Art Director

The Art Director sets the visual style and design for the film, turning big-picture visual concepts into production-ready assets.

Position Summary

The Art Director sets the visual style and design for the film, turning big-picture visual concepts into production-ready assets. This role combines exceptional artistic ability with expertise in generative tools to produce assets ranging from early concept exploration through final, production-quality imagery. The Art Director is expected to produce artwork as well as manage a small team of visual specialists to complete all set, prop, and visual effects design for the film.

Key Responsibilities

• In collaboration with the Director and CTO, establish and uphold the film’s visual language, design standards, and production requirements.
• Lead a team of visual specialists to produce artwork across the full spectrum of development, including:
• Early visual exploration
• Environment, prop, costume, and character design
• Marketing and presentation imagery
• Final production-ready assets suitable for downstream production use.
• Assign tasks to visual specialists within the Art Department and assist with scheduling those tasks.
• Ensure Art department deliverables are on budget and on time within the overall production schedule.
• Translate creative direction, sketches, storyboards, written briefs, and filmmaker feedback into polished visual assets.
• Establish the appropriate level of finish required for each assignment and deliver artwork that aligns with its intended production purpose. Ensure all final imagery meets these requirements.
• Refine generated imagery through digital painting, compositing, overpainting, photo manipulation, and traditional artistic techniques to achieve production-level quality.
• Collaborate with the team to develop efficient workflows, prompt libraries, and production methodologies that improve creative iteration while maintaining artistic excellence.
• Maintain organized asset management practices, version control, and documentation throughout production.

Preferred Qualifications

• Exceptional portfolio demonstrating both exploratory visual development and finished production artwork.
• Professional experience in visual development, concept art, or matte painting for games, animation, or live action film production.
• Proficient with Photoshop, Procreate, or other visual editing/compositing software
• Familiarity with Blender, Beeble SwitchX, Seedance, Unreal Engine, or other visualization tools.
• Experience leading a team of artists.
• Strong traditional drawing and painting skills.
• Understanding of production asset creation and downstream department requirements.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills
• Knowledge of copyright, licensing, and ethical AI practices within studio productions.
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The ideal candidate:

• Thinks like both an artist and a filmmaker.
• Understands the production pipeline beyond visual development.
• Knows when speed and exploration are appropriate and when precision and refinement are required.
• Can rapidly iterate while maintaining exceptional artistic standards.
• Exercises strong artistic judgment regarding image quality, consistency, anatomy, lighting, perspective, and design language.
• Embraces generative technology as one tool within a broader artistic process rather than as an end in itself.
• Thrives in collaborative, highly iterative production environments.