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Contents
What Matters Most
Why This Assistant Director Resume Works
How to Write an Assistant Director Resume That Gets Interviews
What to Include in an Assistant Director Resume
Assistant Director Resume Summary Examples
Assistant Director Work Experience Examples
Top Assistant Director Skills
Certifications for an Assistant Director
Common Assistant Director Resume Mistakes
Assistant Director Resume FAQs
Summary
First assistant director with twelve years running the floor on film and television productions in Manchester. The engine of the set — building the shooting schedule, running the floor, managing cast and crew, and keeping a complex production on time, on budget and safe. Brought a stretched drama shoot back on schedule by re-planning the board and tightening the day. Breaks down scripts, schedules the shoot, runs the set on the day, coordinates departments, and manages safety and the call sheet. Strong on both the planning and the calm, firm leadership directing the floor demands. Organised, unflappable and respected by cast and crew. Looking for a first-AD role on film, television or commercial productions that need the floor run properly.
Professional Experience
First Assistant Director
Freelance / Productions, Manchester, UK
Apr 2012 – Present
- Run the floor on film and television shoots, keeping them on time and safe.
- Brought a stretched drama shoot back on schedule by re-planning the board and tightening the day.
- Break down scripts and build the shooting schedule and call sheets.
- Run the set on the day and coordinate all departments and cast.
- Manage on-set safety and keep the production on budget and to time.
- Lead the floor with calm, firm authority that cast and crew trust.
Second / Third Assistant Director
UK Productions, Manchester, UK
Aug 2007 – Mar 2012
- Supported the AD department on film and television shoots.
- Managed cast, background and paperwork on set.
- Learned scheduling, floor management and set safety.
- Gained certification and progressed to first AD.
Education
BA (Hons) Film Production, Film Production
University of Salford
Sep 2004 – Jun 2007
- Degree in film production covering directing, production and scheduling, with practical shoots. The shoots built real set experience. Established the foundation behind running a production floor.
First AD & Set Safety Certification, Production
Production Guild
Jan 2011 – Jun 2011
- Certification in first-AD practice and set safety covering scheduling, floor management and on-set safety. It formalised the AD craft applied daily. Applied directly to running shoots safely and on time.
Highlights
Recovered a shoot
- Brought a stretched drama shoot back on schedule by re-planning the board and tightening the day. Saving days on a shoot saves real money and keeps a production alive.
Calm floor leadership
- Runs the set with calm, firm authority that keeps cast and crew safe and moving. A well-run floor is the difference between a smooth shoot and chaos.
Certifications
First AD & Set Safety
Production Guild
Jun 2011 – Present
- Certification in first-AD practice and set safety covering scheduling, floor management and on-set safety. It formalised the AD craft applied daily. Applied directly to running shoots safely and on time.
Television Drama Shoot
Television Drama Shoot
Jan 2019 – Jun 2019
- First-ADed a television drama with a demanding schedule, building the board and running the floor across locations, and brought a stretched shoot back on schedule and in safely on budget.
Languages
- English (UK) — Native or Bilingual Proficiency
- French — Limited Working Proficiency
Technical Skills
- Floor Management
- Scheduling
- Script Breakdown
- Call Sheets
- Department Coordination
- Cast & Crew Management
- On-Set Safety
- Budget Awareness
- Time Management
- Problem Solving
Personal Skills
- Composure
- Leadership
- Organisation
- Communication
- Decisiveness
Activities & Interests
- Cinema
- Sleeping
- Poker
- Shopping
- Fishing
What Matters Most
Before the detail, here is what actually decides whether a first AD resume gets a call from a line producer or production manager:
- Lead with the format and scale you have run: features, returning drama, commercials, the day count and the size of the crew and background you managed.
- Prove you can schedule, not just supervise. Name the stripboard, day out of days and call sheets you built, because that is the craft that gets you hired.
