Animation Director

at  Brown Bag Films

At Brown Bag Films, our motto is simple: “We love animation.” In fact, we love it so much we trademarked it! ‘We Love Animation™.’ We are one of the World’s most exciting, original and successful creative-lead animation studios with studios in Toronto, Dublin and Bali.
At Brown Bag Films, we are actively seeking a driven & talented Animation Director to join our Toronto Studio and work with our talented artists on a fast paced and unique production. This role will report directly to the Head of Animation.

Purpose: Why you’re here at Brown Bag Films

• To proactively take charge of the creative and technical delivery of animated output for designated Production by leading the Animation team, ensuring the character, acting and animation style maximizes the entertainment value of the project and in strong collaboration with Director and Producer.
• To develop the Animation team through their delivery of project goals and managing the culture and work environment.

Delivery: What you produce

• Comprehensive and clear Animation Bible and notes
• Animation episode launch documents
• Special Posing Launch documents and notes (if applicable)
• Quality and character of Animated output in line with expectations
• Animation workflow & pipeline
• Innovative solutions to creative needs
• Sustainable Animation team.

Measurements: How we measure it

• Animated outputs meeting requirements within scope and Production schedule
• Optimised animation quality and resourcing
• Use of industry technologies to maximise efficiency and quality
• Client feedback
• Feedback from Head of Animation, and Production Producer(s) & Director
• Team development & sustainability.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

Things that help you do your job (what is essential and what is desirable)

• Knowledge:

o Extensive knowledge in animation production pipelines and workflows.
o Strong understanding of character performance.

o Strong appreciation of how animation software applications are applied to animation production.

• Experience:

o Experience on at least 6-7 long-form Film/TV animation productions.
o Strong leadership experience in managing and mentoring Teams in an animation environment and forecasting project solutions and requirements.

o Well-founded experience with asset tracking systems & workflow management software (e.g. Shotgrid).

• Technical skills:

o Analysis of data for reporting.
o Proficient in Microsoft Office, in particular Excel, MS Project and PowerPoint.
Lived experience and/or in-depth knowledge of Mexican culture and languages (particularly Spanish) would be considered an asset for this role.
Applicants need to be legally eligible to work in Ontario. The successful candidate will be leading a team of Animators who will be working remotely.
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Why work with us?
Perks! Perks! Perks! Not only is 9 Story Media Group / Brown Bag Films an amazing place full of artists, animators and creators from all corners of the industry, but we focus on helping staff grow and develop in their careers and make them long time team members. Along with a great work environment we offer first-rate health + dental benefits, summer hours, paid Health and Wellness Days, vacation periods that multiply with tenure, and more! We may love animation, but we love our employees even more!
Our Toronto office can be found in the cool and trendy Liberty Village with over 200 artists working on award winning animated children’s content. You will benefit from a competitive compensation package, interesting work and a fun/supportive work environment.
We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.
9 Story Media takes diversity and inclusion seriously and we are committed to ensuring equity in the recruitment process. Candidates from diverse backgrounds, including but not limited to, Indigenous peoples, Racialized and LGBT2SQ+ communities, candidates from a range of ages and religious beliefs and people with disabilities, are encouraged to apply. Should you require accommodation throughout the recruitment process, please let us know your requirements when contacted.
As a company, we deliver high-quality kids’ content, and we seek to have diverse characters so that all our audience feels represented. We also want the same for our own workforce, and 9 Story Media is committed to looking for all kinds of talent to build a diverse workforce in which all identities are represented and respected.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

What you are regularly responsible for doing:

• Managing the Animation team ensuring the creative and technical process are on target for production output and scheduled delivery. Includes:
• Managing and mentoring the Animation Supervisors to achieve optimal creative and technical workflow
• Providing clear and concise upfront direction through the development of bibles, launch documents, examples, gifs/videos, drawovers, etc.)
• Mentoring the animation team and identifying key talent
• Creating an encouraging and engaging work environment within the Animation Team
• Influencing the creative and technical resourcing for the designated projects
• Managing revisions in line with the creative vision ensuring what goes out the door meets the aspiration.
• Reviewing and/or Approving

o Tech Pass/Leica Lock
o Designs as they pertain to animateability
o Animated Cycles
o Prebuilt in Rig character poses
o Special Posing passes
o Blocking/Posing Pass
o Animation Pass

o Revision Passes to ensure final quality is up to expectations.

• Alongside the Client, Director and Creative Leads, creating and/or maintaining the animation style for the show that supports overall show intent, and that is engaging for audiences and animators.
• Collaborating with the broader Production team to ensure understanding of the direction, intent and entertainment value of a scene, character or episode and translating that into fun, charming choices that guide the Animators.
• Managing the identification of potential issues for the creative vision as it pertains to schedule and working to address them with the Animation team and other Production teams ahead of time.
• Ensuring the Director and/or Client notes vetting system is viable and enables creative expectations to be met within the Production schedule; discussing and adjusting notes as needed.
• Collaborating with Art and Rigging on how to best achieve creative, technical and schedule goals; managing any shortfalls as needed.

Purpose: Why you’re here at Brown Bag Films

• To proactively take charge of the creative and technical delivery of animated output for designated Production by leading the Animation team, ensuring the character, acting and animation style maximizes the entertainment value of the project and in strong collaboration with Director and Producer.
• To develop the Animation team through their delivery of project goals and managing the culture and work environment