Production Innovation Technologist (ph)

Disney Disney · Media · Burbank, CA +1

Seeking a Production Innovation Technologist with expertise in advanced 3D compositing and generative technologies. This role involves designing, training, and fine-tuning models (e.g., LoRA, IP adapters, Gaussian Splatting) to solve production-scale challenges, evaluating new ML approaches, and integrating these into existing pipelines. The technologist will act as a senior technical authority, translating creative objectives into production-ready solutions and collaborating with ML Engineers to bridge research and production.

What you'd actually do

  1. Serve as a recognized expert in advanced compositing and hybrid CG/ML workflows, delivering high-quality, shot-ready work that meets or exceeds studio standards.
  2. Act as a technical authority and advisor to creative leadership, production, and engineering partners on complex, high-risk shots and workflows.
  3. Lead the technical strategy for applying emerging and generative technologies to production needs, focusing on reliability, repeatability, and artistic control rather than exploratory output alone.
  4. Design, train, fine-tune, and adapt models using techniques such as LoRA, IP adapters, Gaussian Splatting, and custom PyTorch pipelines to solve production-scale challenges.
  5. Evaluate new ML and generative approaches, identifying failure modes, constraints, and opportunities, and translating findings into actionable production guidance.

Skills

Required

  • 7+ years of experience in compositing supervision or senior-level compositing roles on visually complex feature films or equivalent high-end productions.
  • Expert-level knowledge of advanced compositing workflows and strong artistic judgment in high-pressure production environments.
  • Deep practical understanding of neural networks and generative systems, including how prompting, conditioning, and model architecture impact consistency, fidelity, and failure modes.
  • Advanced Python proficiency for scripting, automation, workflow orchestration, and tool development.
  • Demonstrated success applying emerging and generative technologies directly within production pipelines, not solely in R&D contexts.
  • Proven ability to create and integrate 3D elements for shot work using Maya, Blender, and/or Unreal Engine.
  • Significant experience with ComfyUI, including complex graph design, extensions, and custom node development.
  • Ability to work independently with minimal guidance, while influencing broader technical and creative strategy across projects.

What the JD emphasized

  • deep expertise in advanced 3D compositing and applied emerging and generative technologies
  • operationalized within production
  • production-ready solutions
  • technical feasibility, and production realities
  • shot-ready results
  • evolution of pipelines, tools, and methodologies across shows
  • deploy new technologies in real production contexts
  • hybrid CG/ML workflows
  • production-scale challenges
  • actionable production guidance
  • traditional compositing and CG methods
  • established pipelines
  • production feedback
  • production-integrated tools and pipelines
  • artist-usable, production-ready systems
  • readiness for deployment
  • production pipelines, not solely in R&D contexts

Other signals

  • design, train, fine-tune, and adapt models
  • Evaluate new ML and generative approaches
  • Combine machine learning techniques with traditional compositing and CG methods
  • architect and implement end-to-end workflows that integrate emerging technology outputs into established pipelines
  • Collaborate closely with Machine Learning Engineers, translating research prototypes into artist-usable, production-ready systems