AI provisions)](https://www.dga.org/Contracts/Agreements/BasicAgreement), accessed 2026-06-21
- [WGA Basic Agreement 2023 — AI Provisions (Section 72)](https://www.wga.org/contracts/contracts/mba), accessed 2026-05-23
- [SAG-AFTRA AI Framework — Interim Agreements 2023-2025](https://www.sagaftra.org/sag-aftra-reaches-tentative-agreement-ai-framework), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Variety — Runway Gen-4 Ultra: AI Video in Working Productions (Apr 2026)](https://variety.com/2026/digital/news/runway-gen-4-ultra-ai-video-productions/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [PwC Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2025-2029](https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industries/tmt/media/outlook.html), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Kling AI 2.0 — Video Generation for Commercial Production](https://kling.ai/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Luma Dream Machine — AI Video from Image and Text](https://lumalabs.ai/app), accessed 2026-05-23
- [ElevenLabs — Voice Cloning and AI Dubbing for Production](https://elevenlabs.io/dubbing-studio), accessed 2026-05-23
- [HeyGen — AI Video Translation and Dubbing for Global Distribution](https://www.heygen.com/video-translation), accessed 2026-05-23

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.