Creative directors are experts who are responsible for designing the visual outlook of a movie. They work closely with prominent film directors, famous cinematographers, and producers. These specialists even oversee film artists and workers who construct the sets of the movie. Throughout the pre-production phase, they act as intermediaries between the construction crew and production designers. However, creative directors play a different role in the principal photography stage. They report directly to the production designers to inform them of the progress of the movie.
Joe Cianciotto is an expert in the creative direction from New York in the USA. He is the Executive Creative Director/ Director of Integration at DDB, New York. Recently, he was promoted to the Chief Community Officer in the company. He is also a movie buff who loves to watch old Hollywood superhero movies in his spare time.
He explains many creative director aspirants want to make their mark in the film industry. They feel this career option allows them to showcase their artistic and leadership traits. However, they have to work in liaison with and sort out differences between various professionals. These include film artists, camera operators, sound technicians, scriptwriters, production designers, and lighting staff. In doing so, they need to keep everyone satisfied to meet a movie’s production deadline. The inherent qualities aspirants need to become successful creative directors are as follows:
- They have got to be authoritative to lead a team of professionals to work as a cohesive unit,
- Exceptional communication skills to get their ideas across to all the members of the team they lead,
- Handle professionals diplomatically having different skills to ensure everyone works towards a common goal,
- Creative enough to know how the sets of the film, props, and the cast’s dialogues match the movie’s script,
- Good at instantly resolving problems that are bound to arise during the production of the movie, and
- Capable of working under pressure to meet the movie’s production release and distribution deadlines.
Qualifications and requirements
Aspirants need to fulfill the following requirements to achieve their dreams of becoming creative directors in the film industry:
- They need a bachelor’s degree in fine arts, graphic design, or other similar academic disciplines,
- Join a prominent film school to get industry-related training as graphic designers, artists or photographers,
- Obtain certifications and work licenses from professional organizations like Graphic Arts Guild or The American Institute of Graphic Arts
- Secure employment in popular movie production companies where they learn costume design, carpentry, sculptor and theatre design,
- Earn their driving license to transport props, film crew, actors, and supplies to various locations.
Joe Cianciotto sums up by saying aspirants wanting to become creative directors need five years’ experience in various aspects of film production. They should secure jobs in prominent film production companies in the initial stages of their careers. They might hold the post of a scene painter, model builder, pre-visualization artists, or sculptors in this phrase. However, they can build an impressive portfolio by rising through the ranks to become creative directors with time.
