Creative Filmmaker

Role Overview

Mercor is partnering with a top AI research lab on a project collecting high-quality photo and video data. We're looking for skilled videographers and content creators to produce polished portrait photos and short videos of real people following detailed creative and technical guidelines.

What You'll Do

• Shoot high-quality portrait photos and 10–15 second videos of real subjects following detailed guidelines for framing, lighting, motion, and audio.
• Edit together multiple shots into a single polished clip per submission.
• Submit photo + video sets, ensuring each one meets quality standards for resolution, lighting, composition, and sound.
• Produce diverse content across a range of locations, outfits, actions, and emotions.

What We're Looking For

• Experience with cinematic style video production — either professionally, as a hobby or as a student.
• Access to a prosumer or professional camera — this is a hard requirement. Phone cameras will not meet the quality bar. You should be able to shoot at 1080p minimum, with 4K strongly preferred.
• Strong visual eye — your videos should have the production quality and aesthetic appeal of polished social media content (think high-quality IG Reels or YouTube shorts). Well-lit, sharp, cinematic feel.
• Basic video editing skills — each submission requires editing multiple shots together into a short, cohesive clip, as well as light color grading to improve aesthetic appeal.
• Clean audio capture — videos require clear, intentional audio. An external microphone is strongly recommended.
• Access to diverse subjects, locations, and wardrobes — the project requires variety in people, outfits, backgrounds, and settings, with a mix of indoor and outdoor scenes.
• Ability to follow detailed technical specs — framing, resolution, duration, file format, and export settings must all meet specific requirements. Attention to detail is essential.

Project Details

• Pay structure: Per-submission compensation, equivalent to approximately $30 to $40 per hour.
• Feedback process: Early submissions go through a quick feedback loop with team leads to align on quality before you begin submitting at volume.
• Technical requirements: High resolution, uncompressed or minimally compressed exports.

How to Apply

1. Participate in a ~20 min AI interview.
2. Fill out a short form (~5 min) to confirm details.
3. Top candidates will be invited to submit 1 sample task as a paid work trial.
4. If the work trial task is passing, you will be invited to the project.

We consider all qualified applicants without regard to legally protected characteristics and provide reasonable accommodations upon request.

Contract and Payment Terms

• You will be engaged as an independent contractor.
• This is a fully remote role that can be completed on your own schedule.
• Projects can be extended, shortened, or concluded early depending on needs and performance.
• Your work at Mercor will not involve access to confidential or proprietary information from any employer, client, or institution.
• Payments are weekly on Stripe or Wise based on services rendered.
• Please note: We are unable to support H1-B or STEM OPT candidates at this time.

About Mercor

Mercor partners with leading AI labs and enterprises to train frontier models using human expertise. You will work on projects that focus on training and enhancing AI systems. You will be paid competitively, collaborate with leading researchers, and help shape the next generation of AI systems in your area of expertise.