Virtual Production Supervisor

About Us

Synapse is a Virtual Production and Immersive Entertainment collective, composed of filmmakers and award-winning industry leaders, including directors, cinematographers, producers, designers, engineers, VFX artists and technicians. We’ve created thousands of commercials, music videos, tv shows, films, live broadcasts, immersive experiences and esports events.

Virtual Production represents the convergence of all these mediums. Synapse leverages these cutting-edge technologies and harnesses our collective years of experience and battle-tested knowledge to craft a more robust, filmmaker-centric virtual production solution and engaging, immersive visual experiences.

Job description

As the VP Supervisor, you will be overseeing all technical aspects of virtual production at Synapse. Shepherding our clients through the entire project pipelines, you will be tasked with facing both technical and creative challenges on a daily basis. You will work alongside the VAD supervisor, Head of Production, and Director of Technical Production to continually deliver for our partners, as well as innovate new and better ways to achieve incredible results with the technology. Whether a feature film, tv show, commercial, music video, or tangential Virtual Production related experience, you will be a vital part of the core service offering.  

Responsibilities:

• Lead and support technically challenging productions with on-set team/clients, overseeing all aspects of Virtual Production.
• Communicate technical needs to production, such as the Director, DP, Sound, VFX, etc., and work with the Technology Management team to develop and support company virtual production tools.
• Prep Unreal assets.
• Consistently maintain a high standard of quality and speed in virtual production workflows.
• Collaborate within a team towards a common goal and prioritize conflicting tasks effectively.
• Provide strong and proven leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills, managing client expectations confidently.
• Possess essential Virtual Production experience in Feature Films or Television, including traditional filmmaking on-set experience.
• Demonstrate an excellent knowledge of Unreal Engine, including Blueprints, Tracking systems, LED tech, as well as Maya and experience with the visual effects pipeline.
• Utilize technical understanding of filmmaking, cameras, film back, aperture, shutter, FOV, etc.
• Develop best practices for Virtual Production protocols and internal workflows
• Work with HOP, VAD Supervisor, and partners to engage with clients in project spec’ing in the bidding process.
• Hiring operators as needed for production needs.
• Lead the technical and interdepartmental communication of a project from pre production until post, representing the company as the face of communication and coordinating the technical needs for the project the the VP support teams.

Desirable Skills:

• Techvis, and/or technical planning experience.
• Scripting experience (Python & Mel).
• Understanding or experience with Redspy systems and software.
• Experience with virtual production frameworks in Unreal Engine such as LiveLink, Multi-User Editing, nDisplay.

Work History:

• Experience with VFX, and Physical Production, including on-set client interaction and key creative collaboration.
• Proven track record in leadership and mentorship of virtual production stage crews.
• Knowledge of game engines and game-related technologies.
• Experience in a visual effects asset and shot production pipeline.
• Advanced knowledge of still photography, film, and video production.
• Advanced knowledge of movie lighting and stage rigging skills preferred.
• Experience with video hardware and signals, video engineering experience preferred.
• Highly computer literate with Linux; MAC and Windows experience preferred.
• Ability to develop and debug scripts in Python, preferred but not required.

Character Attributes:

• Strong communication, interpersonal, and diplomacy skills.
• Detail-oriented, highly organized, and able to handle a variety of tasks in an efficient manner.
• Excellent troubleshooting skills to diagnose and solve issues in complex integrated systems.
• Ability to execute technically difficult work and maintain a productive attitude under the pressure of live-action production.
• Demonstrated ability to supervise and direct facial capture and bluescreen element shoots.
• Willingness to travel occasionally for set and/or client meetings.
• Proactive, positive attitude with a focus on delivering high-quality data in a rapidly changing environment.

Synapse Virtual Production