Skydance Animation is excited to welcome an emerging Character Designer as an apprentice. With the help of their designated mentor, the Character Design Apprentice will join the studio in a rotational program having opportunities to hone their craft while working on real feature productions and getting an in-depth look at Skydance Animation's culture, including our filmmaking process and our people. In addition, a learning curriculum will be built around the apprentice to help support future growth as an artist.

Candidates must be 18 years or older and have approximately 1 year of experience as a Character Designer and/or visual development artist, background painter, background designer, prop designer, costume designer, etc., but no more than 2 years in feature animation.

#Animation

Responsibilities

Use artistic skills to bring characters to life

Work alongside mentor and team(s) to visually explore and design different aspects of a character while keeping in mind the story needs and narrative

Generate work in the form of sketches, rough designs, and final character designs all while featuring a character's personality, movement, and motivations

Create character turnarounds and character poses in 2D and/or CG vis dev models

Innovate and elevate ideas, keeping in mind leadership’s requests and vision while adding your own creative flair with depth, humor, emotion, and resonance to visual concepts

Perform research that will inform the design of the work

Take notes, implement feedback, make any changes or revisions when necessary

Communicate progress of work to mentor and other appropriate staff

Ensure quality and style of show is consistently achieved

Participate in brainstorming sessions with other visual development artists

Attend and contribute to relevant meetings as needed

Requirements

Must be 18 years or older

Approximately 1 year of experience as a character designer and/or visual development artist, background painter, background designer, prop designer, costume designer, etc. (this can include previous internships, trainee experiences, etc.) but no more than 2 years in feature animation

Available full-time (40hrs per week) for 7 months between June 15, 2026-January 22, 2027

Located in, or willingness to relocate to, the Los Angeles Metropolitan area

Portfolio that demonstrates character design skillset; exhibit proficiency in drawing, anatomy, design, perspective, composition, painting, and color theory

Advanced knowledge of Photoshop

Knowledge of CG tools (Blender, Maya, Zbrush) a plus

Eagerness to learn and actively participate in studio offerings

The hourly rate for this non-exempt position in Santa Monica, CA is $45.87.

You must be available to work full-time from 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM (PT) for the duration of the program (Mondays-Fridays, June 15, 2026 - January 22, 2027), excluding holidays.