Filmmaking Roles Glossary

How to use this glossary #

Traditional film crews spread work across dozens of specialists. AI filmmakers often fill many of these roles alone, or in small teams. Knowing what each role covers helps you:

• Spot gaps in your own process ("Who is doing continuity on my project? Nobody.")
• Build teams for collaborative AiFC challenges using a shared vocabulary
• Tag skills on your profile, challenge entries and workflow cards
• Talk to the wider industry in its own terms

Each entry includes:

• Definition: what the role is
• Responsibilities: what they actually do
• Skill set: what it takes to do it well
• AI lens: how the role carries over to AI filmmaking

Roles are grouped by the phase where they mainly work. Many roles span several phases; the Phase map at the end shows this.

Terms:

• Above-the-line (ATL): the creative and financial leads hired early, whose pay is negotiated separately: producers, director, writers, principal cast.
• Below-the-line (BTL): the crew and technical staff.
• HOD: Head of Department.

1. Business & Executive Roles #

These roles handle money, rights, contracts, and strategy. They are often invisible on screen, but no project gets made or seen without them.

Executive Producer (EP) #

• Definition: A senior producer credit, usually given to whoever secures financing, brings key talent or IP, or represents a studio or financier's interests.
• Responsibilities: Raises or approves funding. Shapes high-level creative and commercial strategy. Opens doors to talent, distributors, and partners. Is often hands-off day to day.
• Skill set: Networking, deal-making, financial literacy, market awareness, reputation.
• AI lens: On AiFC-scale projects, this is often the sponsor, platform partner, or patron who funds a challenge prize or a creator's project.

Producer #

• Definition: The person ultimately responsible for getting the film made, from idea through delivery. The producer is the project's CEO.
• Responsibilities: Develops or acquires material. Hires the director and key crew. Builds the budget and schedule. Manages financing and contracts. Protects the project creatively and commercially. Oversees delivery and release.
• Skill set: Leadership, budgeting, negotiation, problem-solving, creative judgment, stamina, people management.
• AI lens: Every solo AI filmmaker is their own producer: scoping the project, managing compute and subscription costs, setting deadlines, and making sure it ships.

Line Producer #

• Definition: The producer who turns the creative plan into a real budget and runs it during physical production.
• Responsibilities: Breaks down the script into costs. Negotiates crew rates and vendor deals. Tracks daily spend against budget. Approves purchases. Reports overages.
• Skill set: Budgeting software, cost estimation, negotiation, attention to detail, calm under pressure.
• AI lens: Budgeting for generation credits, GPU time, cloud rendering, model licensing, and tool subscriptions. The same discipline, different line items.

Co-Producer / Associate Producer #

• Definition: Producer credits for people who made a significant contribution: managing a key part of the work, bringing in money, or doing heavy creative or logistical lifting.
• Responsibilities: Vary widely. Often they handle a specific area such as post supervision, a financing tranche, or talent relationships.
• Skill set: Depends on the job; usually organization plus subject-matter expertise.
• AI lens: A useful credit for collaborators in AiFC team challenges who handled specific workstreams.

Unit Production Manager (UPM) #

• Definition: The BTL executive in charge of the day-to-day business of production, reporting to the line producer or producer.
• Responsibilities: Hires crew. Manages payroll, equipment rentals, and logistics. Enforces union rules. Keeps the shoot running on schedule and on budget.
• Skill set: Operations, labor rules, vendor management, scheduling, problem-solving.
• AI lens: Similar to running a pipeline: managing render queues, team task assignments, and asset handoffs.

Production Accountant #

• Definition: The financial controller for the production.
• Responsibilities: Pays bills and payroll. Tracks costs. Produces cost reports. Handles tax incentives and rebates. Prepares the final audit.
• Skill set: Accounting, entertainment payroll systems, tax-credit rules, precision.
• AI lens: Tracking per-project tool spend and revenue: prize money, sponsorships, licensing income.

Entertainment Lawyer / Business Affairs #

• Definition: Legal and contractual specialists who secure rights and make deals.
• Responsibilities: Drafts and negotiates talent, crew, and distribution contracts. Secures underlying rights such as a book or life story. Clears music and likenesses. Manages chain of title.
• Skill set: Contract law, IP and copyright law, negotiation, risk assessment.
• AI lens: Very important in AI filmmaking: model terms of service, commercial-use rights, training-data provenance, likeness and voice consent, and copyright registrability of AI-assisted works.

Clearance Coordinator / Rights & Clearances #

• Definition: Makes sure everything on screen (logos, artwork, music, names, locations) is legally cleared.
• Responsibilities: Reviews scripts and cuts for clearance issues. Obtains releases and licenses. Flags risks to the legal team.
• Skill set: Research, documentation, IP basics, persistence.
• AI lens: Checking generated content for recognizable trademarks, real people, copyrighted characters, and accidental near-copies of existing work.

Sales Agent #

• Definition: Represents a finished (or packaged) film to buyers and distributors, especially in international territories.
• Responsibilities: Builds sales strategy. Attends film markets such as Cannes Marché, AFM, and EFM. Negotiates territory deals. Collects minimum guarantees.
• Skill set: Market knowledge, buyer relationships, negotiation, packaging.
• AI lens: AI films are a new and contested category for buyers. Knowing which markets and platforms accept AI work matters.

Studio / Network Executive #

• Definition: Decision-makers at a studio, network, or streamer who greenlight, fund, and oversee projects.
• Responsibilities: Acquires and develops projects. Gives notes. Approves budgets and key hires. Represents the buyer's interests.
• Skill set: Taste, audience and market analysis, portfolio strategy, communication.
• AI lens: Increasingly the people evaluating whether AI pipelines can deliver at studio quality. Knowing their concerns (rights, consistency, labor relations) helps pitches.

