Director of Photography - ANZSCO 212313
Skilled occupation profile
Director of Photography
ANZSCO 212313Director of Photography lans, directs and coordinates filming to control the quality and style of photography in films or videos.
Occupation guide
Occupation details and migration pathways
This guide brings together the key occupation tasks, possible visa pathways and skills assessment information for Director of Photography ANZSCO 212313.
Typical tasks and duties
Director of Photography may perform the following tasks:
- studying scripts and scenarios to determine theme and setting
- assessing locations and staging requirements for productions in association with specialist designers
- overseeing creative aspects of film, television, radio and stage productions
- determining lighting, film, shutter angles, filter factors, camera distance, depth of field and focus, angles of view and other variables to achieve desired mood and effect
- viewing film and video tape to evaluate and select scenes and determine which scenes need to be re-shot
- planning and organising the preparation and presentation of programs
- supervising the positioning of scenery, props and lighting and sound equipment
- assessing technical requirements of productions by studying scripts and discussing program content, set locations and stage directions with production team
- creating, planning, writing scripts for, recording, videotaping and editing programs
Possible visa pathways
This occupation appears on Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional Occupations. The right visa pathway depends on factors such as your age, English level, qualifications, work experience, skills assessment, points score, nomination options and employer sponsorship.
Skills assessment
For skilled migration purposes, Director of Photography usually requires a suitable skills assessment. Relevant assessing authorities may include:
Additional occupation-specific assessment information
Director of Photography is classified as Group B occupations by Vetassess. The criteria for skills assessment of Group B occupations are the following :
- Qualification(s) assessed at AQF Bachelor degree or higher degree with a highly relevant field of study and at least one year of post-qualification highly relevant employment in the last five years; Or
- Qualification(s) assessed at AQF Bachelor degree or higher degree with an additional qualification at least Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Diploma level in a highly relevant field of study and at least two years of post qualification highly relevant employment in the last five years; Or
- Qualification(s) assessed at AQF Bachelor degree or higher degree without a highly relevant field of study and at least three years of post-qualification highly relevant employment in the last five years;
According to Vetassess, if you have pre-qualification employment and if all of your employment is before your qualification assessed at the AQF bachelor degree level , you are required to have five years of highly relevant employment in addition to at least one year of highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level completed in the last five years.
Legacy subclass 187 pathway
Do you currently hold, or have you previously held, a subclass 457 or 482 visa?
If you have worked for a sponsoring employer in regional Australia, please note that Director of Photography — ANZSCO 212313 was included in the legacy Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187) occupation list. The subclass 187 Direct Entry stream is closed to new applications, but the Temporary Residence Transition stream may remain available to certain transitional subclass 457 and subclass 482 workers. Eligibility is limited and depends on your visa history, relevant dates, sponsored regional employment, employer nomination, age, English and other requirements. Being included on this occupation list does not establish eligibility.
If this may describe your circumstances, we can assess whether the subclass 187 transitional arrangements may still apply to you.
Check your options
Check your skilled migration options
If Director of Photography is your nominated occupation, complete our skilled visa assessment form so we can review your possible migration pathways.
Reviewed by Principal Migration Consultant
Reviewed by Mohammad Reza Azimi
This occupation page has been reviewed for migration context by Shada Migration Services. Mohammad has assisted clients with Australian migration matters since 2009 and holds a Graduate Certificate in Migration Law from the Australian National University.
Last reviewed: July 2026
