Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a global leader in visual effects and a subsidiary of Lucasfilm and The Walt Disney Company, is seeking a Junior Crowd Technical Director (TD) to join our San Francisco studio. This role is a vital technical and creative position focused on bringing life to large-scale cinematic environments. From the bustling streets of futuristic cities to epic battle sequences and stadium crowds, the Junior Crowd TD ensures that every background character moves with purpose, realism, and visual diversity.
At ILM, we don’t just create movies; we define the future of storytelling. This position offers a unique entry point into the world of high-end crowd simulation, providing the opportunity to work with proprietary tools and industry-standard software like Houdini to populate the most iconic worlds in film history.
Executive Summary of the Role: Junior Crowd Technical Director (TD)
| Category | Details |
| Company Name | Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) / Lucasfilm |
| Parent Organization | The Walt Disney Company |
| Position Title | Junior Crowd Technical Director (TD) |
| Work Location | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Employment Type | Full-Time |
| Primary Software | Houdini, Linux, Maya |
| Experience Level | Junior (2–3+ Years) |
Comprehensive Compensation & Benefits Structure
Industrial Light & Magic provides a competitive compensation package that reflects the specialized nature of technical direction in the San Francisco market.
| Component | Annual Range / Details |
| Base Salary Range | $67,900 – $86,900 |
| Salary Determinants | Internal equity, geographic region, skills, and prior experience. |
| Bonus Potential | Eligibility for annual performance-based bonuses. |
| Long-Term Incentives | Potential for long-term incentive units depending on position level. |
| Health & Wellness | Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance plans. |
| Financial Security | Retirement savings plans (401k), life insurance, and disability. |
| Employee Perks | Disney “Cast Member” perks, including theme park access and discounts. |
The Junior Crowd TD acts as a bridge between animation and technical simulation. You will be responsible for choreographing the behavior of thousands of individual agents, ensuring they respond logically to their environment and the creative vision of the director.
1. Shot Production and Choreography
- Behavior Animation: Choreograph the motion and behavior of crowds in entry-level shots. This involves using simulation logic to ensure characters avoid obstacles, interact with one another, and follow the flow of the scene.
- Motion Blending: Manage motion cycles used on a show, including the creation of blending cycles to ensure transitions between animations (e.g., walking to running) appear fluid and natural.
- Visual Diversity: Creatively utilize existing motion libraries and character variations to ensure a crowd does not look “repetitive.” This includes varying heights, clothing colors, and animation offsets.
2. Technical Pipeline Development
- Houdini Workflow: Assist in developing and refining workflows within SideFX Houdini. You will be expected to create and modify Digital Assets (HDAs) that can be used by the broader crowd team.
- Troubleshooting: Identify and resolve technical bugs within the crowd pipeline. This involves working across departments to ensure that crowd data translates correctly from animation to lighting and rendering.
- Scripting: While a junior role, you will be encouraged to assist in automating tasks to improve the speed and efficiency of the crowd department.
3. Team Collaboration and Communication
- Cross-Discipline Synergy: Communicate with artists in Rigging, Animation, and Compositing to ensure crowd assets are built and integrated correctly.
- Dailies and Feedback: Attend daily production meetings to present progress. You must be able to take constructive artistic direction and technical feedback from the Crowd Supervisor and VFX Supervisor and apply it rapidly.
- Knowledge Sharing: Collaborate with the wider crowd team to document new processes and share findings that could benefit future productions.
Minimum Qualifications
- Education: A Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Graphics, Traditional Animation, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
- Professional Background: * Minimum of 2 years of relevant VFX experience with a related degree.
- OR at least 3 years of professional VFX experience in a production environment.
- Houdini Proficiency: A strong foundational knowledge of Houdini software and its crowd-specific toolsets (State Machines, Agent nodes, etc.).
- OS Environment: Proficiency in Linux, as it is the primary operating system for our production pipeline.
- Cinematic Eye: A deep understanding of composition, weight, and timing to ensure simulations look “filmic” rather than “robotic.”
Preferred “Nice to Have” Skills
- Scripting: Proficiency in VEX (Houdini’s language) or Python is highly desirable for tool creation.
- Simulations: Experience with secondary simulations like cloth or hair for crowd agents.
- Animation Knowledge: A working knowledge of Maya and character rigging, particularly how skeletal data impacts crowd agents.
- Observational Skills: A keen eye for natural movement—understanding how people flock, move in groups, and react to external stimuli.
ILM and The Walt Disney Company are committed to creating a diverse environment. We believe that a variety of backgrounds and experiences makes our teams stronger and our stories better.
Diversity Statistics & Commitment:
- Equal Opportunity: Lucasfilm is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or disability.
- Representation: In recent years, The Walt Disney Company has significantly increased its focus on representation. Across the enterprise, approximately 45% of the U.S. workforce identifies as people of color, and the company continues to invest in pipeline programs to bring underrepresented groups into technical roles like VFX.
- Culture: We champion a culture where ideas from all people help us innovate and remain relevant in a rapidly changing world.
Founded in 1975 by George Lucas to create the visual effects for Star Wars, ILM has grown into the world’s premier effects house. With studios in San Francisco, Vancouver, London, Sydney, and Mumbai, ILM remains at the absolute forefront of the digital revolution.
Our portfolio includes over 325 feature films, and our work has been instrumental in the success of 25 of the top 50 box-office hits of all time. Beyond traditional film, ILM is a leader in Virtual Production (StageCraft), VR, and Immersive Cinema. Joining ILM means joining a team that has won 15 Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and 24 Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards.
The Walt Disney Company is a diversified international family entertainment enterprise. From its humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s, Disney now encompasses Disney Entertainment, ESPN, and Disney Experiences. Disney’s stories and characters reach consumers in more than 40 countries, making it one of the most cherished brands in the world.
By joining the ILM team under the Disney umbrella, you become part of a legacy of world-class storytelling that spans over a century.
Application Guidelines
To be successful in your application for the Junior Crowd TD position, your reel should demonstrate:
1. Complexity: Examples of large-scale agent simulations (thousands of characters).
2. Logic: Evidence of “smart” behavior in simulations (avoidance, pathfinding).
3. Technical Prowess: Showcasing Houdini setups or custom tools/HDAs you have built.
Aesthetics: A clear understanding of how to make a crowd feel integrated into a realistic environment.
Industrial Light & Magic is a Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. LLC company.
Are you ready to help us populate the next great cinematic universe? Apply today to Join ILM.