Talent Agent / Manager #

• Definition: Agents find and negotiate work for clients. Managers guide clients' careers more broadly.
• Responsibilities: Submits clients for jobs. Negotiates deals. Builds packages. Advises on career strategy.
• Skill set: Relationships, negotiation, industry knowledge, hustle.
• AI lens: Some agencies now represent AI-native creators and handle digital-likeness and voice-licensing deals.

2. Development #

Development is where an idea becomes a project someone can pitch, fund, and make: the script, the rights, the package, and the plan.

Screenwriter #

• Definition: Writes the screenplay, the blueprint for the entire film.
• Responsibilities: Develops story, structure, characters, and dialogue. Writes treatments, outlines, and drafts. Revises based on notes.
• Skill set: Story structure, visual storytelling, dialogue, screenplay format, ability to take and give notes, discipline.
• AI lens: AI can help with brainstorming and drafting, but story remains the main differentiator. Writing for AI production also means writing to what current tools can render consistently.

Story Editor / Script Editor #

• Definition: Helps writers improve scripts, mainly in TV and development departments.
• Responsibilities: Gives structured notes. Tracks story continuity across episodes. Helps shape drafts.
• Skill set: Analytical reading, story craft, diplomacy.
• AI lens: A good role for an AiFC peer reviewer: structured, craft-focused feedback ("process over prestige").

Script Reader / Story Analyst #

• Definition: Reads submitted scripts and writes "coverage," a summary and evaluation.
• Responsibilities: Writes loglines, synopses, and strengths and weaknesses, and makes pass/consider/recommend calls.
• Skill set: Fast critical reading, concise writing, market awareness.
• AI lens: Coverage-style structured notes are the idea behind AiFC's Critique Rubric.

Development Executive #

• Definition: Finds and nurtures projects for a production company or studio.
• Responsibilities: Tracks writers and IP. Options material. Manages script development. Gives notes. Pitches projects internally.
• Skill set: Taste, networking, story sense, persistence, market timing.
• AI lens: Spotting AI-native formats and creators early.

Showrunner (TV) #

• Definition: The head writer and lead producer of a TV series, with combined creative and management authority.
• Responsibilities: Runs the writers' room. Sets the series' creative vision. Oversees production and post for every episode.
• Skill set: Writing, leadership, management, decisiveness, endurance.
• AI lens: Episodic AI series need someone keeping character, world, and style consistent across episodes.

Researcher #

• Definition: Gathers factual, historical, or technical information for a project. Essential in documentary.
• Responsibilities: Finds sources, archival material, experts, and story leads. Fact-checks.
• Skill set: Research methods, archives, verification, organization.
• AI lens: Building reference boards and period-accurate visual references that guide generation.

Concept Artist (Development stage) #

• Definition: Creates early visual art defining the look of worlds, characters, and key moments, often to help sell the project.
• Responsibilities: Produces key art, mood paintings, and character concepts for pitches and design direction.
• Skill set: Drawing and painting, digital art tools, design, visual storytelling.
• AI lens: One of the roles most changed by AI. Image generation speeds up iteration, but taste, design judgment, and consistency still decide quality.

3. Pre-Production #

Pre-production is planning: casting, designing, scheduling, scouting, and rehearsing, so the shoot (or generation phase) runs smoothly.

Director (Pre-production focus) #

• Definition: The creative lead who interprets the script and guides every creative department. (See also Production.)
• Responsibilities (prep): Develops the visual approach with the DP and production designer. Casts. Rehearses. Builds shot lists and storyboards. Approves designs.
• Skill set: Vision, communication, storytelling, working with actors, technical film knowledge, decisiveness.
• AI lens: The director's "vision" becomes the reference library, style guides, and prompt and LoRA strategy that keep a project coherent.

Casting Director #

• Definition: Finds and recommends actors for every role.
• Responsibilities: Reads the script for character needs. Runs auditions. Builds shortlists. Negotiates availability with agents.
• Skill set: Wide knowledge of talent, judgment of performance, relationships, organization.
• AI lens: Designing consistent digital characters or synthetic performers (character sheets, identity locks), plus casting human performers for voice, motion capture, or reference.

Storyboard Artist #

• Definition: Draws the film shot by shot before it's made.
• Responsibilities: Turns script and director's notes into panel sequences showing framing, action, and camera movement.
• Skill set: Fast drawing, film grammar, composition, continuity, collaboration.
• AI lens: Storyboards and animatics are now often generated, but knowing why a shot works (screen direction, eyelines, coverage) is still a human skill.

Previsualization (Previs) Artist #

• Definition: Creates rough 3D animated versions of complex sequences before shooting.
• Responsibilities: Builds simple 3D scenes to plan camera moves, timing, stunts, and VFX.
• Skill set: 3D software (Maya, Blender, Unreal), cinematography basics, speed.
• AI lens: Blender or Unreal previs combined with AI video (depth or pose control) is a strong hybrid workflow.

Production Designer #

• Definition: HOD for the Art Department, responsible for the film's overall visual world.
• Responsibilities: Designs sets, locations, color palettes, and period details. Leads art directors, set decorators, and the props team.
• Skill set: Design, architecture and spatial sense, art history, visual storytelling, budget management, leadership.
• AI lens: Defining a project's "world bible" (palettes, materials, architecture, eras) that every generated shot must match.

