Compositing Supervisor

Job Summary

Swaybox Studios is seeking an experienced and hands-on Compositing Supervisor to oversee the seamless integration of our VFX elements. In this key leadership role, you will be managing the overall visual consistency across practical and CG environment extensions, props, and vehicles, and other FX elements to achieve photorealistic and stylized composites.

This position requires a deep understanding of compositing for film, strong leadership with mentoring abilities, and technical proficiency in Nuke. You will work closely with artists and Technical Directors to refine and develop tools that support a smooth, scalable, and artist-friendly workflow, while also managing team morale, quality control, and creative vision.

This is a studio-based role working onsite in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Key Responsibilities

• Oversee the seamless compositing of multiple elements from different departments to maintain their visual integrity per shot and in the overall aesthetic of the film.
• Work closely with the CG, Character Comp, Tracking, and other team Supervisors and Leads to ensure a smooth handoff of elements to the compositing team.
• Maintain high artistic and technical standards/methodology, while ensuring efficient and timely delivery of shots; balancing quality with schedule requirements.
• Delegate and manage shot progress, with a sharp awareness of deadlines, as well as contribute to on-the-box work as needed.
• Provide technical support and troubleshoot artist files.
• Guide the compositing team, offering regular feedback, mentorship, and support to foster a productive and collaborative working environment.
• Collaborate with the Supervisors and TDs to determine best practices, diagnose technical problems, identify technical needs, and recommend new tools or workflow improvements.
• Recognize knowledge gaps and actively collaborate with the team to find solutions; taking a proactive approach to challenges.
• Stay up-to-date with emerging tools, technologies, and compositing methods to enhance efficiency and output.
• Collaborate in R&D and early visual development before full production rollout.
• Participate in reviews and team syncs, clearly communicating creative and technical goals and giving constructive feedback.
• Communicate with vendors, when needed.
• Independently translate and refine notes from VFX Supervisor/Director/Stakeholders with minimal oversight, while maintaining the fidelity and visual language of the film.
• Ensure the team interprets and applies feedback effectively and in a timely manner.
• Participate in recruitment, scheduling, bidding needs, and progress reviews with the VFX Supervisor and Production.
• Create clean, efficient, and well-structured scripts and templates that can be shared throughout the team to speed up workflows.
• Maintain up-to-date documentation for internal tools and compositing processes, helping ensure consistency across the team.
• Adhere to organized files and established pipeline standards and naming conventions.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience high-end, live-action film or episodic compositing experience, with a strong emphasis on environments and realism.
• Proven leadership or supervisory experience in a compositing team environment, including mentoring, feedback, and artist support.
• On-the-box compositing of complex shots (live action and CG); utilizing projections, warping, depth of field, and photographic optical effects.
• Ability to comp both stylized and realistic environments with attention to storytelling detail and cinematography.
• Great understanding of DMP and CG pipelines.
• Expert knowledge of Nuke, Gizmos & Group workflows, and advanced compositing techniques.
• OCIO/ACES Color config and management experience.
• Working knowledge of vector-based compositing tools and techniques.
• Strong capacity to be flexible, adapt quickly, and thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment with evolving creative direction.
• Capability to revise work based on feedback in a timely manner.
• An artistic mindset and willingness to receive and implement constructive feedback, whether that’s with draw-overs, over the shoulder adjustments, or team meetings.
• Demonstrated ability to learn new toolsets and willing to expand knowledge of toolsets.
• Excellent communication, organization, attention to detail, and problem-solving skills with unique or proprietary workflows.
• Deep understanding of visual language- texture, color, dimension, scale, perspective, shade, motion blur, depth of field, proportion, spatial awareness, etc.
• Solid experience using lidar scans, HDRI’s, and photogrammetry.
• Strong comprehension of cinematography, photography, and color science; including understanding of lenses, lighting setups, and performance tracking.

Preferred Qualifications

• Nuke particles experience is great to have.
• Knowledge of KeenTools is a plus.
• Understanding of lighting workflows.
• Experience in Python scripting for Nuke or batch automation is a huge plus.
• Previous experience in developing or influencing pipeline tools in collaboration with Technical Directors.
• Familiarity performance-tracking pipelines, rotomation, or hybrid workflows.
• Basic experience with Unreal Engine or other real-time rendering tools.