BestOnlineCollege.org is an advertising-supported website. Many of the school and program listings that appear on this site are from partners who compensate us, and this compensation may affect how, where, and in what order listings appear (such as featured placements). This compensation does not influence our editorial content, evaluations, or rankings, which are determined independently using publicly available data. We do not review or feature every school or program available in the marketplace. Our goal is to provide accurate, unbiased information so you can make informed decisions. Read our full Advertiser Disclosure.
How to Become a Film Director: Degree & Salary (2026)
Key takeaway: No degree is required to direct. Directing is unlicensed, and hiring runs on the reel, the credits, and the people who will vouch for you. A film degree is a structured way to build all three; it is not a permit and it does not shorten the years of set work most directors put in first. Producers and directors earn a national median annual wage of $90,360 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS), but the occupation's 10th percentile is $45,780 and early work is usually project-based and irregular.
Directing is one of the few occupations on this site with no gate. No state licenses directors. No board certifies them. There is no exam, no required credential, and no job title you must hold first. What replaces the credential is evidence: films someone can watch, credits on projects that shipped, and a track record of running a set without losing the day.
That is the honest frame for everything below. A degree can make the work better and can get you into a room. It cannot authorize you to direct, and a large share of working directors did not major in film.
The occupation the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks, producers and directors, is also broader than most people picture. It includes directing for television, streaming, commercials, corporate video, live events, news, and educational media – not only features. Most paid directing in the United States is in those categories.
View the data behind this chart
| Percentile | Annual wage |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $45,780 |
| 25th percentile | $62,670 |
| Median | $90,360 |
| 75th percentile | $134,800 |
| 90th percentile | $198,540 |
Step-by-step: how to become a film director
-
Direct something now, at whatever scale you can manage. The skill that separates directors from people who want to direct is finishing: making a plan, running a day, working with performers, and delivering a cut. A phone, two friends, and a location you are allowed to use is enough for a first piece. Do this before you spend anything on a degree, because it tells you whether you like the job or only the idea of it.
-
Learn the crafts you will be directing. A director makes decisions about camera, light, sound, performance, and cutting. You do not have to be the best in the room at any of them, but you have to speak the language well enough to ask for what you want. This is the strongest argument for a formal program: an online bachelor’s in film walks you through cinematography, production sound, editing, screenwriting, and producing in sequence, with critique on each.
-
Decide whether you want a degree, and which one. A degree is optional for directing and useful for other reasons. A bachelor’s gives you the craft sequence, four years of deadlines, collaborators, and a general credential employers outside entertainment ask for. An MFA is the terminal studio degree, worth considering for a career change into the field or if you want to teach at the college level. An MA in film studies is a research degree and is not a directing credential. Verify institutional accreditation through the U.S. Department of Education database; there is no film-specific programmatic accreditor.
-
Work on other people’s sets. This is the part that a degree does not replace. Production assistant, camera assistant, grip, and coordinator work teaches you how a professional day runs, what a first assistant director actually does, and how a crew reads a director who is unprepared. It also builds the references that get you your next job. Most directors come up through assistant directing, producing, editing, or camera rather than straight from school.
-
Build a reel and a body of finished work. Two or three completed pieces that show you can handle performance and story beat a dozen unfinished ones. Keep exports, project files, and signed releases. Submit to festivals if the work supports it, but treat festival selection as a distribution channel rather than as validation you need before working again.
-
Take the paid directing work that exists. Commercials, corporate and brand video, music videos, documentary, training content, live multi-camera, and second unit are real directing jobs with real budgets. They pay, they build credits, and they teach you to direct under constraints. Waiting for a feature while turning down this work is how people spend a decade not directing.
-
Keep developing material. Directors get hired on what they can show and what they can pitch. Write, option, or collaborate on scripts continuously. If screenwriting is where your interest actually lies, compare creative writing for workshop training in narrative craft.
What degree do you need to be a film director?
None, legally. In practice:
- No degree is entirely compatible with a directing career if the work is there. The cost is that you must build craft, critique, and a network without a program to supply them.
- An online bachelor’s in film is the direct route: the full craft sequence, graded projects, a capstone, and a four-year credential that adjacent employers accept.
