performance flying director
Performance flying directors design people flying effects for a performance and supervise or perform the execution of it. Their work is based on research and artistic vision. Their design is influenced by and influences other designs and must be conform with these designs and the overall artistic vision. They train the actors for the flying choreography and manipulate them during the performance. Performance flying directors prepare and supervise the setup, perform security checks and operate the person fly systems. The manipulation of persons on height, close to or above performers and audience makes this a high risk occupation.
performance flying director performance flying directors design people flying effects for a performance and supervise or perform the execution of it. Their work is based on research and artistic vision. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include analyse the artistic concept based on stage actions, maintain flying harnesses, manage technical resources stock, work ergonomically, understand artistic concepts.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £45,534 a year for Arts officers, producers and directors (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 3416). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Technicians and associate professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only performance flying director, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 3. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Design
- English Language
- Computers and Electronics
- Fine Arts
- Communications and Media
- Sales and Marketing
- Customer and Personal Service
- Production and Processing
What you'd actually do
- Work with creative directors to develop design solutions.
- Present final layouts to clients for approval.
- Manage own accounts and projects, working within budget and scheduling requirements.
- Confer with creative, art, copywriting, or production department heads to discuss client requirements and presentation concepts and to coordinate creative activities.
- Confer with clients to determine objectives, budget, background information, and presentation approaches, styles, and techniques.
- Formulate basic layout design or presentation approach and specify material details, such as style and size of type, photographs, graphics, animation, video, and sound.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does performance flying director do?
Performance flying directors design people flying effects for a performance and supervise or perform the execution of it. Their work is based on research and artistic vision. Their design is influenced by and influences other designs and must be conform with these designs and the overall artistic vision. They train the actors for the flying choreography and manipulate them during the performance.
What skills does performance flying director need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include analyse the artistic concept based on stage actions, maintain flying harnesses, manage technical resources stock, work ergonomically, understand artistic concepts, provide first aid. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace performance flying director?
Our AI-durability model gives performance flying director a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.