Detroit Country Day School is a private, independent, co-educational, non-denominational, preschool through grade 12, college preparatory school focused on a well-rounded liberal arts education.  Emphasis on academics, arts, athletics, and character development is prevalent across the curriculum.  DCDS believes diversity, equity, and inclusion are educational imperatives for the intellectual, social, and moral growth of every child.  We honor the dignity of every human being and value differences that exist and are expressed throughout our vibrant school.

Position Summary

We are seeking a Virtual Production Technical Director to serve as the cinematic engineer for our xR Studio’s LED volume. In this role, you will own the Disguise server pipeline and partner closely with our Virtual Production Engineer and Technology Integrator to enable students to create cinema-quality virtual productions.

Your primary focus is to enable students to film cinema quality virtual productions. You will collaborate directly with the film teacher to analyze student scripts, engineer pre-production content pipelines, and manage our Disguise and Unreal Engine ecosystem. Additionally, you will collaborate on creative outreach and bring projects to life for students across grades PreK–12.

Essential Responsibilities

Pre-Production Partnership

• Partner with the Film teacher to review student scripts and storyboards, advising on how to successfully translate their narrative ideas into the virtual production environment.
• Collaborate with the Virtual Production Engineer during the pre-visualization phase to source, build, or optimize 3D assets and environments within Unreal Engine, ensuring they are production-ready.
• Guide student filmmakers through tech rehearsals to block camera movements, test tracking limits, and pre-light scenes before official shoot days.

xR Pipeline Collaboration & Technical Management

• Manage the end-to-end xR pipeline with the Virtual Production Engineer. While the VP Engineer focuses heavily on Unreal Engine optimization and nDisplay configuration, you will lead the Disguise media integration.
• Serve as the primary operator and systems engineer for our Disguise ecosystem. Specifically driving advanced workflows like extended sets.
• Calibrate and maintain our camera tracking system (MoSys StarTracker Max) paired with our RED V-Raptor VV camera and jib setup to ensure zero latency or drift.

Ensuring Cinematic Quality

• Serve as the technical authority during live shoots, diagnosing and resolving real-time pipeline bottlenecks (e.g., tracking occlusion, moiré, or frame drops) to keep the production moving.
• Ensure studio DMX lighting, camera shutter angles, and the LED volume are in sync to produce a cinematic final frame.
• Oversee the rapid ingestion and management of raw footage (RED RAW) from the studio floor to the post-production pipeline.

Pre K-12 Collaboration

• Collaborate with our Instructional Technologist to adapt the xR stage for younger students. While they manage the age-appropriate lesson plans and student logistics, you will engineer the Disguise and tracking pipeline to bring their PreK-12 class projects and scripts to life.
• Demystify the xR Studio for students. You will set up safe environments that allow PreK-12 students to successfully navigate The Studio and experience the filmmaking process.