Festival Creative Technologist Jobs

Position Overview

The Festival Creative Technologist is charged with viewing New Frontier projects submitted to the Sundance Film Festival, troubleshooting submitted prototypes, and participating in deliberations and selections in regard to the final Festival program.

Working closely under the Chief Curator and Senior Programmer, this position is responsible for providing specialized technical support related to the consideration of New Frontier projects, experiences, performances, and conversations. This role also facilitates tech support and set-up for artist performances, presentations, and AI conversations onsite during the Festival.

This temporary position works full time from Monday, July 17, 2023 through Friday, February 16, 2024 and will be required to work extended hours, including evenings, weekends, and holidays to meet key deadlines and respond to on-call needs as assigned. This position is based out of our Los Angeles, CA office in order to work onsite in a hybrid capacity throughout its employment. Additionally, this position will travel to the January Sundance Film Festival in Utah and be lodged to work onsite.

Top priorities include but are not limited to…

• Working closely with the Chief Curator to build UX of all in person, and digital experiences.
• Assisting with the New Frontier virtual platforms’ Content Management System (CMS), ingesting new files into our system.
• Updating program documents as assigned.
• Participating in the selection of New Frontier projects, including acting as a representative for New Frontier to ensure timely communication between the Programming Department and Festival applicants as necessary, including notification of acceptance or rejection, and collecting supporting exhibition files and materials for accepted artists.
• Leading all technical correspondence with artists, digital platform partners, internal digital teams, and external institutional collaborators, and providing specialized technical support to exhibition producers, and digital platforms that host the New Frontier exhibition.
• Maintaining New Frontier tracking list of artists, creative technologists, and immersive companies globally, and soliciting, and evaluating Festival submissions.
• Addressing technical aspects of the New Frontier application process, including accepting and processing submissions, engaging artists to fully understand the content of their submissions, loading submissions on specialized equipment so that they are accessible for internal stakeholders, and troubleshooting all technical aspects as necessary.
• Checking lineups of other film festivals as they are released to notate and remove tracked films that are playing at other festivals and conducting research to confirm eligibility status of New Frontier projects.
• Testing and Quality Assurance of CMS inputs and files on the New Frontier virtual platform.
• Running submitted demos from visiting artists and companies, reviewing all screener coverage, and managing all equipment and digital content delivery systems necessary for viewing sample works, including performing routine tech maintenance to ensure equipment functionality, and advising on necessary purchase requests of specialized equipment.
• Troubleshooting issues with the New Frontier platforms, and sharing troubleshooting tips and effective workarounds with team members.
• Supporting a full range of administrative duties, including maintaining calendars, scheduling meetings and calls, tracking information, facilitating department communications, and setting up and organizing file structures.

You Have The Following Direct Or Transferable Skill Sets

• Strong communication skills with an ability to interact with a wide range of constituents and work effectively with a variety of people.
• Experience with operating VR gear such as MetaQuest headsets, HTC Vive, and Hololens.
• Strong technical skills with a deep knowledge of software platforms used in virtual reality (VR) and other virtual social platforms.
• Legal authorization to work in the United States.
• A strong understanding of the developing field of emerging and immersive media landscapes and digital platforms at large, including Web 3.0 technologies.
• 3 years of work experience supporting and facilitating prototype development, immersive media, internet technologies, and gaming platforms.
• Organizational skills, including the ability to work independently and understand when to seek clarification.
• Working knowledge of blockchain technologies, databases, Excel, and proficiency in Google Products preferred.
• Ability to maintain confidential information.

You will be successful in this role if you...

• Uphold and model positive, inclusive, and equitable Institute values at all times.
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with artists and industry contacts.
• Provide technical support to New Frontier artists and their projects, and internal stakeholders, researching new technologies and troubleshooting to resolve issues quickly.
• Create a welcoming environment for coworkers, artists, audiences, and external constituents.

In addition to an hourly pay of $24.17, this position is eligible for benefits & perks, highlights include:

• Employee Wellness Initiatives
• Sundance Film Festival passes and benefits (varies each year)
• Paid sick leave and Institute holidays
• Employee assistance program