Cinematic Director - Freelance in London

Join CI Games and be part of shaping the future of gaming. As we embark on an ambitious strategic roadmap with major releases planned for 2025-2028, we are seeking a talented freelance Cinematic Director to help us create ground-breaking experiences that captivate players worldwide.

Key Responsibilities:

• Creative Leadership & In-Game Vision
  • Act as the primary creative consultant for in-game cinematic sequences, ensuring the final output meets the project's quality standards.
  • Provide expert-level review on in-engine cutscenes and narrative sequences, moving them toward final release quality.
  • Partner with the Chief Creative Officer and internal Cinematic Director to align on the creative vision and ensure narrative consistency across all deliverables.
• Technical Consultancy & Mentorship
  • Provide professional guidance to internal teams and freelancers, using your expertise to elevate character performances and cinematography.
  • Advise on the integration of high-fidelity Maya-based animations into the Unreal Engine pipeline to ensure state-of-the-art visual results.
  • Offer constructive feedback and technical solutions to overcome production hurdles.
• Internal Alignment
  • Communicate creative requirements clearly to internal leads, ensuring all stakeholders understand the visual goals for the service period.
  • Propose improvements to current cinematic workflows based on industry best practices to facilitate project completion.

Key Requirements:

• 7+ years of professional experience in cinematic direction for AAA games.
• A proven portfolio or reel demonstrating mastery of performance directing and cinematography in a shipping environment.
• Deep knowledge of Maya-to-Unreal animation workflows.
• Ability to operate as an independent consultant, managing your own schedule and tools while meeting project milestones.
• Exceptional leadership skills and the ability to influence creative outcomes across multi-disciplinary teams.

Desirable:

• Expert knowledge of Unreal Engine's Sequencer for review purposes.
• A deep passion for Action-RPG or Soulslike storytelling.

What we offer:

• Freelance opportunity.
• Remote work with flexible schedules, allowing you to work alongside talented individuals from around the world.
• An opportunity to work with cutting-edge technologies and stay at the forefront of the gaming industry.
• A diverse and inclusive workplace that celebrates all backgrounds, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or social status.
• A chance to be part of something ground-breaking as we shape the future of gaming.

Recruitment Process:

• Once our Talent Acquisition team receives your application, together with the hiring team, we will review your CV, portfolio and the answers you provided in the application form and if all the boxes are ticked, we are moving to the next stage.
• Initial call with Talent Acquisition Specialist - During this call you will learn about the company and we will learn about you. We will talk about your experience & expectations with working in a fully remote environment and we will talk about your expertise. We will finish this call with some admin questions. There will be an opportunity for you to ask any questions as well.
• After the initial call, usually 1 or 2 interviews with the hiring team follows. These interviews will be a bit more technical and will go deeper into your experience, skills & knowledge. As you would have signed an NDA by now, you will also learn a bit more about the project you would work on. During these interviews we will also focus on finding out whether you are a good fit for our company culture and that we share the same values.
• We may or may not ask you to do the test - this is decided on an individual basis and you will receive instructions with the test.
• If everything goes well, the last step in the recruitment process is the offer presentation call with the Talent Acquisition Specialist and your future line manager to discuss the offer and next steps to get you successfully on board.

We are an equal opportunities employer, hiring and developing our best talent based on merit. Accessibility is at the heart of our games, and we are committed to not discriminating against people based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or social status. Should you require adjustments or flexible arrangements to interview, or take up a role with us, please let us know in your application and we will accommodate to the best of our ability.