AI-Animation Director

AI Animation Director
Location

Mumbai (On-site)

Company

Golden Jackal Studios

About Golden Jackal Studios

Golden Jackal Studios is an AI-first animation studio building original children's entertainment for YouTube and global digital platforms.

We combine storytelling, animation, technology, and AI-driven production workflows to create scalable animated content rooted in strong characters, memorable worlds, and meaningful stories.

Our goal is not simply to use AI as a tool, but to build a new production model where human creativity and AI workflows work together to create world-class animated IP.

We are currently developing multiple children's animation properties and are looking for an AI Animation Director to help shape the visual language, storytelling, and production quality of our growing slate.

About the Role

This is a creative leadership role with strong technical responsibilities.

You will work closely with the Founders, Directors, Writers, AI Artists, Editors, and Production team to transform stories into compelling animated experiences.

The ideal candidate understands both traditional animation principles and modern AI-powered production workflows.

You will own the translation of story into visual storytelling, ensuring that every episode, sequence, and shot is designed with strong animation sensibilities, emotional clarity, educational outcomes, and visual consistency.

You will be responsible for guiding the creative execution of productions from storyboard through final delivery while helping build scalable AI animation workflows across the studio.

Key ResponsibilitiesCreative Direction & Animation Leadership

• Own the creative execution of animated productions across multiple IPs
• Ensure all projects are conceived and executed using animation grammar rather than live-action approaches applied to animation
• Translate scripts, story outlines, and creative briefs into visual storytelling
• Define the visual language of each production including composition, staging, camera language, pacing, timing, and emotional beats
• Ensure storytelling objectives, educational outcomes, character development, and narrative arcs are effectively communicated through animation
• Maintain consistency in visual quality, style, and storytelling across episodes, seasons, and franchises
• Collaborate with the team to establish creative standards and production benchmarks
  

Storyboarding & Animatics

• Create storyboards for sequences, scenes, and episodes
• Develop detailed shotlists and visual plans prior to production
• Build and review animatics to ensure pacing, clarity, and storytelling effectiveness
• Design camera movements, transitions, and visual storytelling beats
• Work with writers to improve visual storytelling opportunities before production begins
• Identify production challenges early and develop creative solutions
  

AI Animation Supervision

• Guide AI artists throughout production to ensure creative consistency
• Develop workflows that maintain character consistency, style consistency, and visual continuity
• Review prompts, generations, workflows, and outputs to ensure quality standards are met
• Help establish best practices for AI image generation, video generation, image-to-video workflows, and scene development
• Collaborate with artists to solve creative and technical production challenges
• Evaluate emerging AI tools and recommend adoption where beneficial
• Build scalable AI production processes that improve quality, speed, and reliability
  

Team Leadership & Collaboration

• Provide clear, structured feedback to AI Artists, Editors, and Creators
• Mentor junior artists and help develop internal creative standards
• Align teams around narrative goals, visual quality, educational objectives, and production requirements
• Facilitate communication between creative, production, and post-production departments
• Ensure all stakeholders understand creative expectations and deliverables
• Foster a collaborative and solutions-oriented culture
  

Production Oversight

• Review storyboards, animatics, scenes, edits, and final outputs
• Review pacing, sound design, music, dialogue integration, and narrative clarity
• Establish establish schedules and delivery plans
• Identify production risks and bottlenecks before they impact deadlines
• Ensure projects are delivered on time while maintaining quality standards
• Participate in quality control throughout the production lifecycle
  

Technical Pipeline Development

• Assist in building and refining Golden Jackal Studios AI animation pipeline
• Create repeatable workflows and production documentation
• Help establish naming conventions, asset management systems, and production standards
• Improve efficiency through automation and workflow optimization
• Support implementation of new AI tools and technologies
• Contribute to long-term pipeline development and studio scalability
  

Requirements
Experience

• 4–8 years of experience in animation production, visual storytelling, or animation direction
• Experience working in 2D animation, 3D animation, or hybrid pipelines
• Minimum 1 year of experience creating children's, family, or educational content
• Portfolio demonstrating strong storytelling, storyboarding, and visual direction skills
• Experience in a lead, supervisory, or senior creative role
• Proven track record of taking projects from concept through delivery
  

Creative Skills

• Exceptional storyboarding skills with the ability to personally board scenes and sequences
• Strong understanding of visual storytelling and cinematic language
• Deep knowledge of animation principles including timing, staging, composition, anticipation, exaggeration, and clarity
• Ability to translate scripts into engaging visual narratives
• Strong understanding of character-driven storytelling
• Ability to give actionable creative feedback across departments
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in Hindi and English
  

Technical SkillsAI Animation & Generation

• Strong working knowledge of current AI image and video generation tools
• Experience with platforms such as Nano Banana Pro, Seedance, Kling, Veo, Midjourney, Flux, Runway, Hailuo, ComfyUI, and emerging AI creative technologies
• Understanding of prompting methodologies, style control, character consistency, visual continuity, image-to-video, and video-to-video workflows
• Experience designing repeatable AI production workflows
• Ability to evaluate new tools and integrate them into production pipelines

ComfyUI & Workflow Design

• Strong understanding of ComfyUI and node-based workflow systems
• Experience building, modifying, and optimizing workflows
• Familiarity with ControlNet, LoRAs, IPAdapters, checkpoints, upscalers, and related technologies
• Ability to troubleshoot workflow issues and improve output quality

Animation & Post-Production

• Familiarity with animation, editing, compositing, and post-production software
• Understanding of cinematography, camera language, visual continuity, and editorial storytelling
• Knowledge of animatic workflows and production planning
• Understanding of dialogue, soundscapes, music and sound design and its role in storytelling

Production & Delivery

• Knowledge of asset management and production organisation
• Understanding of video codecs, frame rates, aspect ratios, colour management, and delivery formats
• Familiarity with YouTube, YouTube Kids, OTT, and digital platform requirements
• Ability to establish quality-control standards across productions
  

Good to Have

• Experience developing original animated IPs from concept stage
• Experience producing animation primarily through AI workflows
• Background in educational content, child development, or learning design
• Understanding of audience behaviour for children aged 3–12
• Experience working on YouTube-first content
• Exposure to Indian mythology, folklore, history, and culturally rooted storytelling
• Understanding of COPPA, DPDP, and YouTube Kids policies
• Existing network of freelance animators, AI artists, storyboard artists, editors, or designers
  

Who You Are

• You think in shots and sequences, not just scripts and scenes
• You instinctively understand how animation communicates differently from live action
• You care deeply about storytelling and children's entertainment
• You balance creativity with practical execution
• You enjoy building systems, workflows, and processes
• You are highly collaborative and comfortable working with multidisciplinary teams
• You are flexible, adaptable, and solutions-oriented
• You are comfortable making decisions while remaining open to feedback
• You stay curious about emerging AI technologies and creative tools
• You can maintain quality under tight deadlines
• You understand Indian audiences while creating content with global appeal
  

What You'll Help Build

At Golden Jackal Studios, you won't just supervise productions.

You'll help define how AI-powered animation is made.

You'll work on original characters, worlds, and stories while helping build the production systems that power the next generation of children's animation.

How to Apply

Apply through LinkedIn and send the following to:

[Confidential Information]

Please include:

• Portfolio
• Showreel
• Resume
• Examples of storyboards or animatics (if available)
• A short note explaining why children's animation matters to you
• Details of any AI animation workflows or projects you have worked on