Film director

The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, production design and all the creative aspects of filmmaking in cooperation with the producer.

[5][6] This requires skills of group leadership, as well as the ability to maintain a singular focus even in the stressful, fast-paced environment of a film set.

[7] Moreover, it is necessary to have an artistic eye to frame shots and to give precise feedback to cast and crew,[8] thus, excellent communication skills are a must.

[9] Because the film director depends on the successful cooperation of many different creative individuals with possibly strongly contradicting artistic ideals and visions, they also need to possess conflict-resolution skills to mediate whenever necessary.

[5] The set of varying challenges they have to tackle has been described as "a multi-dimensional jigsaw puzzle with egos and weather thrown in for good measure".

The director must work within the restrictions of the film's budget[14] and the demands of the producer and studio (such as the need to get a particular age rating).

[19][20] Several American cinematographers have become directors, including Barry Sonnenfeld, originally the Coen brothers' Director of Photography; Wally Pfister, cinematographer on Christopher Nolan's three Batman films made his directorial debut with Transcendence (2014).

[26] Besides basic technical and logistical skills, students also receive education on the nature of professional relationships that occur during film production.

[31] The German Film and Television Academy Berlin consequently cooperates with the Berlin/Brandenburg TV station RBB (Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting) and ARTE.

[32] In recent decades American directors have primarily been coming out of USC, UCLA, AFI, Columbia University, and NYU, each of which is known for cultivating a certain style of filmmaking.

[34] Compensation might be arranged as a flat fee for the project, as a weekly salary, or as a daily rate.

[41] Luc Besson was the highest paid French director in 2017, making €4.44 million for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.

A Korean director who breaks into the Chinese market might make 1 billion won for a single film.

However only a fraction of film school graduates aspire to direct with the majority entering the industry in other roles.