Art Director - Unannounced Kids & Family CG Series

This key leadership role works closely with the Executive Producer, Producers, Production and Creative Executives, and Vendor Studio to bring the creative vision of the CG episodic show to life, while staying within the project’s schedule and budget constraints and working within the limitations of the CG pipeline. The ideal candidate will possess strong management skills to oversee and provide constructive feedback to the artistic crew. They will be responsible for proactively identifying and solving complex issues. This position requires effective collaboration with diverse teams in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

Responsibilities:

• Collaborates with the Executive Producer, Producer, Directors, and Story Editor(s) to shape the series' look and mood, while making key decisions on visual style, including character designs, environments, props, color scripts, and lighting direction, ensuring alignment with the overall story and creative vision.
• Integral in overall planning & selection of design and paint staff to ensure proper casting to fall within schedule and budget
• Read Outlines/Scripts, attend Storyboard pitches, and Animatic reviews, flag potential complexity or design count issues.
• Maintain the production schedule provided by Producer to ensure cost-effective, timely production.

Development Period:

• Oversees and participates in the visual development phase to discover the look of the series. Responsible for creating and executing the visual flow of the series as it relates to story and emotional intent through design, lighting and color infrastructure.
• Translates, clarifies and communicates the EP’s vision for the look of the series to the artistic crew as well as to vendor studio.
• Generates artwork in areas of artistic expertise contributing to the development and production process.
• Oversees the character design from concept through final by working with the Character Designers and Vendor Studio.
• Approves final art reference for asset builds, environments, animation, lighting, and comp/efx stages. Generates supplemental artwork to various departments to clarify intent.

Production:

• Collaborate with the Executive Producer, Directors, and story team to interpret scripts and translate them into visual concepts.
• Works with story team to establish spatial concepts for individual episodes.
• Oversees, and generates, when necessary, visual development for Storyboard Artists and Directors prior to their respective storyboard launch.
• Develop detailed design guidelines for consistency across episodes. Generates supplemental artwork to various departments to clarify intent.
• Oversee assembly & approval of main and episodic design packs to be sent to the vendor animation studios.
• Regularly communicate with vendor studio and lead episodic design and asset launches.
• Review and provide feedback on models, texturing, rendered frames, effects and lighting to ensure the final visuals align with the established design aesthetic.
• Communicate and problem-solve with the vendor animation studio; create tools and information, “do’s and don’ts” document, to help the vendor studio achieve the required look within the budget and schedule.
• Oversee the entire design team, assigning work and monitoring their schedules to maintain design consistency throughout the project.
• Provide guidance and constructive feedback to artists.
• Ensures open lines of communication with other departments, department heads and Vendor Studio.
• Elevates issues and solutions to Producer and Executive Producer.
• Prepares and presents the look of the series to studio executives, Marketing, Consumer Products and vendors.
• Works with Marketing and Consumer Products advising on trailers, style guides, do’s & don’t document, and other assets.
• Works with studio, Artist Management, and Recruiting on the staffing needs. Also, advise on artistic staffing of key departments on the show. Provides feedback on key artistic staff.
• Partners with Producer, Line Producer, Art Director, and Leads to establish strong crew communication, improving performance, providing feedback and maintaining good morale.
• Partner with Production to create schedules and casting assignments.
• Work with the TDs to ensure color correction and technically accurate deliveries are achieved.
• Handle additional duties as necessary or as defined by individual contracts.

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• 7+ years of experience Art Directing and supervising an Art Department
• Thorough understanding of CG Modeling, texturing, lighting and animation software packages. (Maya, Blender)
• Proven track record of working on either a CG Animated series or feature film.
• Deep understanding of both CG Production pipelines (including rendering techniques and optimization strategies) and Series Animation schedules and pipelines.
• Strong leadership qualities with demonstrated experience partnering with Creatives and Executives, collaborating with peers, and managing and mentoring artists to achieve project goals.
• Experience working with vendor animation studios
• Exceptional communication, collaboration, and organizational skills.
• A broad knowledge of artistic styles, latest technology and film is essential.
• Ability to draw, paint and create imagery, with a strong understanding of design principles and color theory.

Education

The ideal candidate will have a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of training and/or experience.

Job Location: Glendale, CA