Location Scout / Location Manager #

• Definition: The scout finds places to shoot. The manager secures and runs them.
• Responsibilities: Researches and photographs options. Negotiates permits and fees. Handles neighbors, parking, and site logistics.
• Skill set: Photography, negotiation, local knowledge, permits and regulations, problem-solving.
• AI lens: Building location references, generating environment plates, or capturing real places via photogrammetry or Gaussian splats.

First Assistant Director (1st AD) (Prep focus) #

• Definition: Builds the shooting schedule and runs the set. (See also Production.)
• Responsibilities (prep): Script breakdown. Creates the shooting schedule and one-liners. Coordinates department needs.
• Skill set: Scheduling software, logistics, leadership, communication, time management.
• AI lens: Scheduling generation batches, review cycles, and team handoffs on a challenge deadline.

Production Coordinator / Production Office Coordinator (POC) #

• Definition: Runs the production office, the communication hub.
• Responsibilities: Distributes scripts and schedules. Books travel and equipment. Manages paperwork and crew lists.
• Skill set: Organization, communication, multitasking, admin software.
• AI lens: Keeping asset libraries, shared drives, and team channels organized.

Technical Scout / Virtual Production Prep #

• Definition: Department heads visit locations (or virtual environments) together to plan technical needs.
• Responsibilities: Confirms power, rigging, camera positions, sound issues, and LED volume content readiness.
• Skill set: Department-specific technical knowledge.
• AI lens: "Tech scouting" your pipeline: testing models, settings, and handoffs before full production.

Script Breakdown Artist / Production Assistant (Prep) #

• Definition: Identifies every element in the script that needs planning.
• Responsibilities: Tags cast, props, wardrobe, VFX, vehicles, and so on, for each scene.
• Skill set: Detail-orientation, script literacy.
• AI lens: Breaking a script into a shot and asset list: characters, environments, props that need consistency.

4. Production #

Production is the shoot itself, or in AI filmmaking, the main generation and capture phase.

Direction & Assistant Directors #

Director #

• Definition: The creative leader on set who turns the script into images and performances.
• Responsibilities: Directs actors. Approves framing, blocking, and takes. Makes creative calls in real time. Maintains tone and story.
• Skill set: Leadership, communication, performance direction, visual storytelling, adaptability.
• AI lens: Directing generations: choosing takes from many outputs, keeping performance and tone consistent, knowing when "good enough" isn't.

First Assistant Director (1st AD) #

• Definition: The director's right hand. Runs the set and keeps the day on schedule.
• Responsibilities: Calls the set ("Rolling," "Cut"). Manages the daily plan. Coordinates departments. Is responsible for on-set safety.
• Skill set: Leadership, time management, assertive communication, safety knowledge.

Second Assistant Director (2nd AD) #

• Definition: Supports the 1st AD, mainly with paperwork and cast logistics.
• Responsibilities: Creates call sheets. Manages cast and background schedules. Handles production reports.
• Skill set: Organization, communication, documentation.

Second Second AD / Production Assistants (PAs) #

• Definition: Entry-level and support roles that keep everything moving.
• Responsibilities: Lockups, radio relays, running errands, managing extras, general support.
• Skill set: Reliability, initiative, stamina, positive attitude.

Script Supervisor #

• Definition: Keeper of continuity and the official record of what was shot.
• Responsibilities: Tracks continuity (props, eyelines, wardrobe, dialogue). Notes takes and director preferences. Produces reports for editorial.
• Skill set: Very high attention to detail, film grammar, note-taking, editing knowledge.
• AI lens: Critical and often missing in AI films. Character drift, costume changes, and inconsistent environments are the most common AI-film flaws. A continuity pass is a real skill to develop.

Camera Department #

Director of Photography (DP) / Cinematographer #

• Definition: HOD for camera and lighting, responsible for the film's images.
• Responsibilities: Designs the visual language with the director: lenses, framing, movement, lighting, exposure, look. Leads camera, grip, and electric teams.
• Skill set: Lighting, optics, composition, color theory, camera systems, leadership, collaboration.
• AI lens: Cinematography vocabulary (focal length, depth of field, lighting ratios, camera moves) is how you control AI image and video tools. Better cinematography knowledge means better prompts and better judgment.

Camera Operator #

• Definition: Physically operates the camera and executes framing and movement.
• Responsibilities: Frames shots. Executes moves. Collaborates with the DP and actors on blocking.
• Skill set: Operating technique (handheld, geared heads, Steadicam), composition, timing.

First Assistant Camera (1st AC) / Focus Puller #

• Definition: Keeps the image sharp and the camera working.
• Responsibilities: Pulls focus. Builds and maintains the camera. Swaps lenses.
• Skill set: Precise focus judgment, technical camera knowledge, distance estimation, calm.

Second Assistant Camera (2nd AC) / Clapper Loader #

• Definition: Supports the camera team and handles slates and camera paperwork.
• Responsibilities: Slates takes. Marks actors. Logs camera reports. Manages media.
• Skill set: Organization, speed, accuracy.

Digital Imaging Technician (DIT) #

• Definition: The on-set technical bridge between camera and post.
• Responsibilities: Manages camera settings and on-set color. Backs up and verifies footage. Builds LUTs and dailies.
• Skill set: Camera systems, color science, data management, troubleshooting.
• AI lens: Managing generation output: naming conventions, seed and settings logs, version control, backups.

Data Wrangler / Media Manager #

• Definition: Handles secure copying and tracking of footage.
• Responsibilities: Offloads cards. Checksums. Creates redundant backups. Keeps logs.
• Skill set: File systems, data integrity, organization.

