Creative director
The creative director has an important responsibility in this industry. The director must devise ideas to lead a video game project forward and many responsibilities involve working with various individuals or teams spread out within the entire project or video-game production. This can include cross-functional collaboration with the various disciplines involved in games development. Academically speaking, a creative director is usually degree educated but there are some circumstances where a high school education strongly focusing on aspects such as art, graphics, computer science, and math can be acceptable and provide some valuable insight to students who hope to aspire in this field of work. Some skills that a creative director working in the video game industry may have include proficiency in computer programming and graphic development (illustrations, fine art) and have excellent interpersonal and writing skills (since they deal with many other clients and management leaders). The exact skills a game director possesses will depend on their background in the industry. Creative director, or game director, is not usually an entry-level position, but in a smaller studio it can be. This is more common in start up companies for instance though normally one would have to earn that role by showing their skills and development over a period of years. The entertainment industry is not always a meritocracy, however, and sometimes people just luck into or inherit such positions. Creative directors have often done their share of lower level startup positions such as internships or assisting other directors in art related work fields. It is all about advancing through the career chain, and once one has earned the position a creative director, they may be eligible to work for larger and more popular game developing companies depending on how successful they have been with past collaborative projects.