- Show a recovered or protected schedule. Bringing a slipping shoot back to plan is the single most quotable line on a first AD resume.
- Make the safety record visible: risk assessments, stunts, minors, firearms or SFX days run without incident. Line producers screen for this first.
- Quantify the day. Setups per day, page count held, unit moves, an eleven-hour turnaround protected. Numbers separate a floor-runner from a babysitter.
- List credits and formats plainly. ADs get hired on who they have worked with and what they have shot, so the resume must read like a filmography with outcomes.
Why This Assistant Director Resume Works
This sample reads like someone who has genuinely run the floor, not someone who watched it happen. Here is what lands with a hiring producer:
- The summary opens with the exact role and scale, first AD, twelve years, film and television in Manchester, so a reader places the seniority in one line.
- It names the whole workflow in order, script breakdown, scheduling, running the set, coordinating departments, safety and the call sheet, which signals the candidate knows the job is a pipeline, not a title.
- It leads its proof with a recovered shoot, re-planning the board to bring a stretched drama back on schedule, the outcome a line producer cares about most.
- It pairs the planning craft with the temperament, calm and firm on the floor, which is exactly the pairing that makes cast and crew trust an AD.
- The progression from third and second AD into first AD is shown, so the reader sees the craft was learned on the floor rather than claimed.
- It states the target clearly, a first AD role on productions that need the floor run properly, so the resume reads as focused rather than available for anything.
How to Write an Assistant Director Resume That Gets Interviews
A first AD resume is judged on evidence that you can plan a shoot and hold it together on the day. Work through these moves before you send it:
Open with format, scale and years
State whether you first AD features, television drama, commercials or a mix, how many years, and the scale you run, crew size, background numbers, day counts. A line producer needs to know in one line whether you fit their shoot. Vague openers like experienced AD tell them nothing.
Prove the scheduling craft explicitly
Name the tools and documents you actually produce: stripboard, one-liner, day out of days, shooting schedule, movement orders and call sheets, and the software (Movie Magic Scheduling, Yamdu, Sargent-Disc). Scheduling is the skill that separates a first AD from a second, so make it unmissable.
Lead every credit with an outcome
Under each production, do not list duties. Show the result: a stretched drama brought back on schedule, an average of six setups a day held across a location move, a stunt day completed inside the planned hours. The number is what a producer remembers.
Make safety a first-class line
Call out the high-risk days you ran cleanly, stunts, SFX, firearms, working at height, minors with chaperones, animals, and any safety qualification you hold. On-set safety is a legal and insurance issue, so producers screen for a candidate who treats it as core, not an afterthought.
Show the floor temperament in evidence, not adjectives
Instead of writing calm under pressure, show it: kept a 120-strong crowd scene moving on schedule, protected the turnaround on a night shoot, ran a compressed day without losing the last setup. Let the situation prove the composure.
Structure it like a filmography with credits
ADs get hired on credits and who they have worked with. Group by production or use a clear credits block with format, role and director or production company, then the outcomes. Keep it to two pages and put your strongest, most recent format at the top.
What to Include in an Assistant Director Resume
Beyond the standard summary and experience, these sections carry real weight for a first AD and are the ones producers actively look for:
A credits or selected productions block: format (feature, TV drama, commercial), your AD role, production company or director, and shoot length.
A scheduling toolkit line: Movie Magic Scheduling, Yamdu, Sargent-Disc, Gorilla, plus the documents you own (stripboard, DOOD, call sheets).
Safety qualifications and clean high-risk days: first aid at work, screen safety passport, stunts, SFX, firearms, minors and working-at-height experience.
Union or guild membership where relevant (BECTU, DGA), which signals rate band and professional standing.
Formats and genres run, drama, features, commercials, factual, so a producer can match you to their slate.
A short availability and location note, since ADs are booked by region and dates and producers screen on both.