Steadicam / Specialty Operators (Drone, Underwater, Crane) #

• Definition: Operators of specialized camera support systems.
• Responsibilities: Executes complex moves with specialized gear.
• Skill set: Specialized certification and technique, physical fitness (Steadicam), licensing (drone).

Still Photographer (Unit Stills) #

• Definition: Shoots publicity and continuity photos on set.
• Responsibilities: Captures production stills for marketing, press, and archives.
• Skill set: Photography, discretion, timing.

Grip & Electric (G&E) #

Gaffer #

• Definition: Chief lighting technician, HOD of the electric department.
• Responsibilities: Carries out the DP's lighting design. Plans power distribution. Leads electricians.
• Skill set: Lighting technique, electrical safety, fixtures and control, problem-solving.
• AI lens: Lighting vocabulary (key, fill, rim, motivated light, practicals, color temperature) is essential for controlling AI lighting and relighting tools.

Best Boy Electric #

• Definition: The gaffer's second in command.
• Responsibilities: Manages crew, equipment orders, and power logistics.
• Skill set: Management, equipment knowledge, electrical safety.

Electrician (Lamp Operator / Spark) #

• Definition: Sets and operates lighting equipment.
• Responsibilities: Rigs, runs cable, and focuses lights.
• Skill set: Electrical safety, equipment handling, teamwork.

Key Grip #

• Definition: HOD of grips, responsible for rigging, camera support, and shaping light (non-electrical).
• Responsibilities: Builds rigs. Manages dollies and cranes. Sets flags, diffusion, and scrims.
• Skill set: Rigging, physics, safety, mechanical problem-solving.

Best Boy Grip / Dolly Grip / Grips #

• Definition: The grip team: second in command, dolly specialist, and general crew.
• Responsibilities: Executes rigging and camera moves. The dolly grip times moves with the operator.
• Skill set: Strength, precision, timing, safety.

Lighting Programmer / Board Operator #

• Definition: Programs and runs digital lighting consoles and LED fixtures.
• Responsibilities: Creates lighting cues and effects. Syncs LED volume lighting with content.
• Skill set: Lighting consoles, DMX, networking, color.

Sound Department (Production) #

Production Sound Mixer #

• Definition: HOD responsible for recording on-set audio.
• Responsibilities: Records dialogue and wild sound. Sets mic strategy. Monitors levels and quality. Keeps sound reports.
• Skill set: Audio engineering, mic technique, acoustics, mixing, problem-solving.
• AI lens: Clean voice recordings matter for voice cloning, lip-sync, and dubbing workflows.

Boom Operator #

• Definition: Holds and positions the boom microphone.
• Responsibilities: Places the mic close but out of frame, follows dialogue, and avoids shadows.
• Skill set: Physical stamina, script awareness, framing awareness.

Sound Utility / Sound Assistant #

• Definition: Supports the sound team.
• Responsibilities: Wires lav mics. Manages batteries, cables, and timecode.
• Skill set: Equipment knowledge, tact with actors.

Art Department #

Art Director #

• Definition: Manages the art department and turns the production designer's vision into buildable plans.
• Responsibilities: Oversees drafting, construction, and budgets. Coordinates with other departments.
• Skill set: Design, drafting, project management, materials knowledge.

Set Designer / Draftsperson #

• Definition: Creates technical drawings and models for sets.
• Responsibilities: Produces plans, elevations, and 3D models for construction.
• Skill set: CAD/3D software, architectural drafting.

Set Decorator #

• Definition: Dresses sets with furniture, objects, and details that tell the story.
• Responsibilities: Sources and places décor. Leads the set dressing crew.
• Skill set: Interior design, storytelling through objects, sourcing, period knowledge.
• AI lens: Set dressing detail is where AI environments often feel generic. Intentional set-dec thinking adds authenticity.

Prop Master #

• Definition: Responsible for all objects actors handle.
• Responsibilities: Sources, builds, and tracks props. Manages duplicates and continuity. Handles weapons safety with the armorer.
• Skill set: Sourcing, fabrication, organization, continuity.
• AI lens: Prop consistency (the same phone, sword, or mug across shots) is a classic AI continuity challenge.

Construction Coordinator / Carpenters / Scenic Artists #

• Definition: The teams that build and paint sets.
• Responsibilities: Construction, aging and texturing, faux finishes, scenic painting.
• Skill set: Carpentry, painting, fabrication, safety.

Graphic Designer (Art Department) #

• Definition: Creates in-world graphics: signs, labels, screens, documents, logos.
• Responsibilities: Designs and produces all fictional branding and printed items.
• Skill set: Graphic design, typography, period accuracy.
• AI lens: AI models still struggle with legible text. In-world graphics are often best made separately and composited.

Greensman #

• Definition: Handles plants and landscaping on set.
• Responsibilities: Sources, places, and maintains greenery.
• Skill set: Horticulture, set dressing.

Costume, Hair & Makeup #

Costume Designer #

• Definition: HOD responsible for everything characters wear.
• Responsibilities: Designs or sources costumes that express character, period, and story arc. Manages the costume budget and team.
• Skill set: Fashion history, design, textiles, character analysis, illustration.
• AI lens: Character sheets with locked costumes are a core part of AI character consistency.

Costume Supervisor / Wardrobe Assistants / Costumers #

• Definition: Manage costume logistics, fittings, and on-set wardrobe continuity.
• Responsibilities: Fittings, alterations, laundering, continuity photos, dressing actors.
• Skill set: Sewing, organization, continuity.

Makeup Department Head / Makeup Artists #

• Definition: Design and apply makeup for characters.
• Responsibilities: Beauty, character, aging, and continuity makeup.
• Skill set: Makeup technique, skin tones, continuity, people skills.

