Digital Actor Production Lead

Job Title: Digital Actor Production Lead — AI Characters & Virtual Humans (1 Position)

About the Job

We are seeking an experienced, highly organized, and creatively driven Digital Actor Production Lead to lead the production of digital actors, AI characters, virtual humans, avatars, and performance-driven digital characters.

The successful candidate will oversee the end-to-end development of digital actor performances, from character and performance planning through casting, rehearsal, performance capture, animation, AI integration, real-time implementation, testing, and final delivery.

This is a multidisciplinary leadership role working closely with performers, directors, writers, character artists, animators, motion capture specialists, technical artists, AI specialists, developers, and production teams. The ideal candidate understands both the creative demands of acting and performance and the technical requirements of building convincing digital actors for real-time and interactive environments.

Responsibilities

Lead the end-to-end production of digital actors and performance-driven virtual characters.

Develop production strategies for transforming human acting and performance into high-quality digital character experiences.

Translate character concepts, narrative requirements, and creative direction into clear production and performance plans.

Coordinate casting, performer selection, rehearsals, performance preparation, and recording sessions.

Work with directors and performance teams to establish character personality, physicality, emotional expression, movement language, voice, and behavioral requirements.

Lead the planning and execution of motion capture, facial capture, hand and finger capture, voice recording, and other performance capture processes.

Coordinate performers, directors, motion capture specialists, animators, technical artists, AI specialists, developers, and other contributors throughout production.

Develop production schedules, milestones, resource plans, budgets, dependencies, and delivery requirements.

Coordinate the creation and processing of performance assets, including motion data, facial performance, voice, gestures, expressions, and behavioral elements.

Oversee the integration of captured performance into character rigs, animation systems, AI systems, and real-time environments.

Work closely with animation and technical teams on retargeting, cleanup, editing, blending, rigging, and performance implementation.

Coordinate the implementation of digital actors in Unreal Engine, Unity, or other real-time platforms.

Ensure synchronization between body movement, facial expression, voice, animation, AI-generated behavior, dialogue, and interactive responses.

Establish quality standards for digital actor performance, realism, consistency, emotional expression, and character continuity.

Organize performance reviews, rehearsals, technical tests, creative reviews, and iteration cycles.

Monitor production progress and identify technical, creative, scheduling, budget, and resource risks.

Resolve production bottlenecks and coordinate solutions across creative and technical teams.

Maintain character production documentation, performance specifications, asset lists, production records, version histories, and delivery documentation.

Coordinate external performers, studios, motion capture facilities, freelancers, vendors, and technology partners when required.

Evaluate and introduce new tools and workflows for digital acting, AI-assisted performance, motion capture, facial animation, procedural animation, and real-time character production.

Develop scalable workflows and production standards that can be reused across multiple digital actor projects.

Collaborate with narrative and character teams to ensure that performance remains consistent with character identity, story, personality, and behavioral logic.

Support the development of AI-driven digital actors capable of delivering responsive, expressive, and context-aware performances.

Oversee final performance testing across different environments, platforms, interaction scenarios, and technical configurations.

Ensure that completed digital actor projects meet creative, technical, performance, and delivery objectives.

Qualifications

Minimum BA/MA in Film, Theatre, Performing Arts, Animation, Game Development, Digital Media, Virtual Production, Computer Graphics, Interactive Media, or a related field; equivalent professional experience will also be considered.

At least 5 years of relevant experience in digital character production, virtual production, animation, performance capture, motion capture, games, film, immersive media, or related fields.

Demonstrable experience leading multidisciplinary production teams and managing complex creative-technical workflows.

Strong understanding of acting, human performance, movement, gesture, facial expression, voice, emotional behavior, and character development.

Hands-on understanding of motion capture and performance capture workflows, including body, facial, hand, and finger capture.

Experience directing or coordinating performers and translating acting requirements into digital performance.

Strong knowledge of digital character production pipelines, including modeling, rigging, animation, retargeting, performance capture, and real-time implementation.

Working knowledge of Unreal Engine and/or Unity.

Familiarity with Maya, Blender, MotionBuilder, MetaHuman, or comparable character-production tools.

Understanding of real-time animation, virtual production, digital humans, avatars, AI characters, and interactive character systems.

Familiarity with AI-assisted animation, generative AI, conversational AI, procedural animation, or AI-driven behavioral systems is an asset.

Strong project management capabilities, including scheduling, budgeting, resource allocation, risk management, production tracking, and delivery.

Excellent leadership and communication skills, with the ability to coordinate creative, technical, and performance-oriented teams.

Ability to translate between artistic, performance, production, and technical requirements.

Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills in fast-moving production environments.

Ability to manage multiple projects, stakeholders, deadlines, and production dependencies simultaneously.

Strong attention to detail and commitment to high-quality digital performance.

Experience developing production methodologies, workflows, documentation, and quality standards is an asset.

Fluency in English; additional languages are an asset.

Portfolio, showreel, production case studies, or links to 3 relevant digital character, virtual production, performance capture, animation, or digital actor projects.

What We Offer

The opportunity to lead the production of innovative digital actors, AI characters, and virtual humans.

A multidisciplinary environment combining acting, performance, animation, AI, motion capture, virtual production, and real-time technologies.

The opportunity to shape new approaches to digital acting and human performance in virtual environments.

Collaboration with performers, directors, writers, character artists, animators, AI specialists, developers, and creative technologists.

Exposure to advanced performance capture, real-time animation, AI-driven character systems, and immersive technologies.

The opportunity to establish scalable production pipelines and creative standards for future digital actor projects.

Professional development and opportunities to contribute to ambitious creative and technology-driven projects with international potential.

How to Apply

Please submit the following to farhang@parsikia.ir with subject line “Digital Actor Production Lead — AI Characters & Virtual Humans”:

1. CV (max 2 pages)

2. Cover letter (1 page) describing relevant production and leadership experience and why you are interested in digital actor development.

3. Portfolio, showreel, or links to 3 relevant projects demonstrating experience in digital characters, performance capture, virtual production, animation, AI characters, or related fields.

4. Two references (name, role, contact)

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview and asked to review a short digital actor production brief and present a practical production strategy covering performer coordination, performance capture, character development, AI integration, real-time implementation, team structure, and delivery.

We welcome applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds and encourage cross-disciplinary practitioners with experience spanning acting, performance, animation, motion capture, AI, virtual production, game development, XR, and real-time character technologies to apply.