Assistant Production Manager

About us

Established in 2000, Boulder Media has become one of Ireland's largest animation studios. Combining our passion, expertise, and experience, we believe in the power of our creativity and our ability to deliver world-class animated entertainment experiences. Boulder has produced many great shows, including Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, The Amazing World of Gumball, El Tigre, Wander Over Yonder, My Little Pony: Pony Life, DC Super Hero Girls, Transformers Cyberverse, Danger Mouse, Cat Burglar, and the Netflix hit feature film – My Little Pony: A New Generation.

About our culture

Boulder Media is not only a very hard-working creative studio, but we also have a jam-packed social calendar. From celebrating the end of each show with wrap parties to our famous Halloween fancy dress and Christmas celebrations to bake-offs, table quizzes, dungeons & dragons, online and offline meet-ups, and sketch-ups. We put on cultural events to celebrate our international staff and make them feel at home, away from home. What makes Boulder Media special is the people that fill the studio and bring life to everything we do. Boulder is a family, a very nurturing and open space for all to come and be themselves and express who they are through creativity. We would love you to be part of our animation adventure!

About the role

The Assistant Production Manager will work closely with the Production Manager and Line Producer, assisting in the day-to-day management of the production and the needs and obligations of the production crew. You will follow the prescribed studio workflow set out for each production and will be the main conduit between team leads, heads of departments and the Production Manager.

Skills & Other Requirements

Key Responsibilities

• Ensure you are completely familiar with the brief, assumptions of the show, the estimated outputs for each department, the schedule, all the relevant departments required for the project and the size of the crew needed. As the projects moves forward, ensure to keep fully up to date with any changes in these areas;
• Read and review all the relevant scripts animatics related to the particular show you are working on;
• Remain fully up to date with the pipeline for the for the relevant show, this should include file structures, location of all assets within Boulder Media, naming protocols and tracking systems;
• Support the Production Manager in making sure all departments and teams are aware of the production schedule relevant to their area, bringing any issues or concerns they may have to the attention of the Production Manager;
• Undertake daily check in with the Team Leads and heads of department, ensuring the schedule is being adhered to, they know the relevant priorities on a day-to-day basis, and they have everything they need to meet deadlines and the overall schedule;
• Seek to resolve minor issues, reporting to the Production Manager any issues that cannot be resolved or will impact the shows schedule, crew performance, welfare, or quality of the work – a critical aspect of this communication is to flag any production issues and any delays in delivery to the client at the earliest opportunity;
• Ensure the Team Leads and heads of department are organising their work files efficiently, ensuring the naming/numbering system is always correct and in line with the established production naming protocols and that the show is being tracked accurately, ensuring all approved scenes are moved to correct department throughout the pipeline;
• Ensure all communication from Production Manager, Line Producers and Directors is communicated down to the Team Leads and heads of department and that they forward the relevant information to their team;
• Report daily to the Production Manager on the status of the departments and raise any concerns you may have including deadlines missed, procedures not followed etc;
• Check all episodes have been accurately broken-down in elements of character, props, FX and backgrounds, time of day, etc., to the company standard and put in the relevant tracking system;
• Be prepared and be able to do a full script and/or animatic breakdown of an episode detailing in elements of character, props, FX and backgrounds, time of day, etc. and the details are put into the companies’ tracking systems;
• Using the relevant tracker, track the individual crew members schedule start and end dates updating with changes to the schedule and actuals as project progresses;
• Download/upload material to and from clients as required;
• Upon receipt of production materials (scripts, files, assets, animatics, etc.), co-ordinate the review of these materials in detail (including animatic reviews) and raise any concerns at the earliest opportunity to the Production Manager;
• Monitor the status of the assets and material flowing in and out of all the departments on a daily basis;
• As needed, communicate with clients and address any issues they may raise with the Production Manager or Line Producer;
• Be prepared to step into the Production Manager roles during period of absence (e.g. annual leave, sickness);
• As a senior member of the Production team, you share the responsibility for the crew who report and work directly under you for the following:
• Provide strong leadership and mentorship;
• Regularly monitor each individual to assess performance
• Document performance clearly and provide feedback to crew;
• Build and maintain crew moral;
• Set SMART goals/objec tives to enable and ensure crew meet the expected standards of performance;
• Check in on crew progress towards goals and objectives and giving feedback on progress;
• Working with the HR Team, assist with crew development;
• Requirement to engage in continual improvement training as deemed needed by the company, your lead or supervisor.
• Any other duties company management may from time to time deem necessary and reasonably require.

What would we look for?

• At least 2 years’ experience as a Production Coordinator in the animation industry;
• Full working knowledge of the 2D Harmony animation pipeline at Boulder Media;
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Excel;
• Good knowledge of Ftrack;
• Strong people management skills;
• Knowledge of Shotgrid is an advantage;
• Great communication skills;
• Fluent in English, both spoken and written.

What do we offer?

• Competitive salary, depending on skills and experience;
• 21 days holidays per annum (pro rata);
• An extra day off for Good Friday each year;
• Time off for Christmas;
• Paid sick leave;
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity package;
• Death-In-Service Benefit;
• Employee Assistance Programme;
• Vision/Eye Care;
• Temporary Remote Work Abroad;
• Various in-house social events such as Cake & Fruit Day, Screening nights, Games nights, to name a few.

Boulder Media is an equal opportunity employer committed to supporting diversity and inclusion within our work environment. All applicants, regardless of gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race, or membership of the Travelling Community, will be given equal consideration for employment based on their skills, experience, and potential.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us at jobs@bouldermedia.tv to request accommodation.