Special Effects (SFX) Makeup / Prosthetics Artist #

• Definition: Creates prosthetics, wounds, creatures, and transformations.
• Responsibilities: Sculpting, molding, application, and removal.
• Skill set: Sculpture, materials chemistry, anatomy.

Hair Department Head / Hairstylists #

• Definition: Design and maintain characters' hair and wigs.
• Responsibilities: Styling, wigs, period looks, continuity.
• Skill set: Hairstyling, wig work, history of styles.

Locations, Logistics & Safety #

Location Manager (Production) #

• Definition: Runs locations during the shoot.
• Responsibilities: Manages access, permits, neighbors, restoration, and base camp.
• Skill set: Diplomacy, logistics, regulations.

Transportation Coordinator / Drivers #

• Definition: Moves cast, crew, and equipment.
• Responsibilities: Vehicles, picture cars, scheduling transport.
• Skill set: Logistics, licensing, safety.

Special Effects (SFX) Coordinator #

• Definition: Leads practical effects on set (not digital VFX).
• Responsibilities: Rain, wind, smoke, fire, explosions, breakaways, mechanical rigs.
• Skill set: Pyrotechnics licensing, engineering, safety.

Stunt Coordinator / Stunt Performers #

• Definition: Design and perform action safely.
• Responsibilities: Choreographs fights and stunts. Rigs. Performs or doubles for actors.
• Skill set: Physical training, fight choreography, safety, rigging.
• AI lens: Action is hard for AI video. Stunt-coordinator thinking (clear choreography, readable cause and effect) improves generated action.

Set Medic / Safety Officer #

• Definition: Responsible for health and safety on set.
• Responsibilities: First aid, risk assessments, safety briefings.
• Skill set: Medical certification, risk management.

Craft Services / Catering #

• Definition: Feed the cast and crew.
• Responsibilities: Snacks and drinks between meals (crafty). Full meals (catering).
• Skill set: Food service, logistics, dietary awareness.

Performance #

Lead / Principal Actors #

• Definition: Performers playing the main roles.
• Responsibilities: Interpret and portray characters. Rehearse. Collaborate with the director.
• Skill set: Acting craft, emotional range, voice, movement, preparation.
• AI lens: Performance (emotion, timing, subtext) is where AI video is still weakest. Human performance capture, voice acting, and acting-literate selection of takes all matter.

Supporting Actors / Day Players / Background (Extras) #

• Definition: Secondary roles, small speaking parts, and non-speaking crowd performers.
• Responsibilities: Fill out the world. Support principal scenes.
• Skill set: Reliability, taking direction, consistency.

Stand-ins / Body Doubles / Photo Doubles #

• Definition: Stand in for actors during lighting setups or specific shots.
• Responsibilities: Match actor height and coloring for setup. Double in specific shots.
• Skill set: Patience, physical similarity, precision.

Voice Actor #

• Definition: Performs voices for animation, narration, dubbing, or off-screen characters.
• Responsibilities: Records dialogue in a booth with vocal performance alone.
• Skill set: Vocal range, mic technique, cold reading, character creation.
• AI lens: A key collaborator for AI films. Real voice performances often beat synthetic voices for emotional range. Consent and licensing for voice cloning are essential.

Motion Capture (Mocap) Performer #

• Definition: Performs movement and expressions captured digitally to drive CG or AI characters.
• Responsibilities: Full-body and facial performance in capture suits or markerless systems.
• Skill set: Physical acting, movement, imagination (performing in empty spaces).
• AI lens: Video-to-video and motion-transfer tools make anyone with a phone a potential mocap source.

Intimacy Coordinator #

• Definition: Ensures intimate and sensitive scenes are choreographed safely and with consent.
• Responsibilities: Consults on scenes. Choreographs. Advocates for performers. Arranges modesty garments.
• Skill set: Consent practices, choreography, communication, trauma awareness.

Dialogue Coach / Dialect Coach / Acting Coach #

• Definition: Help actors with lines, accents, or performance.
• Responsibilities: Run lines. Teach dialects. Coach performances.
• Skill set: Linguistics, phonetics, acting pedagogy.

Animal Wrangler / Animal Trainer #

• Definition: Manages and trains animals performing on set.
• Responsibilities: Training, handling, welfare compliance.
• Skill set: Animal behavior, safety, patience.

5. Post-Production #

Post-production is where the film is assembled, refined, and finished: picture, sound, effects, color, and delivery. For AI filmmakers, it is often where most of the craft happens.

Editorial #

Editor #

• Definition: Assembles footage into the story. Often called the "final rewrite" of the film.
• Responsibilities: Selects takes. Builds the cut. Shapes pacing, rhythm, performance, and structure. Works with the director through cut versions.
• Skill set: Storytelling, rhythm, NLE software (Premiere, Resolve, Avid), patience, objectivity, collaboration.
• AI lens: Editing is what separates AI "clip reels" from AI films. Cutting for story, using coverage, and controlling pacing are among the most valuable skills an AI filmmaker can build.

Assistant Editor #

• Definition: Manages the technical side of editorial so the editor can focus on creative work.
• Responsibilities: Ingest, syncing, organizing bins, prepping turnovers to VFX, sound, and color.
• Skill set: NLE expertise, file and codec knowledge, organization, troubleshooting.
• AI lens: Organizing hundreds of generations, tracking versions, managing proxies and conforms.

Post-Production Supervisor #

• Definition: Manages the post schedule, budget, and vendors.
• Responsibilities: Coordinates editorial, VFX, sound, color, and deliverables. Tracks deadlines.
• Skill set: Project management, post workflows, vendor relations.

