Background Paint Lead – Disney Television Animation

Job Position(s): Background Paint Lead - Disney Television Animation

Disney is hiring a Background Paint Lead for Disney Television Animation, based on-site in Glendale, CA. This role sits at the intersection of art direction and production oversight, responsible for establishing and maintaining the visual style of background paint across episodic animation series. It is a fit for a senior animation artist who has led creative teams in a television animation studio environment and knows how to hold a show’s look together from pilot through series delivery.

About the Role

The Background Paint Lead works within the art department at Disney Television Animation, a studio with over 40 years of kids and family programming spanning 2D, CG, and stop-motion production. Day to day, this person works directly alongside the Art Director and Executive Producer, reviewing scripts and storyboards to assess background paint needs per episode and flagging complexity issues before they become production problems. The role carries both creative and supervisory weight, covering everything from setting the visual tone to managing the schedules of background paint artists across the production pipeline.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner with the Art Director and Executive Producer to define and document the background paint style for the series, producing conceptual and production artwork that establishes the visual benchmark.
• Review scripts and storyboards each episode to identify background paint requirements and surface complexity or scope concerns to the production team early.
• Oversee the background paint team by delegating assignments, monitoring individual schedules, and ensuring consistency of style across all delivered assets.
• Create and provide clean final passes on approved background paint work, ensuring output meets the quality bar set by the Art Director.
• Communicate directly with overseas vendor animation studios to problem-solve production and quality issues as they arise in the episodic television workflow.
• Maintain visual consistency across the full run of the series in collaboration with creative and production executives.

What You Bring

• Five to seven years of experience in artistic animation production, with team leadership experience preferred.
• Proficiency in Photoshop, Illustrator, Harmony, and 3D software tools where applicable to the production.
• A working history that includes collaboration with overseas vendor studios in a television animation context.
• A broad knowledge of artistic styles and the ability to align your work to an established show aesthetic rather than impose your own.
• Strong organizational and communication skills suited to managing artists while staying accountable to production schedules.
• A bachelor’s degree in a relevant field or equivalent professional experience in animation production.

Why This Role

Disney Television Animation produces both long-form and short-form content across a genuinely wide range of styles and formats, which means the Background Paint Lead role offers real variety across productions rather than a single repeating pipeline. This position falls under a Collective Bargaining Agreement, with the pay rate set at $74.68 to $82.15 per hour in California, plus potential access to medical, financial, and other benefits. Applications submitted to this posting remain valid through December 31, 2026, and Disney may also consider applicants for related character design positions that open during that period.

If your background is in background paint leadership within an animation studio, apply now for the Background Paint Lead role at Disney Television Animation.