What does a director do?

In movies, television, and plays, a director is the man or woman (or maybe kid) in charge. There may be other people, like producers, who have a lot of say about what can or cannot be done, but the director is the person in charge of making all of the creative pieces come together.   

Directors will make the big decisions. Writers will give them scripts, but directors get to interpret those scripts and decide how they should become movies, plays, or TV shows. Actors perform, but directors will decide if they need to be funnier, be more serious, say their lines faster, or any other number of small changes to fit the overall vision of the show. Directors also help cast (find actors,) help choose music, and help decide on costumes. In animation, they may even help choose the colors that will be used. They certainly have a lot of people that help them, but the directors’ creative decisions are usually the final ones. It is their responsibility to make sure the film, TV show, or play looks good when it is done.

Some famous directors you may have heard of are Steven Spielberg, M. Night Shyamalan, Spike Lee, Alfred Hitchcock, George Lucas, and Ron Howard.