Post-Production Coordinator #

• Definition: Supports the post supervisor with logistics.
• Responsibilities: Scheduling sessions, tracking files, paperwork.
• Skill set: Organization, communication.

Trailer Editor / Promo Editor #

• Definition: Cuts trailers, teasers, and promotional pieces.
• Responsibilities: Builds short-form marketing edits that sell the film.
• Skill set: Short-form pacing, music editing, marketing sense.
• AI lens: Trailers and teasers are a natural AiFC challenge format.

Visual Effects & Animation #

VFX Supervisor #

• Definition: Creative and technical lead for all visual effects.
• Responsibilities: Plans VFX with the director. Supervises on-set capture. Oversees vendors and shot approvals.
• Skill set: VFX pipelines, compositing and CG knowledge, photography, leadership, problem-solving.
• AI lens: "VFX Supervisor, AI & Animation" is now a real job title at AI-native studios. It blends classic VFX supervision with generative tools.

VFX Producer / VFX Coordinator #

• Definition: Manage VFX budget, schedule, and vendor logistics.
• Responsibilities: Bidding, shot tracking, vendor communication.
• Skill set: Production management, VFX knowledge, tracking tools (ShotGrid, ftrack).

Compositor #

• Definition: Combines multiple image elements into seamless final shots.
• Responsibilities: Keying, roto integration, matching color and grain, adding elements.
• Skill set: Nuke, After Effects, Fusion; color, light, and photographic realism.
• AI lens: Compositing is a powerful AI-film skill: fixing hands, swapping faces, integrating generated elements with live action, cleaning artifacts.

Rotoscope / Paint Artist #

• Definition: Hand-isolates elements frame by frame and cleans up shots.
• Responsibilities: Roto masks, wire and rig removal, cleanup.
• Skill set: Precision, patience, compositing software.
• AI lens: AI segmentation tools (SAM and similar) have greatly sped up roto. Cleanup of AI artifacts is a new specialty.

Matchmove / Tracking Artist #

• Definition: Recreates real camera motion in 3D so CG elements can be added.
• Responsibilities: Camera and object tracking, solving lens distortion.
• Skill set: 3D tracking software, math and geometry understanding.

3D Modeler #

• Definition: Builds digital 3D assets.
• Responsibilities: Models characters, props, and environments.
• Skill set: Blender, Maya, ZBrush; topology, anatomy, form.

Texture / Look Development (LookDev) Artist #

• Definition: Defines how surfaces look: materials, textures, shading.
• Responsibilities: Creates textures and shaders. Tests assets under lighting.
• Skill set: Substance, shading networks, material physics.

Rigger #

• Definition: Builds the internal skeleton and controls that let 3D models move.
• Responsibilities: Skeletons, deformation, facial rigs, control systems.
• Skill set: Anatomy, scripting, technical problem-solving.

Animator #

• Definition: Brings characters and objects to life through movement.
• Responsibilities: Keyframe or mocap-based performance, timing, weight, acting.
• Skill set: Principles of animation, acting, observation, software.
• AI lens: Animation principles (anticipation, follow-through, weight) are the vocabulary for diagnosing why AI motion feels "off."

FX / Simulation Artist #

• Definition: Creates simulated natural phenomena digitally.
• Responsibilities: Fire, water, smoke, destruction, cloth, hair.
• Skill set: Houdini, physics, scripting.

CG Lighting Artist #

• Definition: Lights CG scenes to match plates or achieve a look.
• Responsibilities: Lighting setups, render passes, matching live action.
• Skill set: Photography and lighting theory, render engines.

Matte Painter / Environment Artist #

• Definition: Creates digital backgrounds and set extensions.
• Responsibilities: Painted or 2.5D/3D environments, sky replacements, extensions.
• Skill set: Painting, photography, perspective, 3D.
• AI lens: One of the most AI-accelerated roles. Generated environments plus compositing and projection.

Motion Graphics Designer / Title Designer #

• Definition: Designs animated graphics, titles, and credits.
• Responsibilities: Main titles, lower thirds, UI screens, end credits.
• Skill set: After Effects, typography, design, animation.

Pipeline TD / Technical Director (TD) #

• Definition: Builds and maintains the tools and workflows that connect departments.
• Responsibilities: Scripting, automation, asset management, troubleshooting.
• Skill set: Python, software architecture, VFX/animation pipelines.
• AI lens: The AI equivalent is the workflow builder: ComfyUI graphs, custom nodes, automation scripts. AiFC workflow cards document exactly this skill.

Sound Post & Music #

Supervising Sound Editor #

• Definition: Leads the post sound team and owns the film's soundtrack (minus score).
• Responsibilities: Plans sound design, oversees dialogue, effects, and Foley editing, and manages schedules.
• Skill set: Sound editing, storytelling through sound, team leadership, Pro Tools.
• AI lens: Sound is half the experience and the most neglected part of many AI films.

Sound Designer #

• Definition: Creates the film's sonic world: unique effects, atmospheres, textures.
• Responsibilities: Designs and builds custom sounds, ambiences, and creature voices.
• Skill set: Synthesis, recording, layering, creative audio processing.

Dialogue Editor #

• Definition: Cleans and assembles all dialogue tracks.
• Responsibilities: Removes noise, smooths transitions, prepares ADR.
• Skill set: Audio repair (iZotope RX), attention to detail.

ADR Supervisor / ADR Mixer #

• Definition: Manage Automated Dialogue Replacement, re-recording lines in a studio.
• Responsibilities: Cue lines, run sessions, match performance to picture.
• Skill set: Recording, sync, working with actors.

