Walt Disney Animation Studios General TD Intern, Summer 2026
About The Position
General TD Intern, Disney Animation - Summer 2026 The Internship Program Have you wondered how your skills and talents could translate into the world of animation? Our Internship Program dives into the craft, technology, and operations behind our animated films while developing your skills and connecting you to industry mentors. You'll learn what it means to be a part of a collaborative team and how your unique talents can grow within our studio. Find yourself immersed in hands-on projects and learning guided by our artists, technologists, and production leaders. Learn more about our filmmaking process here . Am I Eligible? 18 years or older Must be enrolled in a post-secondary educational program (such as a community college, college, university, graduate school, trade school, or accredited online program), or have graduated within six months of our internship program start date Program Length: The approximate dates of this internship are May-August 2026. Interns must be fully available for the duration of a 11-week assignment. The Intern Program is based in our Burbank, California studios and will start in May 2026. At Walt Disney Animation Studios we have a deep commitment to the philosophy that creativity inspires technology, and technology inspires creativity. Our Technical Directors (Pipeline TDs) are responsible for providing support to our artist teams in a variety of areas including writing tools to facilitate the CG animation process, acting as a liaison to software and system engineers, and providing front-line artist support. Technical Directors function as an integral part of the artist departments they’re associated with, designing or optimizing processes and tools to best fit production needs. They should look at production systems holistically and have an ability to visualize the larger pipeline, understand the impact of their actions, and how to optimize processes and tools. Technical Directors also have an important role in our ongoing efforts to push the boundaries of what we're capable of producing in our various toolsets. Examples of Projects Include: Novel interaction interfaces and models for artists Tools for procedurally generating worlds Creative workflows built on existing platforms to solve production-specific problems Evolutions and revolutions of our production data pipeline As a Technical Director Intern, you will be paired with a mentor(s) who has identified a problem in need of a solution. Under the guidance of your mentor you will meet with end-users to identify requirements, propose a path to solving this problem, research necessary components of that solution, implement the solution by writing code that integrates into our studio pipelines and takes advantage of proprietary libraries where necessary, iterate with end-users to get and respond to feedback, and finally present the results of the project. Along the way you will get to interact with other interns and learn about life at Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Requirements
- 18 years or older
- Must be enrolled in a post-secondary educational program (such as a community college, college, university, graduate school, trade school, or accredited online program), or have graduated within six months of our internship program start date
- An understanding of the production processes and pipelines of CG Animation, VFX or Video Game productions
- An understanding of element production and shot production phases including modeling, rigging, animation, layout, look development and lighting/rendering
- Strong problem solving skills required
- Ability to work in a collaborative environment and provide support to members of various departments.
- Experience with scripting including Python, C++ and MEL
- Exposure to commercial graphics packages including Maya, Houdini and Global Illumination Lighting packages
- Exposure to the Linux or Unix operating system
Nice To Haves
- Understanding of stereoscopic concepts and production processes a plus
- A website with the breakdown of your code / projects is a plus.
Responsibilities
- Meet with end-users to identify requirements
- Propose a path to solving problems
- Research necessary components of solutions
- Implement solutions by writing code that integrates into studio pipelines and takes advantage of proprietary libraries where necessary
- Iterate with end-users to get and respond to feedback
- Present the results of the project
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Intern
Education Level
No Education Listed
Number of Employees
5,001-10,000 employees
