Talent Development Artist - Character Design Trainee

Job Description

Join us for an opportunity to experience the art of Walt Disney Animation Studios! Our Talent Development Apprentice Program is an immersive paid mentorship available for emerging artists seeking to hone and expand their creative sensibilities within Disney Animation's unique filmmaking legacy and collaborative culture.

The Apprentice Program begins January 2021. Please note, the safety and well-being of our teams is very important to us. We will be determining whether this program will be in-person at our Burbank, CA studio or virtual in the coming months based on local state and county ordinance. The deadline of applications is October 4, 2020, 11:59 PM PST.

The Character Design Trainee
Character Designers create the concept art and designs that help bring a film's characters to life. They inform, inspire, and touch many aspects of our creative pipeline. A character designer translates a director's ideas into drawings, creating designs that service character personality, movement, and performance and providing a wide range of expression for animators to act with on screen. Character designers also provide technical turnarounds, pose pages, and expression sheets to inform character creation in modeling and rigging. They are also responsible for drawings and color packets to explain the construction and detail of character costuming to inform surfacing and simulation.

We're looking for trainees who have a rich imagination, a sense of whimsy and appeal, and solid volumetric drawing abilities. An understanding of color, shape, and anatomy are also key skills needed to breathe life into our characters. Our trainees bring fresh, and unexpected viewpoints to our work and our workplace. We embrace original thinking and passion.

As a Character Design Trainee, the first six months of your program are structured to introduce you to the art of our character design process, our studio culture, and our production environment. These initial months will showcase the skills and philosophies of our Visual Development department while providing you nurturing mentorship with a Disney artist.

A three month and six month review provides you with real-time feedback and determines future assignments and promotional opportunities that would bring your skills into real-time production environments.

Job Responsibilities:
• Design characters based on the director's vision
• Execute detailed character technical drawings to expedite collaboration with other departments in the pipeline
• Fully engage in all training activities and classes
• Collaborate with and address notes from a Mentor/Supervising Artist in completion of all assignments
• Proactively engage and collaborate with the Walt Disney Animation Studios Art Department
• Attend and contribute to Art Department Meetings
• The program duration is 6 months with the potential to expand beyond this timeframe if promoted to an Apprentice role

Am I Eligible To Apply? We're looking for:
• 18 years or older
• Emerging artists with less than 5 years experience in the Animation Industry
• Recent graduates - Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience
• Original thinkers with a passion and dedication toward pushing their craft and skillsets
• Previous exposure to the art of animation is helpful

To apply for this position you must include a resume and portfolio.

Portfolios Should Include:
• Character designs in a range of styles and archetypes, all with specific and clear personality and appeal
• Drawings of character moments and relationships
• Observational sketches & studies
• Work that demonstrates an understanding of acting, observation, volume, anatomy, staging, and movement
• If any of your work is password protected, please include the password with your application

The Walt Disney Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-d861bq-3-139-82-23-42 in your application.