Foley Artist / Foley Mixer #

• Definition: Perform and record everyday sounds in sync with picture (footsteps, cloth, props).
• Responsibilities: Recreate physical sounds on a Foley stage.
• Skill set: Timing, creativity with objects, mic technique.
• AI lens: AI-generated sound effects and video-to-audio tools are emerging. Foley-level detail still sells realism.

Re-Recording Mixer (Dub Mixer) #

• Definition: Mixes all audio elements into the final soundtrack.
• Responsibilities: Balances dialogue, music, and effects. Creates stereo, 5.1, and Atmos mixes. Makes deliverable stems.
• Skill set: Mixing consoles, loudness standards, acoustics, taste.

Composer #

• Definition: Writes the original score.
• Responsibilities: Spots the film with the director. Composes cues. Oversees recording.
• Skill set: Music composition, orchestration, DAWs, dramatic sensibility.
• AI lens: AI music tools exist, but a composer's sense of theme, motif, and emotional arc is still what makes a score work.

Music Supervisor #

• Definition: Selects and licenses existing music for the film.
• Responsibilities: Finds songs. Negotiates sync and master licenses. Manages the music budget.
• Skill set: Music knowledge, licensing law, negotiation.

Music Editor #

• Definition: Edits music to fit picture and supports the composer.
• Responsibilities: Temp tracks, cue editing, syncing score to cuts.
• Skill set: Music theory, editing, DAWs.

Color & Finishing #

Colorist #

• Definition: Sets the final look and mood of every shot through color grading.
• Responsibilities: Balances shots for consistency. Creates looks. Manages HDR and SDR versions.
• Skill set: DaVinci Resolve or Baselight, color science, perception, taste.
• AI lens: Grading is one of the strongest tools for unifying AI shots generated in different sessions or models.

Online Editor / Conform Artist #

• Definition: Rebuilds the final edit at full quality from original media.
• Responsibilities: Conforms the offline cut. Replaces proxies. Fixes technical issues.
• Skill set: Finishing software, codecs, technical specs.

Finishing Artist / Mastering Engineer #

• Definition: Prepares final masters to technical specs.
• Responsibilities: Titles, QC fixes, final renders, archival masters.
• Skill set: Technical standards, attention to detail.

Quality Control (QC) Technician #

• Definition: Checks final deliverables for technical faults.
• Responsibilities: Reviews picture and sound for errors, glitches, compliance failures.
• Skill set: Technical standards, critical viewing and listening.
• AI lens: A QC pass for AI artifacts (flicker, morphing, extra fingers, warping text) before release.

Deliverables Coordinator #

• Definition: Prepares all the files and documents distributors require.
• Responsibilities: Masters, stems, captions, artwork, legal paperwork, chain of title.
• Skill set: Organization, distributor specs.

Captioning / Subtitling / Localization Specialist #

• Definition: Creates captions, subtitles, and dubbed versions.
• Responsibilities: Transcription, translation, timing, cultural adaptation.
• Skill set: Languages, timing software, accessibility standards.
• AI lens: AI dubbing and lip-sync tools have changed localization. Human review for quality and nuance still matters.

6. Distribution, Marketing & Exhibition #

Getting the film to an audience is a discipline of its own.

Distributor #

• Definition: The company that releases the film to audiences through theaters, streaming, TV, or digital.
• Responsibilities: Acquires rights. Plans release strategy. Funds marketing (P&A). Collects revenue.
• Skill set: Market strategy, audience data, negotiation.

Marketing Director / Publicist #

• Definition: Builds awareness and manages public messaging.
• Responsibilities: Campaigns, press, social media, festival publicity, reviews.
• Skill set: Messaging, media relations, social strategy.
• AI lens: AI films get attention because of the "AI" label, both positive and negative. Framing the process honestly is part of the strategy.

Festival Strategist / Festival Programmer #

• Definition: The strategist plans which festivals to submit to. Programmers select films for festivals.
• Responsibilities: Submission strategy, premiere positioning, programming curation.
• Skill set: Festival knowledge, relationships, taste.
• AI lens: AI film festivals and AI categories at traditional festivals are growing. Eligibility rules vary a lot.

Social Media / Community Manager #

• Definition: Builds and engages the audience online.
• Responsibilities: Content calendars, community interaction, behind-the-scenes content.
• Skill set: Platform knowledge, writing, short-form video, analytics.
• AI lens: Directly relevant to AiFC. Process breakdowns and BTS content are the native content of AI filmmaking communities.

Key Art / Poster Designer #

• Definition: Creates the film's main poster and marketing imagery.
• Responsibilities: Concept, design, typography, campaign assets.
• Skill set: Graphic design, typography, marketing sense.

Exhibitor / Programmer (Cinema) #

• Definition: Theater owners and programmers who decide what plays where.
• Responsibilities: Booking, scheduling, event screenings.
• Skill set: Audience knowledge, business operations.

7. Emerging & AI-Era Roles #

These roles are newer, still forming, or specific to AI-assisted and virtual production. Titles vary from studio to studio. These definitions describe the common pattern.

AI Director / Generative Director #

• Definition: A director whose main production method is generative AI.
• Responsibilities: Sets vision. Builds the reference and style system. Directs generation. Curates outputs. Assembles the film.
• Skill set: Traditional directing skills plus model literacy, prompt craft, curation, and pipeline thinking.

AI Supervisor / Generative AI Supervisor #

• Definition: The technical-creative lead for AI tools on a production, like a VFX supervisor.
• Responsibilities: Chooses models and tools. Designs workflows. Maintains quality and consistency. Advises on legal and ethical use.
• Skill set: Deep tool knowledge, VFX or post background, problem-solving, communication with traditional crews.

