Facial Animator (FACS)
Location: British Columbia (remote)
Start Date: TBC February/March 2026
About the role
We’re seeking a skilled Facial Animator (FACS) to help bring a hyper-realistic virtual performer to life through expressive, emotionally authentic animation. This role focuses on delivering high-fidelity facial performances for a live, musical production—where artistry, technology, and realism meet to create a next-generation entertainment experience.
This is a contract position
What you'll do
Create, polish, and integrate feature-quality facial animation that captures nuanced emotion and realism for a hyper-realistic virtual performer singing and dancing live on stage.
Collaborate closely with the Animation and Performance teams on advanced FACS-based facial solving, ensuring expressive and lifelike performances across musical and cinematic sequences.
Work directly with Animation Directors, Supervisors, and Leads to ensure facial performances blend seamlessly with full-body motion and musical timing.
Maintain continuity and emotional clarity in performances that combine body and facial animation.
Assist in refining the facial animation pipeline, helping to establish workflows and tools that support both cinematic and live performance environments.
Analyze and refine key facial shapes, ensuring accurate anatomical deformation and expressive believability.
Troubleshoot facial solving and animation workflow challenges proactively, contributing to creative and technical problem-solving.
Attend dailies, rounds, and reviews; actively participate in feedback sessions to elevate animation quality.
Communicate effectively with Production, Engineering, and Rigging teams to ensure facial performance integration meets technical and artistic standards.
Contribute to animation tests, previs, layout, and shot finalization for musical and performance-based sequences.
Qualifications
Minimum of 3 years of production experience in film, games, or real-time performance environments.
Proven expertise in FACS-based facial animation, with a deep understanding of facial anatomy and expression.
Proficiency in Autodesk Maya; MotionBuilder experience is a plus.
Experience with both keyframe and motion capture facial workflows.
Proven ability to create cinematic, emotionally rich, and believable facial performances, especially for realistic human characters.
Strong understanding of animation principles, timing, and performance.
Excellent problem-solving and communication skills with a collaborative, team-focused mindset.
Ability to maintain high-quality work under tight production timelines.
Passion for character performance and innovation in animation technology.
Applicants must be located in British Columbia.
Preferred (but not required) Qualifications:
Experience with 4D capture or high-resolution scanned facial assets.
Background in live or virtual production settings.
Experience mentoring or leading other animators.
Demonstrated interest in musical or performance-driven storytelling.
Familiarity with Unreal Engine and Sequencer, with the ability to work adaptively inside real-time pipelines.
