Art Director

CombineFx; Oklahoma City (OK); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

CombineFX is seeking an Art Director to set the film's visual style and oversee production-ready assets. You will lead a small team of visual specialists, driving design across environments, props, and character concepts, while translating filmmaker feedback into final imagery that aligns with production needs.

The ideal candidate blends artistic judgment with production discipline, embraces generative tools, and thrives in iterative collaboration to elevate film aesthetics.

Qualifications

• Strong portfolio showing exploration and finished production artwork.
• Experience leading a team of artists in visual development or matte painting.
• Excellent communication and collaboration with directors and VFX teams.
• Understanding of production asset creation and downstream department needs.

Responsibilities

• Set visual language and design standards in collaboration with Director/CTO.
• Lead a team of visual specialists from concept to final production-ready assets.
• Oversee environment, prop, costume, and character design and related imagery.
• Translate director feedback into polished assets and maintain production quality.

Skills

Portfolio

Team leadership

Art direction

Communication

Tools

Photoshop

Procreate

Blender

Unreal Engine

Job description

The Art Director sets the visual style and design for the film, turning big-picture visual concepts into production-ready assets.

About Combine FX

CombineFX is a generative visual effects pipeline built to expand what independent filmmakers can put on screen without removing the artists who make filmmaking possible. Our technology works alongside cinematographers, production designers, costume designers, set decorators, VFX artists, and their crews, giving them a broader canvas on which to create. By combining traditional filmmaking craft with new generative tools, CombineFX helps filmmakers extend sets, build environments, enhance practical design, and create worlds that would traditionally require far larger budgets. Technology doesn’t make the creative decisions the filmmakers do. CombineFX simply gives their ideas somewhere bigger to go.

Description

The Art Director sets the visual style and design for the film, turning big-picture visual concepts into production-ready assets.This role combines exceptional artistic ability with expertise in generative tools to produce assets ranging from early concept exploration through final, production-quality imagery. The Art Director is expected to produce artwork as well as manage a small team of visual specialists to complete all set, prop, and visual effects design for the film.

Key Responsibilities

• In collaboration with the Director and CTO, establish and uphold the film’s visual language, design standards, and production requirements.
• Lead a team of visual specialists to produce artwork across the full spectrum of development, including:
• Early visual exploration
• Environment, prop, costume, and character design
• Marketing and presentation imagery
• Final production-readyassets suitable for downstream production use.
• Assign tasks to visual specialists within the Art Department and assist with scheduling those tasks.
• Ensure Art department deliverables are on budget and on time within the overall production schedule.
• Translate creative direction, sketches, storyboards, written briefs, and filmmaker feedback into polished visual assets.
• Establish the appropriate level of finish required for each assignment and deliver artwork that aligns with its intended production purpose. Ensure all final imagery meet these requirements.
• Refine generated imagery through digital painting, compositing, overpainting, photo manipulation, and traditional artistic techniques to achieve production-level quality.
• Collaborate with the team to develop efficient workflows, prompt libraries, and production methodologies that improve creative iteration while maintaining artistic excellence.
• Maintain organized asset management practices, version control, and documentation throughout production.

Preferred Qualifications

• Exceptional portfolio demonstrating both exploratory visual development and finished production artwork.
• Professional experience in visual development, concept art, or matte painting for games, animation, or live action film production.
• Proficient with Photoshop, Procreate, or other visual editing/compositing software
• Familiarity with Blender, Beeble SwitchX, Seedance, Unreal Engine, or other visualization tools.
• Experience leading a team of artists.
• Strong traditional drawing and painting skills.
• Understanding of production asset creation and downstream department requirements.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills
• Knowledge of copyright, licensing, and ethical AI practices within studio productions.

The ideal candidate:

• Thinks like both an artist and a filmmaker.
• Understands the production pipeline beyond visual development.
• Knows when speed and exploration are appropriate and when precision and refinement are required.
• Can rapidly iterate while maintaining exceptional artistic standards.
• Exercises strong artistic judgment regarding image quality, consistency, anatomy, lighting, perspective, and design language.
• Embraces generative technology as one tool within a broader artistic process rather than as an end in itself.
• Thrives in collaborative, highly iterative production environments.