Workflow Engineer / ComfyUI Artist / Pipeline Builder #

• Definition: Designs and maintains node-based or scripted generation pipelines.
• Responsibilities: Builds reusable workflows (ControlNet, IP-Adapter, LoRA stacks, upscaling chains). Automates batch generation. Troubleshoots.
• Skill set: ComfyUI or similar tools, Python, GPU and VRAM management, model ecosystems.
• AI lens: The AI-era technical director. A core skill for AiFC workflow cards.

Prompt Designer / Prompt Writer #

• Definition: Writes and refines the text and structured inputs that guide generative models.
• Responsibilities: Turns shot descriptions into effective prompts. Keeps prompt libraries and style templates.
• Skill set: Visual vocabulary (cinematography, art history, lighting), model-specific syntax, iteration.
• Note: This is increasingly a skill inside other roles rather than a standalone job. As one industry piece put it, "nobody is hiring a prompter." What people hire for is film-literate prompting.

Model Trainer / LoRA Trainer / Fine-Tuning Specialist #

• Definition: Trains custom models or adapters for specific characters, styles, or products.
• Responsibilities: Curates datasets. Captions. Trains and evaluates LoRAs or fine-tunes. Manages consent and licensing of training data.
• Skill set: Dataset curation, training tools, evaluation, ethics and rights awareness.
• AI lens: See LoRAs & Fine-Tuning in Resources for techniques, trainers and hubs.

Character Consistency Artist / Digital Character Designer #

• Definition: Owns the look and identity of characters across all generations.
• Responsibilities: Builds character sheets, turnarounds, and reference sets. Trains or locks identities. Audits drift.
• Skill set: Character design, script-supervisor-style attention to detail, model control techniques.

AI Cleanup / Artifact Repair Artist #

• Definition: Fixes generative artifacts in final shots.
• Responsibilities: Inpainting, paint fixes, frame interpolation repair, temporal stabilization, hand and face fixes.
• Skill set: Compositing, paint and roto, inpainting tools, detail orientation.

Virtual Production Supervisor #

• Definition: Leads in-camera VFX and LED volume production.
• Responsibilities: Coordinates real-time content, camera tracking, and stage operations with the director and DP.
• Skill set: Unreal Engine, camera tracking, LED technology, VFX supervision.

Virtual Art Department (VAD) Artist #

• Definition: Builds real-time 3D environments for virtual production or previs.
• Responsibilities: Environment building, optimization, lighting in real-time engines.
• Skill set: Unreal or Unity, 3D modeling, optimization.

Real-Time / Unreal Engine Operator #

• Definition: Runs the real-time engine during virtual production shoots.
• Responsibilities: Loads scenes, adjusts environments and lighting live, handles technical issues.
• Skill set: Unreal Engine, troubleshooting under pressure.

3D Capture Specialist (Photogrammetry / Gaussian Splatting / LiDAR) #

• Definition: Captures real-world places, objects, and people as 3D data.
• Responsibilities: Shooting capture datasets, processing, cleanup, integration.
• Skill set: Photography, capture software (RealityCapture, Postshot, LichtFeld, etc.), 3D cleanup.

AI Voice / Synthetic Performance Producer #

• Definition: Manages synthetic voices and performances, including cloning, dubbing, and lip-sync.
• Responsibilities: Voice selection and design, consent management, quality control, sync.
• Skill set: Audio, performance judgment, ethics and consent, tool knowledge.

AI Ethics & Provenance Lead / Content Credentials Manager #

• Definition: Ensures responsible AI use and documents how content was made.
• Responsibilities: Tracks tools and training-data provenance. Manages consent. Applies content credentials (e.g., C2PA). Writes disclosure statements.
• Skill set: Policy knowledge, documentation, legal awareness.
• AI lens: Fits AiFC's "process over prestige" philosophy: transparent process documentation as a strength.

Process Documentarian / BTS Breakdown Creator #

• Definition: Documents and explains how a project was made.
• Responsibilities: Records workflows, settings, decisions, before and after comparisons. Creates breakdown videos and posts.
• Skill set: Clear communication, screen recording, editing, teaching.
• AI lens: A core AiFC role. Process breakdowns are the platform's main currency.

8. Phase Map (Quick Reference) #

● = primary phase, ○ = significant involvement

The solo AI filmmaker's "core seven" #

When one person makes an AI film alone, these are the roles they most need to cover well, and the ones most often skipped:

1. Screenwriter. Story comes first. Tools don't fix a weak script.
2. Director. A consistent vision across hundreds of generations.
3. Cinematographer. The visual vocabulary that controls the tools.
4. Script Supervisor. Continuity, the most common AI-film flaw.
5. Editor. Turning clips into a film.
6. Sound Designer / Mixer. Half the experience, often an afterthought.
7. Colorist. Unifying shots from different sessions or models.

9. Sources #

• The Ultimate Film Crew Guide (Film Crew Positions), Boords
• The Definitive Film Crew Hierarchy Chart, Assemble
• The Ultimate Film Crew Positions & Department Breakdown, SetHero
• The Ultimate List of Film Crew Positions, iFilmThings
• Film Crew, Careers in Film
• Film & Digital Media Industry Jobs, Clayton State University
• Glossary of Film Terms, FilmDaft
• VFX Supervisor, AI & Animation, Promise Studios (job listing)
• Nobody Is Hiring a Prompter, Powershifter
• Robots on Set: AI Assistants Replacing Some Crew Tasks in 2026, Beverly Boy