Lead Artist, Facial Animation

This is a Full Time Job

Location: Kirkland, Washington, United States of America

Company Overview

WarnerMedia showcases some of the most iconic and cherished entertainment, news and sports brands in the world, but we are much more than that. WarnerMedia is truly where art meets science. Our combination of cutting-edge technology and an unrivaled commitment to groundbreaking storytelling builds a sense of community and meaningful connection that is shaping the future of media. We create rewarding opportunities across our entire family of brands, while championing a spirit of inclusion, innovation, self-development and support. Join WarnerMedia as we think big, live true and make the stories that move the world.

For the past 20 years Monolith Productions has been obsessed with delivering a unique gaming experience for our fans. Starting with Blood, our very first title – all the way to our most recent offering, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, we are constantly pushing the envelope to combine innovative gameplay, inventive narratives, cutting edge tech & AI, and stunning visuals. We are challenging ourselves even further to ensure that our next project is going to be our best yet. That's where you come in – for us to achieve that, we need the best and brightest talent the industry has to offer. Help us create our next AAA title.

The Job

Join the Wonder Woman team and help bring an iconic DC Super Hero to life!

Monolith Productions, the award-winning AAA studio who brought you F.E.A.R. and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, seeks an Advanced Artist to lead the Face team who has a passion for creating emotional and nuanced facial animation performances and who loves to get into the technical details of how to get there. Along with creating exceptional facial animation content, candidate will work with the team on establishing, maintaining and continually improving the quality of facial animations for systemic in game presentations and real-time cinematics.

The Daily

The Face Animation Art Lead will oversee the day-to-day operations of the Face Pipeline while working closely with Directors, Art Leadership and other key stakeholders in the continued development and improvements of the facial animation pipeline to ensure that the team has a scalable and efficient toolset. This role is responsible for researching, recommending, and developing new technologies to push the quality bar of facial animation content forward. Candidate will have a deep understanding of facial performance, animation principles, face pipelines and associated art tools. The Lead will help build the face team, give feedback, and work with production to coordinate schedules and manage direct reports.

The Essentials
• 8+ years working as an animator in the entertainment industry with a focus on facial animation.
• Strong understanding of facial anatomy.
• Experience working in modern facial animation pipelines.
• Deep understanding of FACS based animation analysis and implementation (e.g. Faceware).
• Experience working in industry standard 3D software packages (e.g. Maya) and creating blendshape based facial systems and animations.
• Experience with industry standard 3-D animation packages (e.g. 3D Studio Max, Motion Builder, and Maya).
• Deep knowledge of facial topology, anatomy and rigging solutions to best support both automated and individually authored performances.
• Ability to direct and focus on the ''details that matter'' in emotional performances.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Portfolio/website/reel demonstrating fundamental foundational art skills, design sensibilities, and attention to detail.
• 2 shipped AAA titles.

The Nice to Haves
• Experience in a Lead or equivalent position.
• Understanding of facial likeness capture and scan processes including light stage, photogrammetry, HMC and hybrid approaches.
• Experience in motion and performance capture facial animation pipelines.
• Experience using audio analysis software for facial animation generation.
• Understanding of facial likeness capture and scan processes including light stage, photogrammetry, HMC and hybrid approaches.
• Experience developing blend shape instances or attribute libraries to support targeted performances across a range of humanoid facial variants.
• Experience with rigging solutions to best support both automated and individually authored performances.
• Management experience such as direct report career development and project/production/team scheduling.
• Familiarity with Shadow of Mordor or Shadow of War games.

The Perks
• Exclusive WarnerMedia events and advance screenings
• Paid time off every year to volunteer for eligible employees
• Access to well-being tools, resources, and freebies
• Access to in-house learning and development resources
• Part of the WarnerMedia family of powerhouse brands

WarnerMedia embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of our society and the world around us. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, mental or physical disability, and genetic information, marital status, citizenship status, military status, protected veteran status or any other category protected by law.

Text Constant If you're a qualified candidate with a disability and you need a reasonable accommodation in order to apply for this position, please contact us at recruitadmin@warnermedia.com.