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Lighting Td Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

WOWK-TV

Technician, Director/TD (NE)

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

$58.07/hr

The TD is a leader among the technical crew in the control room who communicates effectively with ... General knowledge of studio lighting, Streamdeck, OBS, Dejero, Optic, Chyron, Bit Central, and Cue ...

Tribune Media

Technician, Director/TD (NE)

Los Angeles, CA · On-site

$58.07/hr

The TD is a leader among the technical crew in the control room who communicates effectively with ... General knowledge of studio lighting, Streamdeck, OBS, Dejero, Optic, Chyron, Bit Central, and Cue ...

WOWK-TV

Producer/Writer _ Fulltime

Los Angeles, CA

$35/hr

Work with the Director, TD and production team to fully utilize our amazing set (various standing positions, video and graphic placement, lighting, etc). * Work closely with Executive Producers ...

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How much do lighting td jobs pay per hour?

As of Aug 27, 2026, the average hourly pay for lighting td in California is $35.69, according to ZipRecruiter salary data. Most workers in this role earn between $26.30 and $37.64 per hour, depending on experience, location, and employer.

What is a Lighting TD?

A Lighting TD (Technical Director) is responsible for creating and refining the lighting in CGI scenes to achieve a visually compelling and realistic look. They work closely with artists and engineers to develop lighting rigs, optimize rendering processes, and ensure consistency across shots. This role often involves troubleshooting rendering issues, scripting to automate tasks, and fine-tuning shaders and materials. Lighting TDs typically use software like Maya, Houdini, Arnold, or RenderMan and collaborate with other departments to match the overall artistic direction of a project.

What are the key skills and qualifications needed to thrive as a Lighting TD?

To thrive as a Lighting TD, you need a solid understanding of computer graphics, lighting techniques, and rendering, typically supported by education or experience in visual effects or animation. Expertise with tools such as Maya, Houdini, Arnold, V-Ray, and scripting languages like Python is essential. Strong problem-solving, collaboration, and communication skills help Lighting TDs work efficiently within multidisciplinary teams. These abilities are crucial for producing high-quality visuals that meet both technical and creative requirements under tight production deadlines.

What are some common challenges faced by a Lighting TD on a production team?

Lighting TDs often face challenges such as balancing artistic vision with technical constraints, optimizing render times without sacrificing visual quality, and adapting to changing creative direction. They frequently collaborate with other departments like modeling, texturing, and compositing to ensure consistent look and feel. Working under tight deadlines and integrating feedback efficiently are other common aspects of the role. Staying current with evolving tools and rendering technologies also helps Lighting TDs remain effective in fast-paced production environments.

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What job categories do people searching Lighting Td jobs in California look for?

The top searched job categories for Lighting Td jobs in California are:

What cities in California are hiring for Lighting Td jobs?

Cities in California with the most Lighting Td job openings:

Lighting Td jobs near you
Infographic showing various Lighting Td job openings in California as of August 2026, with employment types broken down into 87% Full Time, 12% Part Time, and 1% Contract. Highlights an 93% Physical, 3% Hybrid, and 4% Remote job distribution, with an average salary of $74,238 per year, or $35.7 per hour.

Lighting Artist / Technical Director - ILM San Francisco (Project Hire)

San Francisco, CA • On-site

The Walt Disney Company
Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation • 10K+ employees

7.8

Company rating: 7.8 out of 10

Based on 129 frontline employees who took The Breakroom Quiz

4th of 52 rated entertainment

People enjoy working here

Good employer

Recommended by students

Learn more about The Walt Disney Companyexternal

$103K - $132K/yr

Full-time

Re-posted 3 days ago

Job description

Job Posting Title:

Lighting Artist / Technical Director - ILM San Francisco (Project Hire)

Req ID:

10152348

Job Description:

Position Summary

ILM's Interactive team advances the studio's legacy of innovation by developing original immersive experiences across virtual reality, augmented reality and location-based platforms. Known for blending best-in-class visuals, sound and narrative, the team has delivered award-winning projects such as What If...? - An Immersive Story, Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series and the Oscar-winning CARNE y ARENA. Our work continues to push the boundaries of immersive entertainment and redefine how audiences engage with story.

