AI Film Artist for full-length feature film: 5-10-hour paid trial, then full-time opportunity - Contract to Hire

AI Film Artist: Trial to full-time hire (1 to 2 candidates)

I'm making a full-length feature film (drama/coming-of-age/romance) using AI. For the moment, I am looking for a Cinema-Ready Scene Test (35mm documentary realism, warm skin, no AI gloss). We'll start with a 5-10-hour-long paid trial with daily screen-share video calls to get into the process together. You must be available during reasonable Berlin (CET) time windows so we can o´work together.

About Me:

I’m Niko von Glasow, writer/director. I’ve made 8 feature films, and I’m now building my new feature The Sky Between Us with an AI-assisted workflow — but with one non-negotiable rule: it must feel human, warm, and real (35mm documentary tone, natural skin texture, believable movement — not “AI plastic”).

The film's very short logline:

A disabled boy and a Tibetan girl are forced into an impossible choice.

How I’m hiring:

I’m running a paid parallel evaluation with a small number of artists. Each shortlisted artist will be hired for one complete scene test with a clear time cap and deliverables. After reviewing results, I will continue long-term with 1–2 artists for the feature. All tests are paid; no free work.

Important: each candidate will work on a different scene. This is not a competition — I want to explore different challenges and learn different solutions.

Paid trial (5-10 hours total per candidate)

Contract type: Hourly

Trial size: 5-10 hours total

Working style: We work 3 hours/day on live screen-share (Berlin time/CET), so I can direct while you work and learn your process. The remaining hours can be your solo time.

Please let me know what tools you use and which ones you are comfortable with. Ideally, we are looking at Kling, Seedance, Runway, Nano Banana Pro, but if you keep your hands on the pulse, let us know what else is promising.

Budget control:

The trial is capped at 10 hours. Please show me what you can deliver within that cap.

No additional hours during the trial unless I approve explicitly in Upwork chat.

If we continue long-term, we’ll expand scene-by-scene with clear weekly caps and we can discuss rate changes then.

Deliverables in the trial:

Please deliver:

A cinema-ready scene test (video)

A workflow recipe (repeatable steps + settings + prompts/nodes)

Shot list / breakdown (what you did per shot)

Key intermediate outputs (so the workflow is not a black box)

Style requirements:

35mm documentary realism: warm, intimate, imperfect, emotionally true

Natural skin (pores / micro-texture; no beauty smoothing)

Believable motion (no floaty movement, no rubber faces)

Consistent grade + grain across the sequence

Tools are flexible (ComfyUI/SDXL, Runway/Luma/Pika, Resolve, After Effects/Nuke, etc.). I care about results + repeatability.

Big plus (not required, but helps you stand out):

If you can help build character consistency and a reusable character base (including 3D character development / rigging / face-consistency pipeline), please mention it. I’m especially interested in exploring this with the first artist I continue with long-term.

Big plus: Please include a 30–60 sec screen recording of your workflow (node graph / timeline / key settings). Unlisted/private is fine.

Big plus: Please outline your 10-hour plan (how you’ll spend the hours).

Fit note: I’m aiming for documentary warmth and realism. If your portfolio is mostly glossy / music-video / hyper-stylized AI, this may not be the right fit.

Before we start (required)

1) Portfolio

Please send 2–3 examples showing:

consistent character identity across shots

at least one image→video example

your most “cinema-real” work

2) Short interview

I’ll do a 15–20 minute interview with shortlisted candidates before hiring.

3) Answer these in your proposal:

How do you avoid plastic skin and keep natural film texture?

How do you keep identity consistent shot-to-shot?

Are you comfortable working while screen-sharing and explaining what you’re doing?

How I will choose:

Quality matters — but so does the human fit. I’m looking for:

cinema-real texture + motion

consistency across shots

clear communication

friendly, positive collaboration (I want to enjoy working together)

Please include your hourly rate and your Berlin-time availability.