- An MFA is the terminal studio degree. Choose it for a concentrated production year with a cohort and a thesis film, for a career change, or for college teaching. It is not required to direct and is not a promotion mechanism.
- A degree in communications, journalism, or photography can also lead here, particularly toward documentary, corporate, and broadcast directing.
See Is an Online Film Degree Worth It? for how to weigh the degree against the roles it actually reaches.
How much do film directors make?
Producers and directors earn a national median annual wage of $90,360 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Half earn more and half earn less. The spread is very wide: the 10th percentile was $45,780 and the 90th percentile was $198,540 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Employment stood at 167,000 in 2024 and is projected to reach a 4.9 percent increase by 2034, with 12,800 openings per year (BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034).
Read the percentiles rather than the median if you are early in this career. The occupation includes established feature and television directors alongside people directing corporate video and local broadcast, and the median sits above where most people start. Work is often project-based, income is uneven across a year, and geography matters: camera and set work concentrates in production markets.
For context on the crafts a director works with daily: film and video editors had a median annual wage of $75,420 with 3,600 openings per year, camera operators $74,990 with 2,900 openings, audio and video technicians $58,100 with 7,300 openings, and special effects artists and animators $102,030 with 5,000 openings (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS; BLS Employment Projections, 2024-2034). Many directors hold one of those jobs for years while directing their own projects.
How long does it take to become a film director?
There is no clock that confers the title. There are clocks on the optional credentials and on the credits.
| Phase | Typical duration |
|---|---|
| Directing your own short work | Start now; no prerequisite |
| Bachelor’s degree in film | About 4 years from scratch, shorter with transfer credit (approximately 120 semester hours) |
| MFA in film production | Varies by program; thesis film adds calendar time beyond the credit count |
| Working on other people’s sets | Typically several years; this is where most of the learning and networking happens |
| First paid directing credits | Commercials, corporate, documentary, and music video work usually come first |
| Directing narrative features or episodic television | Highly variable and not guaranteed by any timeline |
These are ranges, not guarantees. Catalogs set credit totals; the industry sets everything else.
Frequently asked questions
What degree do you need to be a film director?
None is required. Directing is unlicensed and hiring runs on the reel, credits, and referrals. A bachelor’s in film gives you the craft sequence and a body of work; an MFA is the terminal studio degree and the usual credential for teaching production at the college level. Many working directors majored in something else or did not attend college.
Do you need to be certified to direct?
No. There is no state license and no certification that authorizes directing. Institutional accreditation matters if you enroll in a degree program, and you can verify it through the U.S. Department of Education database. It is not a directing credential.
How much do film directors make?
Producers and directors earn a national median annual wage of $90,360 with the 10th percentile at $45,780 and the 90th at $198,540 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025 OEWS). Early-career and project-based work usually falls well below the median, and annual income depends on how much of the year you are working.
How long does it take to become a director?
As long as it takes to build work and credits people will hire on. A bachelor’s is about four years. Set experience typically adds several more. There is no timeline that guarantees a directing job, which is why most people in this field hold a craft position while directing their own projects.
Is film school worth it for directing?
It is worth it if you need the craft training, the collaborators, the deadlines, and the equipment access, and if you can afford the total cost including gear. It is worth less if you already shoot and cut and have industry contacts. The is an online film degree worth it page walks through that trade-off.
Can you become a director without moving to Los Angeles?
For narrative features and episodic television, the work concentrates in production markets and relocation usually matters. For commercial, corporate, documentary, event, and broadcast directing, it does not: that work exists in most metro areas, and it is where most paid directing actually happens.
Related guides
- Online Film Degrees Guide – the full hub covering degree levels and formats
- Online Bachelor’s in Film – the craft sequence and the capstone reel
- Online Master’s in Film – MFA versus MA, thesis film, teaching credential
- What Can You Do With a Film Degree? – the full occupation list with BLS wages
- How Online Film Degrees Work – formats, critique, and equipment
- Photography Program Guide – if the still image and lighting are the real interest
- Creative Writing Program Guide – if screenwriting is the goal
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025 national medians) and Employment Projections (2024-2034).
Data verified: September 5, 2026. Salary, employment, and tuition figures on this page are sourced from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2024–2034) and the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (2023 cohort). The source agency and data year are cited inline with every statistic.