Senior Lighting Technical Director

Senior Lighting Technical Directors at ILM create the look of computer-generated objects and scenes, focusing on lighting, shading, rendering, and compositing. They work collaboratively with supervisors, demonstrating strong communication and problem-solving skills to complete shots efficiently. Responsibilities include actively participating in a team environment, receiving and implementing feedback, managing tasks, providing accurate time estimates, and mentoring junior artists in lighting and rendering techniques.

Must Have

• Create the look of computer-generated objects and scenes.
• Responsible for lighting, shading, rendering, and compositing.
• Work collaboratively in a team environment with daily supervision.
• Demonstrate strong listening and communication skills.
• Implement requested changes and flag issues promptly.
• Present accomplishments and next steps in dailies/shot review.
• Anticipate potential problems and identify improvements.
• Prioritize tasks, manage time, and provide accurate estimates.
• Mentor other digital artists in Lighting and Rendering.
• 8+ years of visual effects work experience.
• Required demo reel showcasing artistic and technical ability.
• Feature film experience is essential.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or Computer Graphics.
• Strong computer programming and visual arts skills.
• Proficiency in Linux, C programming, Python, and shell scripting.
• Familiarity with Maya, Comptime, Zeno, Commodore, and Repo.

Good to Have

• Working knowledge of Nuke or equivalent.

About ILM

Founded by George Lucas, ILM is the leading effects facility in the world, with studios located in San Francisco, Vancouver, London, Sydney and Mumbai. ILM has created visual effects for over 325 feature films and has played a key role in seven of the top 10 worldwide box-office hits of all time and has contributed to 25 of the top 50. ILM has set the standard for visual effects, creating some of the most stunning images in the history of film. At the forefront of the digital revolution, the company continues to break new ground in visual effects, VR, AR, and Immersive Cinema. You can see some of our current projects here.

Your role?

Senior Lighting Technical Directors (TD) work with direction from the CG Supervisors and Digital Artist Supervisors to create the look of computer generated objects and scenes. They are responsible for lighting, shading, rendering, and some compositing.

What will you be doing?

• Actively work with competency, energy and enthusiasm within a team environment with daily supervision to complete a shot.
• Demonstrates good listening and communication skills by openly receiving direction and criticism by asking good questions to confirm clear knowledge of the directions and how to approach what needs to be done. Once clear, implements the requested changes immediately and raises flags right away if a solution is not quickly found or if there are any delays, making sure the Supervisors and Production are kept in the loop and are up-to-date on the status of one’s shot work.
• Demonstrates basic presentation/communication skills in dailies/shot review by clearly and briefly outlining what has been accomplished and what next should be addressed in the shot.
• Demonstrates the development of an eye toward anticipating potential problems and knowing what could look better in one’s shot.
• Demonstrates the ability to prioritize tasks managing time well, providing everyone with accurate time estimates on shot task completion.
• Mentors other digital artists in Lighting and Rendering.

To be a contributing member of this team, you will have a mix of these skills:

• 8+ years work experience required in visual effects.
• Demo reel demonstrating artistic and technical ability is required for this role.
• Feature film experience required
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or Computer Graphics
• Possesses strong computer programming abilities with visual arts skills.
• Strong working knowledge of Linux, C programming Python and shell scripting is required.
• Familiar with Maya, Comptime, Zeno, Commodore and Repo.
• Working knowledge of Nuke or equivalent is a plus.