Position SummaryWe are seeking a Storyboard Artist to join our pioneering team in developing animated shorts and specials using experimental GenAI-native production pipelines. You will be a crucial partner in visual storytelling, responsible for creating high-quality storyboards from story inception through final delivery. This role requires technical curiosity to navigate, build, and support hybrid workflows using both traditional and new tools, all while contributing to the development of feature-quality content within our creator- and artist-led environment.
Key Responsibilities- Collaborate with creative leadership to define and clarify staging, camera, pacing, and character acting, bringing story concepts to life and creating a visual blueprint.
- Apply a strong understanding of story principles. Use knowledge of 2D and/or CG animation to ensure that posing, staging, and cutting is both inventive and producible.
- Translate script pages and written or verbal descriptions into visual, ranging from rough thumbnail sketches to finalized storyboard panels. Pitch storyboards to the story, leadership and creative teams.
- Brainstorm inventive story beats, comedic/dramatic actions, and dialogue tweaks to elevate the story.
- Proactively engage with and help define traditional, GenAI, and hybrid workflows to achieve creative excellence, bridging 2D and 3D ideas and integration for high-quality animation and story..
- Receive and incorporate feedback quickly and thoughtfully, maintaining consistency with creative direction, production guidelines, and sprint timelines. Work closely with leadership to resolve issues and address notes.
- Drive look development and visual experimentation efforts by pioneering new approaches to blend generative imagery with traditional renders and footage.
- Build workflows, templates, and scripts as needed.
- Ensure storyboards are delivered to the highest standard and on schedule through effective teamwork and problem-solving skills.
- Help foster a collaborative, inclusive, curious, and exploratory team environment.
Qualifications- 4+ years of storyboarding experience in animation, games, or digital media (feature, episodic, or high-end short-form); experience with stylized or non-photoreal work is a plus OR a portfolio that demonstrates extensive story experience for animated shorts, series, or features.
- Storyboarding samples and/or credits demonstrating excellence and inspiration in cinematic sense, graphic storytelling, character development, composition, and editorial pacing.
- Advanced working knowledge of digital drawing tools.
- Demonstrated and genuine interest in Generative AI imagery and video, with a proactive, hands-on approach to exploring new GenAI tools to enhance storytelling capabilities.
- Strong organizational and time management skills, with the ability to deliver high-quality work on schedule in a fast-moving sprint-based environment.
- Ability to take direction positively, collaborate across disciplines, and communicate clearly with creative, technical, and production partners.
- A scrappy, builder's mindset with a high degree of independence, out-of-the-box application, and initiative as production support and workflows evolve alongside the creative process. Demonstrated experience working in ambiguous environments where the core production pipeline is being built and rapidly iterated upon.
- Comfortable taking big-picture approaches while willing to build new workflows in a fluid, evolving production environment.
- Ability to provide upward, constructive feedback to leadership for improved scalability.
- Preferred, not required:
- Traditional art, photography, or film background.
This job may be covered by a collective bargaining agreement. If so, pay for the position is governed by the currently effective applicable collective bargaining agreement and thus will be no less than $74.52 an hour and up to any better conditions and terms negotiated and obtained as expressly provided therein.
Depending on whether you are covered by a collective bargaining agreement, INK benefits can include medical/dental/vision plans, mental health support, retirement programs, and family-forming benefits, paid leave of absence programs, and paid time away programs to be used for vacation and sick paid time off.
