Did you know?
It takes an average of about 11-12 years for a film industry worker to become a professional at directing film or television
Analysis: to figure out the average (mean) length of time a filmmaker will work until becoming a professional director. I was also interested in their career background before reaching a professional status since there seems to be little information on this elsewhere.
I collected data from the Internet Movie Database (IMDb.com) to complete a simple analysis of the queries noted above -- its resulting data is shown below. I defined "timespan" as the difference between a filmmaker's earliest credit on IMDb and their first professional directorial debut, and omitted timespans less than 3 years due to insufficient information. I defined "professional" by an amount of IMDb ratings (>50).
Findings: Although the number of entries is 184 directors, and therefor not statistically significant (it's time consuming doing this manually), it is still clear that a few patterns emerge: first, the average time to become a professional director is about 11.5 years. Second, the most common careers before becoming professional were:
1) Actor
2) Short Film / Music Video Director
3) Assistant Director
With Producer next, and the rest roughly tying for fifth.
Conclusion: It's important to note these are likely conservative estimates since not everyone has their early careers ledgered accurately within IMDb. In any case, for anyone wishing to become a professional director it seems the most efficient manner of doing so is by creating short films and music videos (since this method has the highest percentage-to-time ratio, nearly 2:1).
![](https://www.fulfilmaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Screen-Shot-2022-01-16-at-5.24.15-PM-768x589.png)
Name | Industry Job | Years | Notable Directing Credit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tom Cavanagh | Actor | 12 | Flash | |
Timothy Van Patten | Actor | 14 | Game of Thrones | |
Steve Shill | Actor | 7 | Flash | |
Steve Shill | Actor | 7 | The Wire | |
Robert Duncan McNeil | Actor | 19 | Supernatural | |
Richard Speight Jr. | Actor | 16 | Supernatural | |
Matt Shakman | Actor | 18 | Game of Thrones | |
Jensen Ackles | Actor | 15 | Supernatural | |
Jack Bender | Actor | 10 | Game of Thrones | |
Gregory Smith | Actor | 21 | Flash | |
Dominic West | Actor | 17 | The Wire | |
Clark Johnson | Actor | 11 | The Wire | |
Chales Haid | Actor | 17 | Breaking Bad | |
Brian Cranston | Actor | 31 | Breaking Bad | |
Antonio Negret | Actor | 7 | Flash | |
Amanda Tapping | Actor | 13 | Supernatural | |
Charlie McDowell | Actor | 10 | Silicon Valley | |
Matt Ross | Actor | 18 | Silicon Valley | |
Marc Buckland | Actor | 9 | Scrubs | |
Will Mackenzie | Actor | 13 | Scrubs | |
John Putch | Actor | 23 | Scrubs | |
Zach Braff | Actor | 15 | Scrubs | |
Michael Macdonald | Actor | 7 | Scrubs | |
Joanna Kerns | Actor | 17 | Scrubs | |
Paul Quinn | Actor | 8 | Scrubs | |
Ted Wass | Actor | 15 | Scrubs | |
Marielle Heller | Actor | 14 | Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood | |
Olivia Wilde | Actor | 25 | Booksmart | |
Henry Ian Cusick | Actor | 24 | The 100 | |
Antonio Negret | Actor / Writer | 8 | The 100 | |
Tim Andrew | AD | 3 | Supernatural | |
Terry Ingram | AD | 8 | TV Movies | |
Tara Nicole Weyr | AD | 12 | Flash | |
Phil Chipera | AD | 22 | Flash | |
Peter Medak | AD | 5 | Breaking Bad | |
Mike Rohl | AD | 8 | Supernatural | |
Michael A. Allowitz | AD | 15 | Flash | |
Kim Manners | AD | 8 | Supernatural | |
Kevin Parks | AD | 20 | Supernatural | |
