Production Manager

Position for ILMxLAB

**Position Summary
Production Managers (‘PMs’) function as the Producer’s right hand on ILMxLAB’s immersive entertainment projects. They create and maintain the project roadmap and manage the internal and external work toward successful milestone completions. PMs report to the project’s Producer on a daily basis, and to the Director, Production for performance management and career development.
- As a Production Manager, you will be an inspiring and intuitive team captain, and a strategic planner who deftly adapts plans to evolving needs.**What You’ll Do**
- Create and manage overall project schedules, resource plans, and deliverables for projects across all disciplines from creative development through product delivery. Maintain these and other supporting documents to track and report on project’s status and overall progress/completion.
- Plan and manage work across all disciplines from pre-production through delivery by using ILMxLAB’s best practices for scheduling and determining the optimal mix of internal talent and third-party partners. Oversee implementation of the schedule by guiding and directing production staff and discipline leads, and communicating project goals, schedules, deadlines, and other information to the project team members, and internal/external stakeholders.
- In tandem with the Producer, work with technical and creative leads to define project workflows, milestones and execution plans. Participate in project scoping activities to gain context for effective production scheduling.
- Manage resource needs for the project and serve as the hub for internal crew assignment changes by making and/or vetting all changes. Partner with the Production Resource Manager to identify third-party developers appropriate for the body of work. Prepare vendor bidding packages, contribute to vendor cost analysis and weekly cost reporting as needed.
- Evaluate and learn individual team members’ strengths in order to assign work appropriately; help develop cross-utilization of resources to promote an effective workflow.
- In conjunction with the Producer, guide, manage and mentor APMS, Production Coordinators and Production Assistants to ensure all show needs are met and that the show is run efficiently and effectively.
- Act independently and proactively to problem-solve and identify risks in all areas of internal and external production. Mitigate risks and recommend course adjustments to Producer and other Leads as necessary.
- Act as production leader when the Producer is out of office or otherwise engaged, and is responsible for ‘2nd lieutenant’ level duties with the production crew.
- At the discretion of the Producer, may assist with contributing to bid meetings as needed. Budgeting may or may not be required, and would be left to the discretion of the Producer. In partnership with the Producer, check EFCs to make sure work is on budget and assist with capacity planning.
- Handle partner/client communication when Producer is unavailable
- Special projects may be assigned

**What We’re Looking For**
- Bachelor's degree in Film, Game Development, Animation, Visual Effects or related field, or equivalent work experience required.
- At least 7 years minimum work experience in production management of animation, visual effects, or game development to include advanced understanding of CG art and animation workflows and dependencies.
- Extensive experience scheduling projects with complex dependencies, and a detailed understanding of production/development processes is required.
- Ability to problem-solve, balance priorities and multi-task efficiently within a fast-paced creative environment which requires adaptability and flexibility.
- Demonstrate qualities of an effective, experienced project manager: integrity; diplomacy, forward-thinking; collaboration; compassion; dedication, patience.
- Ability to motivate and empower teams, foster collaboration and communicate effectively with team members of all levels while displaying team leadership skills.
- Attention to detail, consistent follow through and strong communication skills.
- Excellent time and resource management skills.
- Ability to self-motivate and meet deliverables while working independently.
- Proficiency in project planning tools such as MS Project or Smartsheet, and task management tools such as JIRA, Asana, etc.
- Experience with production tracking software such as ShotGrid.

**Here are some additional skills and experience that would add to your preparedness for this role**:

- Experience in both traditional film/tv production and real-time immersive (Virtual Reality, Augmented/Mixed Reality), interactive, or virtual production experience is a plus.
- Experience managing both internal and external development teams is a plus.
- Professional experience with both agile and waterfall project management methodologies is a plus.