Assistant Director Resume Summary Examples
Your summary is the first thing a line producer reads, so it has to place your format, scale and best result inside three or four lines. These pronoun-free examples cover three points on the AD path:
Entry-level resume summary example
First assistant director with three years running the floor on short films, music videos and low-budget commercials across the North West. Comfortable breaking a script into a stripboard, building a workable day out of days, and issuing clean call sheets a small crew can actually follow on the morning. Known for calm, clear direction on set, keeping background artists organised and the camera turning over without dead time between setups. Trained in on-set safety and emergency first aid, with a careful eye on the eleven-hour turnaround and the daily page count. Looking to first AD on larger commercials and returning television drama where a tightly run floor keeps a modest budget honest.
Mid-level resume summary example
First assistant director with eight years scheduling and running the floor on television drama and mid-budget features, typically on twenty-five to forty day shoots with unit crews of fifty to eighty. Builds the stripboard and shooting schedule from the script breakdown, then runs the set to it, holding an average of five to seven setups a day across location moves. Ran a compressed six-day-week block back to plan after weather losses by re-boarding the remaining scenes without cutting content. Experienced with stunts, minors and SFX days, all completed inside planned hours and without a safety incident. Seeking first AD work on returning drama and features that need a floor run with pace and control.
Senior-level resume summary example
First assistant director with fifteen years on features and high-end television, running main and second unit and managing AD teams of three to five across shoots of forty days and up. Owns the schedule end to end, from stripboard and day out of days through daily call sheets and movement orders, and is the person a line producer trusts to protect the day when the plan slips. Recovered a stretched drama shoot by re-planning the board and tightening turnovers, bringing it back on schedule and in on budget. Runs stunt, firearms and large crowd days to strict risk assessments with an unbroken safety record. Looking for senior first AD roles on ambitious productions where the floor decides whether the schedule holds.
Assistant Director Work Experience Examples
Recruiters want to see the day you ran, not the duties you held. These labelled sets show how to write quantified, floor-level bullets for different AD contexts, each distinct from the sample:
Feature film first AD
- Broke down a 96-page feature into a stripboard and day out of days, then built a 34-day schedule that held every unit move and finished inside the planned page count across all locations.
- Ran the floor to an average of six setups a day, calling first positions and turnovers so the camera team never waited, and protected the eleven-hour turnaround on nine consecutive night shoots.
- Coordinated a stunt sequence with the coordinator and SFX across two shoot days, running both to the risk assessment and completing them inside scheduled hours with no safety incident.
- Managed a crowd day of 140 background artists with three ADs and chaperones for minors, keeping the scene moving and wrapping the unit on schedule despite a mid-day location change.
- Cut a threatened overrun by re-boarding the final week after weather losses, recovering two lost days without dropping a single scene and keeping the production comfortably inside its contingency budget.
Television drama first AD
- Scheduled a returning drama block of six episodes, building the stripboard and call sheets to hit an eight-page-a-day average while balancing recurring cast availability across the shoot.
- Ran the set through fast dialogue days, holding seven to nine setups daily and keeping actors camera-ready so the director could shoot coverage without losing the last scene of the day.
- Recovered a slipping schedule after two weather write-off days by re-planning the board around interiors, bringing the block back on plan without cast overtime or dropped material.
- Coordinated a minors-heavy schedule to strict tutoring and chaperone hours, sequencing their scenes early so the unit never breached working-time limits or lost a setup waiting on a licence.
- Liaised daily with production, camera and the line producer at the morning production meeting, flagging schedule risks early so re-plans happened on paper rather than on an expensive live set.
Commercials and branded content AD
- First ADed a two-day commercial with a 60-strong crew and agency and client on set, running a tight board of twelve to fifteen setups a day to deliver every boarded shot on schedule.
- Built call sheets and movement orders for a demanding three-location shoot day, sequencing company moves so the unit hit each lighting window and wrapped inside the agreed hours without overtime.
