Role Call Roundup: CD Projekt Red, Sony Pictures Animation, Guru Studio
At ease, recruits! And welcome to CartoonRecruit.com’s weekly Role Call Roundup. On the main page, I monitor and curate links to job posts (updated daily) from an ever-expanding list of animation studios. This blog is where I reflect on job posts from the past week and take a closer look at hiring trends across the animation industry.
This week, I am visiting family in Toronto but have been keeping a close eye on new job posts. I have also been processing the State of the Industry panel at last week’s LightBox Expo and feel that there are reasons to be optimistic about the future of our craft. Those reasons might include new job opportunities at CD Projekt Red, Sony Pictures Animation and Guru Studio. Read on to find out!
CD Projekt Red spins up production in Boston, Massachusetts
In 2021, the Polish video game developer CD Projekt Red acquired the Boston-based studio, The Molasses Flood, and is best known for ‘AAA’ story-focused action RPGs like The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077. The studio is currently hiring 10 roles for Project Orion, the follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077 and the next major video game in the Cyberpunk franchise. The jobs are all hybrid and located in CD Projekt Red’s Boston studio.
- Lead Environment Concept Artist
- Senior Environment Concept Artist
- Senior Cinematic Animator
- Senior Producer
- Producer
- Lead Environment Artist
- Senior Environment Artist
- Senior Cinematic Designer
It is always worth keeping a close eye on studios hiring for senior creative roles, as new leads in a department tend to hire more artists.
Picture hiring for a CG series and feature film in Culver City, California
Sony Pictures Animation was founded in 2002, following the success of Sony Pictures Imageworks’ contributions to Stuart Little 2 (as well as a failed attempt to sell the VFX studio). The studio has since become an early and influential leader in stylized 3D animation, with productions like Hotel Transylvania, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and The Mitchells vs. the Machines. Sony Pictures Animation is currently hiring for three roles, split between a feature film and a series.
Guru Studio patrols for layout artists and designers in Toronto, Ontario
Describing Guru Studio without immediately mentioning the TVO/Nick Jr. smash hit, Paw Patrol, would do our readers a disservice. Founded by Frank Falcone, Anne Deslauriers and Chuck Gammage in 2000, this Toronto-based studio is best known for their work on children's TV series, including the aforementioned canines as well as Sesame Street: Mecha Builders and the 2D series Big Blue. Guru Studios is currently hiring for two layout artists and a designer on Paw Patrol.
Paid internships at the house of mouse in Burbank, California
Walt Disney Studios’ feature animation studio in Burbank, California is seeking participants for their summer 2025 (May to August) intern program. These are paid internships ($22 per hour) intended to give animation students experience in a studio environment. Recent releases from the studio include Encanto, Strange World and Wish.
- 2D Cleanup Animation Intern (Paid Internship)
- Story Intern (Paid Internship)
- General TD Intern (Paid Internship)
- Visual Development Intern (Paid Internship)
- Hair Tools Intern (Paid Internship)
As part of our curation policy, CartoonRecruit.com will never share links for unpaid internships or other forms of spec work. You can learn more about our policies on our FAQ page.
More job highlights from the past week
United States:
- Blizzard is hiring a Lead Environment Artist for an unannounced game in Irvine, California
- Disney Television Animation is seeking a Line Producer for an Unannounced Disney Junior series in Glendale, California
- Marvel Studios is looking for a Visual Development Coordinator in Burbank, California
Canada:
- Industrial Light and Magic is seeking a Creature Technical Director in Vancouver, British Columbia
- WildBrain is looking for a Senior CG Designer (Expression of Interest) in Vancouver, British Columbia
- Mainframe Studios is hiring a 3D Production Coordinator in Vancouver, British Columbia
United Kingdom:
- Zynga is hiring a Game Artist in London, England
- Jam Media is hiring a 3D Animator in Belfast, North Ireland (also available in Dublin, Ireland)
- Framestore is hiring a Mid-level Compositor in London, England
Australia:
- Framestore is hiring a VFX Animator in Melbourne
- The studio is also seeking a Junior to Mid-level lighting TD in Melbourne
- Glitch productions is looking for an Outsource Manager in Sydney
Keeping it reel
This week I published an open thread on LinkedIn for animation artists to share their reels and make it easier for recruiters to find available talent. You can find the thread here, which currently has 46 comments.
Having previously interviewed a wide variety of recruiters in Canada and the US, my advice for reels is to keep it short (under two minutes) and put your best and most relevant work first (relevant to the position you want). Recruiters wind up looking at hundreds of reels, often do not have time to watch five-minute reels, and are looking for signs that you can do the job you are applying for. It’s best to give them reasons to hire you ASAP.
If you are interested in roles in multiple departments (character animation, VFX, compositing), it is worthwhile to have separate reels.
Help us keep this production going
CartoonRecruit.com is a website built from the ground up for industry artists searching for their next animation production. Our directory will always be provided to the community as a free service. With that said, if you find our project useful and want to help connect more artists to meaningful work, you can contribute by becoming a Patreon Supporter.
When artists contribute to our $1 / Pay What You Want tier, they gain full access to CartoonRecruit’s Discord community. You also help cover costs associated with running the last website on the internet that isn’t interested in knowing what brand of mattress you sleep on.
Want to be featured in an upcoming issue?
Are you responsible for hiring decisions at your studio? Get in touch with us on LinkedIn! We plan on hosting Q&A discussions on this blog, and participating could put a link to your studio's career page directly in the inboxes of talented artists searching for their next production.
Signing off for now
That’s all for this week, recruits! Have thoughts or feedback about our project? Feel free to message me by email at mike@cartoonrecruit.com, or send a DM to our LinkedIn page or @cartoonrecruit.com on Bluesky. I will try to reply to every non-spam email I receive.
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