Average Salary

• For the purposes of its national employment survey conducted in May 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics classified film directors alongside their counterparts working across other entertainment platforms -- TV and theatre -- as well as producers for those media. It reported that the mean annual salary across the category was $88,610, equivalent to $42.60 an hour, $1,704 a week or $7,384 a month. At the time of writing, wage comparison website Indeed.com put the average yearly wage for a film director as $77,000.
  
  

Salary by Industry

• The bureau detailed director and producer salaries across various professional sectors. Those working in the motion picture and video industries were among the most well-rewarded, earning a mean annual wage of $109,860. In comparison, radio and television broadcasting offered a mean salary of $72,030, cable and other subscription programming was listed at $95,380, while performing arts companies paid $59,820.
  
  

Salary by Geography

• Given that Hollywood is located within its borders, it is perhaps not surprsing that California was listed by the bureau as the state with the highest mean salaries for directors and producers, at $126,360. New York State and the District of Columbia completed the top three, with means of $111,930 and $90,820, respectively. Tennessee and New Jersey had similar wage levels -- $79,470 and $74,450 -- while Vermont was listed at $52,340.
  
  

Outlook

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics is expecting to see an 11 percent increase in employment opportunities for directors of all kinds, as well as for producers and actors, during the period from 2008 to 2018. This put the profession in line with projected growth for the country as a whole across all occupations, estimated at between 7 and 13 percent for the same period. The continuing demand for U.S. movies abroad and the increased box-office receipts from movies that suggest its continued popularity as a leisure option will be the primary motivations for this growth. As such, film directors should continue to be well-compensated for their services.