John MacCarthy | AD | 14 | Supernatural | |
J. Miller Tobin | AD | 11 | Supernatural | |
Ed Bianchi | AD | 3 | The Wire | |
Douglas Aarniokoski | AD | 12 | Flash | |
David McWhirter | AD | 17 | Flash | |
Daniel Attias | AD | 7 | The Wire | |
Charles Beeson | AD | 8 | Supernatural | |
Brent Crowell | AD | 14 | Flash | |
Anthony Hemingway | AD | 10 | The Wire | |
Richard A. Wells | AD | 12 | Scrubs | |
Mairzee Almas | AD | 7 | The 100 | |
Omar Madha | AD | 4 | The 100 | |
Ian Samoil | AD | 19 | The 100 | |
James L. Conway | AD/Producer | 3 | Supernatural | |
Stephen Surjik | Art Department | 7 | Flash | |
Terry McDonough | Cam-Op | 14 | Breaking Bad | |
Guy Norman Bee | Cam-Op | 11 | Supernatural | |
Colin Bucksey | Cam-Op | 3 | Breaking Bad | |
Kevin Tancharoen | Choreographer | 3 | Flash | |
Matthew Diamond | Choreographer | 3 | Scrubs | |
Bronwen Hughes | Director Assistant | 5 | Breaking Bad | |
Serge Ladouceur | DOP | 10 | Supernatural | |
Phil Abraham | DOP | 25 | Breaking Bad | |
Michael Slovis | DOP | 16 | Breaking Bad | |
John Behring | DOP | 7 | Flash | |
James Head | DOP | 10 | TV Movies | |
Glen Winter | DOP | 9 | Flash | |
Felix Enriquez Alcala | DOP | 7 | Breaking Bad | |
Ernest R. Dickerson | DOP | 8 | The Wire | |
Dermott Downs | DOP | 10 | Flash | |
C. Kim Miles | DOP | 17 | Flash | |
Alex Zakrzewski | DOP | 11 | The Wire | |
Michael Spiller | DOP | 15 | Scrubs | |
John Inwood | DOP | 15 | Scrubs | |
Victor Nelli Jr. | DOP | 15 | Scrubs | |
Uta Briesewitz | DOP | 14 | The 100 | |
Michael C. Blundell | DOP | 31 | The 100 | |
Wendey Stanzler | Editor | 15 | Flash | |
Viet Nguyen | Editor | 15 | Flash | |
Philip Sgriccia | Editor | 4 | Supernatural | |
Kevin Mock | Editor | 4 | Flash | |
John F. Showalter | Editor | 24 | Supernatural | |
Harry Jierjian | Editor | 13 | Flash | |
Elodie Keene | Editor | 10 | The Wire | |
Daniel Sackheim | Editor | 11 | Game of Thrones | |
Chris Peppe | Editor | 17 | Flash | |
Bert Kish | Editor | 4 | TV Movies | |
Tim Roche | Editor | 15 | Silicon Valley | |
John Michel | Editor | 28 | Scrubs | |
Rick Blue | Editor | 18 | Scrubs | |
Henry Chan | Editor | 12 | Scrubs | |
John F. Showalter | Editor | 24 | The 100 | |
Matt Barber | Editor | 10 | The 100 | |
Rob Hardy | Feature Filmmaker | 6 | Flash | started with feature film |
Kevin Smith | Feature Filmmaker | 3 | Flash | Successful indie feature: Clerks |
Eduardo Sanchez | Feature Filmmaker | 7 | Supernatural | Successful indie feature: Blair Witch |
Brad Anderson | Feature Filmmaker | 3 | The Wire | Started with feature film |
Rob J Greenlea | Key Grip | 24 | Flash | |
Stefan Pleszczynski | Location Manager | 6 | Flash | |
Milcho Manchevski | Music Videos | 9 | The Wire | |
Leslie Libman | Music Videos | 13 | The Wire | |
John Dahl | Music Videos | 4 | Breaking Bad | |
Johan Renck | Music Videos | 9 | Breaking Bad | |
Jim McKay | Music Videos | 6 | Breaking Bad | |
David Slade | Music Videos | 11 | Breaking Bad | Successful indie feature: Hard Candy - Drama |
Adam Bernstein | Music Videos | 6 | Breaking Bad | |
Peter Lauer | Music Videos | 6 | Scrubs | |
Scott Winant | Producer | 6 | Breaking Bad | |
Robert Singer | Producer | 16 | Supernatural | |
Robert Colesberry | Producer | 27 | The Wire | |
D.B. Weiss | Producer | 5 | Game of Thrones | |
Craig Zisk | Producer | 8 | Scrubs | |
Randall Keenan Winston | Producer | 11 | Scrubs | |
Jeff Melman | Producer | 12 | Scrubs | |
Jason Ensler | Producer | 5 | Scrubs | |
Jay Alaimo | Producer | 6 | Scrubs | |
Dean White | Producer | 18 | The 100 | |
Tim Scanlan | Producer | 13 | The 100 | |
