Character Designer

3 Months ago • All levels • Character Art • $116,700 PA - $149,760 PA

Job Summary

Job Description

The Character Designer is responsible for exploring all design options for characters in animation projects. Collaborating with the Director, Art Director, and other leads, you'll create multiple character iterations, including poses, expressions, and turnarounds, ensuring designs are feasible for downstream departments (modeling and texturing). This union-covered position requires excellent draftsmanship, anatomy knowledge, and understanding of costume design. You'll work independently and as part of a team, resolving design issues with the Art Director. Experience in animation (feature film, TV series, or game) is preferred. The role involves visually exploring and discovering the character's look, feel, and personality throughout the pitch, design, and production process.
Must have:
  • Collaborate with creative leads
  • Create multiple character iterations
  • Consider downstream departments
  • Excellent draftsmanship
  • Anatomy and volumetric drawing knowledge
  • Photoshop skills
Good to have:
  • Stylistic versatility
  • Costume design understanding
Perks:
  • Union benefits

Job Details

The Character Designer is in charge of exploring all options when crafting the look, feel, personality, and appeal of a character. Working with the Director, Art Director, and other creative leads, you will explore multiple looks for each character to bring them to life. This is a union covered position.

Sony Pictures Animation is a pre-production animation studio based in Culver City, California, creating both feature animation and animated series with artists from around the world. We pride ourselves on empowering filmmakers to lead the creative process, and allowing the hand of the artist to be truly felt, with the goal of producing bold and innovative visual storytelling.

Responsibilities:

  • Collaborate with the creative lead throughout the pitch, design and production process to visually explore and discover the characters' look, feel, and personality.
  • Create multiple iterations of each character (including character poses, expressions and turnarounds) in rough pass form and approved final designs.
  • Propose design approaches that consider downstream departments (modeling and texturing).
  • Able to work independently and within a team environment.
  • Work closely with the Art Director to resolve design issues.

Qualifications:

  • Previous experience on an animated feature film, tv series, or game preferred.
  • Ability to articulate creative ideas.
  • Excellent draftsmanship.
  • Skilled in character pose, facial expressions and character turnarounds.
  • Outstanding research skills and an understanding of costume design.
  • Knowledge of anatomy and volumetric drawing.
  • We value inventiveness! Each Sony Pictures Animation project has its own distinctive and outstanding visual language so it is helpful to have stylistic versatility.
  • Photoshop knowledge required.

The anticipated base salary for this position is $56.23/hour to $72/hour. This role qualifies for benefits pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement. The actual salary offered will depend on a variety of factors.

To apply, please include a resume and a link to your portfolio. Please make sure to include any passwords to your work in your cover letter and/or in your resume. 

Sony Pictures Animation is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other protected characteristics.

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About The Company

The studio's latest theatrical release is "Spider-Man™: Across the Spider-Verse," the highly-anticipated sequel to the Academy Award®-winning "Spider-Man™: Into the Spider-Verse" and the second film in the Spider-Verse trilogy.


The division is also behind the visually-groundbreaking and critically-acclaimed "The Mitchells vs. The Machines," the hit film series "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," and "Hotel Transylvania," and the upcoming 2D adult comedy "Fixed" from visionary director Genndy Tartakovsky.


In 2023, the studio released its first two series - "Agent Elvis," an adult animated action comedy, and "Young Love," which expands on the story and characters introduced in the Oscar®-winning short film, “Hair Love.”


Sony Pictures Animation, which was founded in 2002, is a division of the Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group for Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Tokyo-based Sony Group Corporation.


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To send in a general application, please fill out this Express Future Interest Form and we will be in touch if we find a suitable fit: https://bit.ly/4akxrp3

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