Crossing Hurdles is hiring: Acting & Animation Performance Consultant | $90/hr R

Acting & Animation Performance Consultant Onsite / Hybrid | W-2 Contingent | $60 $90/hr | Location: Playa Vista (Los Angeles), CA or New York, NY

Role Snapshot

This is a part‑time, structured W-2 contingent role embedded within a cutting‑edge generative models team, focused on defining what authentic human performance looks like when transferred through advanced creative systems. You will bring deep expertise from film and animation to shape evaluation standards, benchmark quality, and ensure the craft of performance is preserved at the highest level.

What You'll Be Doing

• Establish clear, defensible evaluation criteria for assessing emotional resonance and physical fidelity in performance capture outputs identifying where current evaluation frameworks fall short.


• Curate a meaningful benchmark library of performances across a spectrum of complexity, from straightforward captures to those that genuinely challenge the model.


• Define the ideal profile, expertise mix, and scoring rubric for the human reviewer pool responsible for evaluating model outputs at scale.


• Collaborate with fellow subject‑matter experts to maintain consistency and accuracy across evaluation sessions.


• Translate nuanced visual and performative details—micro‑expressions, emotional beats, physical choices—into precise, structured language suitable for data captions and evaluation templates.


• Attend in‑person working sessions on‑site in Playa Vista (Los Angeles), CA or New York, NY approximately once or twice per month.

Who We're Looking For

• Strong experience in professional film, character animation, or performance direction, with credits across two or more produced projects.


• Specialisation in at least one of the following disciplines: Character Animation (human or character performance), Character Technical Design, Acting Coaching (film or theater), or Direction of Photography.


• A meticulous eye for micro‑expressions, emotional timing, and the subtle physical choices that distinguish authentic human performance from a flattened or inaccurate reproduction.


• Familiarity with generative model tools and creative systems workflows, including the ability to generate visual samples independently for testing and comparative review.


• Exceptional ability to articulate complex visual and performative observations in clear, structured written language suited to evaluation and data capture contexts.


• Access to a 4K‑resolution monitor for pixel‑level review is a strong asset.