Learn French: Le réalisateur veut que les mâles soient moins provocants. - The director wants the males to be less provocative.

In this sentence, provocants is a verbal adjective describing a state or quality. For French verbs ending in "-quer" like provoquer, the present participle keeps the "qu" spelling (e.g., en provoquant), but the verbal adjective changes the spelling to a "c" (provocant).

Why does provocants have an "s" at the end?

Because it is acting as an adjective here, describing the plural noun les mâles. While present participles are invariable (they never take an "s" or "e"), verbal adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.

Why does this sentence use soient instead of sont?

The phrase veut que expresses a wish or desire. This triggers the subjunctive mood in the following clause, so we must use soient (the subjunctive form of être) rather than the indicative sont.

Could I use directeur instead of réalisateur for the English word "director"?

Not in this artistic context. While both translate to "director", réalisateur refers specifically to a film director. A directeur is usually an administrative manager, like the director of a school, company, or agency.