We are seeking a Lighting Artist who reflects the innovative spirit, creative talent, production excellence, and passion for great storytelling that defines ILM.

The Lighting Artist is responsible for bringing the best out of our environments and to combine artistic talent and technical ability. You would be working closely with the Department Supervisor of Lighting and development/production teams on the design and implementation of lighting setups and lighting pipelines.

What You'll Do

  • Work with Art Directors, Lighting Leads and Concept Artwork to design lighting setups for environments, characters and interactive game assets.

  • Have a deep understanding of lightmap baking, dynamic lighting tools, image based specular lighting, indirect light probes, post-process volumes and real-time rendering

  • Work with environment, character and VFX artists in the lighting design to achieve the desired targets for aesthetics and performance through material shader and geometry work

  • Partner with level designers to animate via level blueprint or sequencer dynamic lighting or transitions

  • Actively participate in improving workflows, optimizations and best practices

  • Identify, triage, and fix bugs as required working with engineering and relevant departments

  • Take final project to a high degree of polish and optimization

What We're Looking For

  • 5+ years experience as a Lighting TD/Artist in AAA game development or animation/vfx/film

  • Strong aesthetic sense for lighting and color theory

  • Strong technical knowledge of current real time lighting tool sets including atmospheric effects, post processing, color grading and HDR IBL workflows

  • Able to effectively take direction and know what looks good and why

  • Experience with Unreal/Unity or equivalent game engine including dynamic and baked lighting workflows, physically-based rendering, and basic level blueprint scripting

  • Shaders: in-depth knowledge of real-time shader implementations, limitations of shaders in VR, strong knowledge of PBR pipelines, and subsurface shaders

  • Materials: experienced in the development, authoring & organization of efficient materials via the UE4 material editor

  • Fluency in working in Windows, JIRA, Perforce or equivalent OS, workload and data management tools

  • Excellent communication, organization and problem-solving skills and self-motivated

  • Bonus points for:

    • Strong traditional art, photography or film studies background

    • Proficient with profiling tools to examine & diagnosis performance issues related to lighting

    • Experience with one or more of the following: Maya, Unity, Substance Designer / Painter, Zbrush or Mudbox, Houdini, Mari, 3D StudioMax, Photoshop, Nuke

    • Interest and capacity to work with proprietary toolsets

* A portfolio / reel submission - including a detailed breakdown of your work in each section - is required with all applications.

JoinILM

The hiring range for this position in San Francisco is $103,812 to $132,930 per year. The base pay actually offered will take into account internal equity and also may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. A bonus and/or long-term incentive units may be provided as part of the compensation package, in addition to the full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the level and position offered.

Job Posting Segment:

ILM San Francisco

Job Posting Primary Business:

ILM San Francisco

Primary Job Posting Category:

Lighting Entertainment - Studios

Employment Type:

Full time

Primary City, State, Region, Postal Code:

San Francisco, CA, USA

Alternate City, State, Region, Postal Code:

Date Posted:

2026-05-26
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About Walt Disney

Sourced by ZipRecruiter

At Disney, we're storytellers. We make the impossible, possible. We do this through utilizing and developing cutting-edge technology and pushing the envelope to bring stories to life through our movies, products, interactive games, parks and resorts, and media networks. Now is your chance to join our talented team that delivers unparalleled creative content to audiences around the world. "We create happiness." That's our motto at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. And it permeates everything we do. At Disney, you'll help inspire that magic by enabling our teams to push the limits of entertainment and create the never-before-seen!

Industry

Amusement, gambling, and recreation

Company size

10,000+ Employees

Headquarters location

Burbank, CA, US

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