- Managed talent, background and product handling on a food commercial, coordinating home economist timings so hero dishes hit camera fresh at their best and the day stayed on the boarded storyboard.
- Kept a client-heavy set calm and moving by protecting the director's shooting time, funnelling agency notes through the right channel so approvals happened without stalling the floor.
- Delivered a high-setup-count day on schedule by pre-lighting the next setup during camera resets, holding pace across the floor so the production came in on budget with the full board in the can.
Top Assistant Director Skills
A first AD resume should read heavy on the planning and floor-running craft, with the temperament shown alongside. These are the skills producers screen for:
Hard skills
- Script breakdown
- Stripboarding
- Day out of days
- Shooting schedule creation
- Call sheet production
- Movement orders
- Floor management
- Movie Magic Scheduling
- Yamdu
- On-set safety and risk assessment
- Stunt and SFX coordination
- Background and crowd management
- Working with minors and chaperones
- Department coordination
- Budget and time awareness
- Turnaround and working-time compliance
- Second unit coordination
- Recce and tech scout planning
Soft skills:
- Composure under pressure
- Clear, firm leadership
- Organisation
- Communication
- Decisiveness
- Diplomacy with cast and crew
Certifications for an Assistant Director
There is no single licence to be a first AD, but a few credentials genuinely strengthen the resume, especially around safety and formal training:
-
DGA Assistant Directors Training Program
— Directors Guild of America (DGA) The recognised route into the second AD ranks on US union productions; a strong credential if you work in the American system.
-
Screen Safety Passport
— ScreenSkills Industry health-and-safety awareness for film and TV crew; increasingly asked for on UK productions.
-
Emergency First Aid at Work
— St John Ambulance A practical on-set asset; ADs are often the calm head in an incident, so first aid carries real weight.
Common Assistant Director Resume Mistakes
Most weak first AD resumes fail in the same recognisable ways. Avoid these and you already read as more experienced:
- Listing duties instead of outcomes. Ran the set says nothing; held six setups a day and recovered two lost days by re-boarding is what gets remembered.
- Burying the scheduling craft. If a producer cannot see that you build the stripboard, DOOD and call sheets, you read like a second AD, not a first.
- Leaving safety off. No mention of risk assessments, stunts, minors or SFX days makes a line producer nervous, because on-set safety is their liability.
- Confusing the film first AD role with a corporate assistant director title. Keep the language unmistakably production: floor, board, turnover, wrap.
- Hiding your credits. ADs are hired on formats and who they have worked with, so a resume with no clear list of productions and companies underperforms.
- Padding with soft-skill adjectives. Calm and organised mean nothing unquantified; show the crowd day or night shoot that proves it.
Assistant Director Resume FAQs
The questions candidates most often search when writing a film or television first AD resume, answered straight:
Lead with the scheduling and floor craft: script breakdown, stripboarding, day out of days, call sheets, floor management and on-set safety. Then add the tools (Movie Magic Scheduling, Yamdu) and the temperament, composure and firm leadership, shown through real days you ran.
Two pages is right for an experienced first AD. Use the space for a clear credits list and quantified outcomes rather than duties, and keep your strongest recent format at the top so a line producer sees your fit in seconds.
Show it through responsibility, not just the title. A first AD owns the schedule and runs the floor; a second AD runs the call sheet, cast and background off the floor; a third supports on set. Make clear which craft you performed on each credit.
Yes. ADs are hired on formats and who they have worked with, so a clear selected-credits block, format, your AD role, production company or director, works better than a generic duties list. Add the outcome under each strong credit.
Name the documents you produce and the scale you handle: a 34-day feature stripboard, an eight-page-a-day drama schedule, call sheets and movement orders for multi-location days. Naming the software and the page count proves you do the craft, not just supervise it.
No formal licence is required, but safety credentials help. A screen safety passport, first aid at work, and, in the US, the DGA Assistant Directors Training Program all strengthen a resume, because producers screen ADs hard on how they handle set safety.
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