Production Services Technician (PST)

Sony Pictures Imageworks is located on the unceded traditional territory of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. We are committed to respecting traditional lands, and working with communities towards reconciliation. 

Sony Pictures Imageworks Canada Inc.
658 Homer Street., Suite 405, Vancouver, BC, V6B 2R4

Language in work environment - English

Benefits per company policy: include healthcare, tuition reimbursement, RRSP's, Sick and Vacation leave, standard increases as applicable

The Production Services Technician (PST) role is a vital cornerstone of the facility, responsible for securing, manipulating, and managing production data throughout all stages of the production life cycle. PSTs collaborate with multiple departments to refine workflows, establish procedure guidelines, and ensure operational efficiency. Their work is critical to the success of every show, directly impacting all departments. PSTs are vital to the filmmaking process and essential to maintaining the integrity and efficiency of the pipeline.

PSTs are not just responsible for managing tasks like cue management, backups, and data transfer, but also building, maintaining, and optimizing the tools and pipelines that drive these processes. By developing and modifying python tools and scripts throughout the course of a show, PSTs ensure that these tasks become seamless and efficient, even during high-pressure crunch times. The true value of a PST lies in their ability to automate and streamline workflows, making complex tasks effortless, preventing bottlenecks, and ensuring that production remains uninterrupted and efficient, no matter the scale.

With deep expertise in the facility's departments, pipeline, and workflows, PSTs gain invaluable exposure across production, positioning them as strong candidates for career advancement and diverse opportunities within the company. Many former PSTs have advanced into prominent positions, including production management, technical direction, software development, systems engineering, and artist roles. This position provides a unique opportunity to build a broad skill set, paving the way for long-term career growth. For more information about the PST program, please watch our recruiting video.

Key Responsibilities:

• Pipeline Optimization and Tool Development: Leverage software engineering to optimize critical tools and pipelines for tasks such as render farm management, media manipulation, reviews, client/vendor ingest, and deliveries, automating processes to ensure seamless workflows, eliminate bottlenecks, and maintain production efficiency, even during high-pressure crunch times.

• Data Management: Oversee all production-related data, ensuring integrity, accessibility, and compliance with facility standards, including managing backups, retrievals, show media final archiving, and both online and offline storage.

• Render and Process Monitoring: Monitor and prioritize rendering queues, troubleshoot issues, optimize use of render farm resources, and escalate any concerns to artists, production, systems or software teams to maintain smooth operations.

• Media Handling: Coding automation that optimizes efficiency and reduces bottlenecks while preparing media for artist use, 3rd party vendor i/o, daily & critical production reviews, and client review & delivery. Following established guidelines based on both internal and show-specific standards to maintain accurate data locations, file types, naming standards, resolution/colorspace specifications, audio/video codecs, and security allowances.

• Ingest/Deliveries: Ingest and deliver high-priority media from vendors and clients, ensuring it conforms to facility standards, is transferred between locations following security & firewall policies all while automating processes to enhance efficiency and streamline workflows.

• Technical Support and Communication: Serve as a key liaison between production, digital artists, and support teams, providing technical expertise that ensures seamless integration and smooth workflows, while effectively communicating with both technical and non-technical team members.

• Issue Management: Submit prompt and detailed information through support channels, clearly communicating issues and potential solutions to Color Scientists, Resources, Production, Systems, and Software teams, while monitoring critical servers & networks to minimize workflow disruptions and ensure swift resolution.

• Documentation and Testing: Test and document workflows, tools, and processes across I/O pipelines, command-line utilities, queuing plugins, directory and file structure management, proprietary software, and script-driven automation to ensure seamless and efficient production operations.

• Coverage Support: Providing support across all phases of a project often requires flexibility with shift schedules, including early morning or late afternoon starts, as well as evening & weekend overtime during critical phases of a show to ensure seamless production continuity.

Qualifications:

• Strong experience with Linux or UNIX operating systems

• High proficiency in coordinated software programming & troubleshooting (Bash, Python, GIT)

• Previous leadership or managerial experience, preferred

• Customer service experience with the ability to effectively manage client interactions and resolve issues

• Ability to triage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, high-pressure production environment

• Detail-oriented with a proactive approach to problem-solving

• Familiarity with various graphics applications, production tools, network infrastructure or file management systems is a plus 

NOTE: At many studios, roles like pipeline engineer, render wrangler, data wrangler, and I/O technician are typically separate positions, each specializing in a specific aspect of the production workflow. However, at Imageworks, these critical functions are handled by the Production Services Technicians (PSTs), making the role incredibly valuable and versatile. PSTs gain deep expertise across a broad range of workflows, directly impacting multiple stages of the facility pipeline. This unique structure not only enhances the PST's technical knowledge but also provides high visibility and influence across all aspects of production, from render management to data handling and media processing.

The anticipated base salary for this position is $24.04 to $33.05/hr. Benefits are per company policy: which include healthcare, tuition reimbursement, RRSP's, Sick and Vacation leave, standard increases as applicable. The actual base salary offered will depend on a variety of factors, including without limitation, the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and if applicable, the location of the position.

We value unique perspectives, and want diverse, unique talent to work with us.  We encourage candidates from all identities to apply.

*Sony Pictures Entertainment is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other protected characteristics.