Biography
John holds a master’s in Documentary Animation from the Royal College of Art in London, UK, and his BFA in Animated Arts from Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. He specializes in creative nonfiction in animation and particularly enjoys the blurred boundaries between animation, essays, interviews, bread dough, fake holidays, and real (bad) musical performances of the aforementioned fake holidays.
In addition to making his own films, he works commercially as an interdisciplinary media artist. He uses stop-motion, 2D and 3D animation, and regularly provides his services as an editor, sound designer, videographer, and illustrator. He also has several years experience as a glassblower and ceramicist.
John is a passionate educator who has taught animation in youth programs, inside a detention facility, and at the undergraduate and master's levels. Most recently, in 2021, he served as an assistant professor in the Animated Arts department at the Pacific Northwest College of Art.
His accolades include the Grand Prize at the LG Art of the Pixel competition, the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Educator’s Forum Scholarship, and the Princess Grace Undergraduate Film Scholarship. His work has been exhibited internationally, most recently in Budapest, Madrid, Berlin, and London, and in Times Square in New York City.
He currently lives in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania where he continues his freelance practice and his role as the Director of Animation for the upcoming feature animated documentary film Pour the Water As I Leave. He is also an enthusiastic pinball player, has a great recipe for falafel popcorn, and is really good at making lists that have three things in them.