Steve DePaul | Producer | 7 | ||
Rachel Talalay | Producer / Accountant | 10 | Flash | |
Lawrence Trilling | Producer / Actor | 10 | Scrubs | |
Milan Cheylov | Producer / Actor | 10 | The 100 | |
Tricia Brock | Producer / Writer | 25 | Breaking Bad | |
John Shiban | Producer / Writer | 7 | Breaking Bad | |
Mark Stegemann | Producer / Writer | 10 | Scrubs | |
Rob Greenberg | Producer / Writer | 12 | Scrubs | |
Michelle MacLaren | Producer /PM | 12 | Breaking Bad | |
Nina Lopez-Corrado | Producer Assistant | 8 | Supernatural | |
Alice Troughton | Producer Assistant | 4 | Flash | |
Jerry Wanek | Production Designer | 19 | Supernatural | |
Thomas J. Wright | Production Ilustrator | 19 | Supernatural | |
Josh Podeswa | Production Manager | 10 | Game of Thrones | |
Alik Sakharov | Production Manager | 22 | Game of Thrones | |
Linda Mendoza | Production Supervisor | 8 | Scrubs | |
Alexandra La Roche | Script Supervisor | 17 | Flash | |
Jamie Babbit | Script Supervisor | 3 | Silicon Valley | |
Gail Mancuso | Script Supervisor | 12 | Scrubs | |
Thor Freudenthal | Short Filmmaker | 13 | Flash | |
Seith Mann | Short Filmmaker | 5 | The Wire | |
Scott Kecken | Short Filmmaker | 16 | The Wire | |
Rian Johnson | Short Filmmaker | 9 | Breaking Bad | |
Rashaad Ernesto Green | Short Filmmaker | 7 | Supernatural | Successful indie feature: Gun Hill Road |
Neil Marshall | Short Filmmaker | 10 | Game of Thrones | |
Millicent Shelton | Short Filmmaker | 8 | Flash | |
Laura Belsey | Short Filmmaker | 9 | Flash | |
Jesse Warn | Short Filmmaker | 4 | Flash | |
Hanelle M. Culpepper | Short Filmmaker | 12 | Flash | |
Clement Virgo | Short Filmmaker | 3 | The Wire | |
Brian Kirk | Short Filmmaker | 6 | Game of Thrones | |
Amyn Kaderali | Short Filmmaker | 11 | Supernatural | Successful indie feature: Kissing Cousins |
Alan Taylor | Short Filmmaker | 5 | Game of Thrones | |
Agnieszka Holland | Short Filmmaker | 9 | The Wire | |
David Yates | Short Filmmaker | 6 | Harry Potter Films | |
Liza Johnson | Short Filmmaker | 13 | Silicon Valley | |
Maggie Carey | Short Filmmaker | 10 | Silicon Valley | Comedy/drama |
Gillian Robespierre | Short Filmmaker | 6 | Silicon Valley | |
Pete Chatmon | Short Filmmaker | 6 | Silicon Valley | |
Ed Fraiman | Short Filmmaker | 3 | The 100 | |
David Platt | Sound Mixer | 20 | The Wire | |
Clay Tarver | Soundtrack | 7 | Silicon Valley | Chavez band member in 1991 |
Mark Mylod | Stage Manager | 6 | Game of Thrones | |
Ken Whittingham | Stage Manager | 10 | Scrubs | |
Miguel Sapochnik | Storyboard Artist | 14 | Game of Thrones | |
Steve Boyum | Stunt Coordinator | 23 | Supernatural | |
J.J. Makaro | Stunt Coordinator | 31 | Flash | |
Ralph Hemecker | title Sequence Creator | 5 | Flash | |
Armen V. Kevorkian | VFX Coordinator | 17 | Flash | |
Vince Gilligan | Writer | 7 | Breaking Bad | Creator of Breaking Bad |
Thomas Schnauz | Writer | 11 | Breaking Bad | |
Peter Gould | Writer | 6 | Breaking Bad | |
Joy Kecken | Writer | 16 | The Wire | |
George Mastras | Writer | 6 | Breaking Bad | |
Eric Kripke | Writer | 10 | Supernatural | |
David Benioff | Writer | 11 | Game of Thrones | |
Daniel Minahan | Writer | 5 | Game of Thrones | |
Christie Will Wolf | Writer | 10 | TV Movies | |
Ben Edlund | Writer | 10 | Supernatural | |
Alec Berg | Writer | 16 | Silicon Valley | |
Eric Appel | Writer | 6 | Silicon Valley | |
Bill Lawrence | Writer | 11 | Scrubs | |
Celine Sciamma | Writer | 3 | Portrait of a Lady on Fire | |
Sam Catlin | Writer / Actor | 15 | Breaking Bad | |
Elen Celeboglu | Writer / Director Assistant | 6 | Scrubs | |
Niki Caro | Writer | 6 | Mulan |