Asvp Virtual Art Department Technical Director

Job Description

Amazon Studios Virtual Production (ASVP) is looking for an ASVP Virtual Art Department Technical Director for our Unreal-based system. You will interface with production Virtual Art Departments (VAD) to help filmmakers create Amazon Original movies and series for Prime Video. You will evaluate incoming assets to ensure the highest quality with real-time performance in mind. Our projects include critically acclaimed, award-winning originals like Fleabag, Sound Of Metal, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel as well as ground-breaking projects like The Boys, Jack Ryan, Carnival Row, The Underground Railroad, One Night in Miami, and more. We want to make the filmmaking process as accessible and as powerful as possible so that filmmakers will love working here.

As part of Amazon Studios, ASVP is leading a plan to help filmmakers bring their projects to life in a safe, innovative, and inspirational environment. You must be a builder at heart and a collaborator in spirit. This position will work closely with key creatives, productions, and the technology crews of Amazon/AWS. We will obsess over the filmmaker and the filmmaking process. Our goal is to enhance traditional filmmaking and invent new ways technology can enhance the art of storytelling.

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
• Evaluate incoming work from production VAD teams ensuring high visual quality and performance for real-time
• Profile real-time projects to ensure performance within Virtual Production guidelines
• Optimize assets while retaining visual quality
• Regularly provide feedback to external VAD teams on submitted work
• Work with creative teams in assembling virtual worlds
• Assist with maintaining version control for all digital assets
• Execute technically complex work while maintaining a productive and constructive attitude under the high pressure of production
• Assist in creating pitch-vis and materials for production planning and green-lighting projects
• Assist in creating pre-production art, pre-vis, and final pixels assets for live-action VP photography
• Contribute to the development and operation of the Amazon digital asset management system for locations, vehicles, architecture, characters, props, and any other CG assets
• Contribute to developing custom pipelines for projects with specific creative and technological needs (including new technology) in collaboration with Amazon's engineering teams and existing turnkey solutions
• Constantly be testing new world-building software, plug-ins, and methodologies
• Participate in daily and weekly reporting of production work
• Compile and share ''best practices'' guidelines to external VAD teams

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
• You must deal very well with production people - excellent communication, interpersonal and diplomacy skills are required.
• Advanced experience using Unreal
• Proficient in asset building applications: Maya, Houdini, Blender, 3DSMax, Nuke, Zbrush, Substance Painter, etc..
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and have the ability to efficiently multi-task
• Up-to-date knowledge on best asset practices to maximize performance and visual fidelity in Unreal. This includes: topology, poly count, texture formats, bone count, skin clusters, material count, material complexity, etc.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
• Familiarity with raytracing and other rendering techniques
• Knowledge of USD platform/pipeline as well as other exhange formats such as fbx, obj, alembic, etc...Previous experience working in a Virtual Art Department
• Good understanding of the practices and procedures used in VFX, live-action film production, and the gaming industry
• Working knowledge of version control systems, eg., Perforce, Git.
• Familiarity with ACES/OCIO
• VFX CG/Light/Comp department workflow experience at a VFX facility.
• Must be a builder, self-starter, curious, deep diver, big thinker, honest, resourceful, inventor, story-teller, have a tremendous bias for action, and work well in a small, multi-disciplinary, specialized team.
• A keen eye for photo-reality is a huge plus
Our inclusive culture empowers Amazonians to deliver the best results for our customers. We not only celebrate the diversity of our workforce, we celebrate the diverse ways we work. If you have a disability and need an accommodation, such as an ASL interpreter or a different interview format, let us know. Contact us at 888-435-9287, Monday through Friday 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., Pacific Time. For further options for individuals with disabilities, please visit https://www.amazon.jobs/en/disability/us.

Amazon is an Equal Opportunity-Affirmative Action Employer – Minority / Female / Disability / Veteran / Gender Identity / Sexual Orientation.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-d98wb4-18-191-21-86-42 in your application.