Behind the Lens

Film Career · Director

Chief Director

Director · Directors Guild of America

Union
Directors Guild of America
Day rate
~$22K–$24K/wk
Experience
8–25+ yrs
How to join your union

What does a Chief Director do?

A chief director leads within the director department, answering for its output while managing the people and logistics behind it.

On union productions the position falls under Directors Guild of America, which sets the rates, hours, and conditions the role works within. The role is engaged show by show, and careers in director are built on the department heads and crews who hire the same trusted people back.

What does a Chief Director make?

  • This is a department-head chair, toward the top of its department's range.
  • Directing pay ranges enormously: DGA scale is roughly $22K-$24K a week on features and $45K-$70K an episode in TV, but established directors negotiate multiples plus backend.
  • Roughly $150K to $5M+ a year across the range.

Film work is gig based, so crew are paid a day or weekly rate rather than a salary. These are realistic 2024-2025 ranges grounded in union rate cards and industry data; actual pay swings with budget tier, market, overtime, and reputation.

Sources & how we estimate pay

Union scale is the floor; the ranges above also reflect market day rates above scale. They are grounded in the following 2024–2025 sources:

Government wage data

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, for the closest federal occupation.

You’ll like and be good at this job if:

Hard skills

  • You can translate a script into staging, shots, and performance

Soft skills

  • You make decisions calmly and own the results
  • You are as comfortable managing people as doing the craft

The ladder

Related chairs in this craft family, ordered from entry toward leadership:

  1. 1Assistant Director
  2. 2Second Director
  3. 3First Assistant Director
  4. 4Lead Director
  5. 5Senior Director
  6. 6Associate Director
  7. 7Chief Assistant Director
  8. 8Chief Director (this role)
  9. 9Director
  10. 10Executive Director
  11. 11Head Director
  12. 12Key Second Assistant Director
  13. 13Main Director
  14. 14Principal Director
  15. 15Supervising Director

Career progression

Within this craft family the recognized progression runs from assistant director toward supervising director, with each step earned through set time and the trust of the chairs above. Where this role sits on that ladder is less important than how the director department works: people move up when the department already believes they can do the next job.

A typical path, from entry to the top of the craft. Times are rough and vary by market, luck, and how steadily the work comes.

  1. Assistant Director

    ~$90K–$275K+/yr

  2. Second Director

    ~$150K–$5M+/yr

  3. First Assistant Director

    ~$90K–$275K+/yr

  4. Lead Director

    ~$150K–$5M+/yr

  5. Senior Director

    ~$150K–$5M+/yr

  6. Associate Director

    ~$150K–$5M+/yr

  7. Chief Assistant Director

    ~$90K–$275K+/yr

  8. Chief Directoryou are here

    ~$150K–$5M+/yr

  9. Director
  10. Executive Director

    ~$150K–$5M+/yr

  11. Head Director

    ~$150K–$5M+/yr

  12. Key Second Assistant Director

    ~$90K–$275K+/yr

  13. Main Director

    ~$150K–$5M+/yr

  14. Principal Director

    ~$150K–$5M+/yr

  15. Supervising Director

    ~$150K–$5M+/yr

How do you become a Chief Director?

The path here is internal: the director department promotes this position from within, based on a track record built in its junior chairs. Start at the department's entry level and let the work argue for you.

On covered productions, rates, hours, and conditions for the role are set by Directors Guild of America contracts.

Covered by a union? The joining a film union guide explains how each one takes members.

More director roles

Artistic DirectorAssociate Creative DirectorAssociate DirectorCollaborating DirectorContent DirectorCoordinating DirectorDialogue DirectorDocumentary DirectorDrama DirectorEnglish Voice Director

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