Misha Zabranska, an award-winning director, writer, designer, and animator, was born in communist Czechoslovakia, nurtured in inclusive Canada, and matured in the melting pot of Brooklyn. Fluent in several languages, cultures, and many visual media and art forms, she developed her storytelling skills creating a number of original short films such as PASSERS BY or THE FIRST POLITICAL SPEECH and animating and directing on the ground-breaking TV shows REBOOT and TRANSFORMERS. Misha was a Lead Animator at George Lucas’ company Industrial Light & Magic, contributing to films like STAR WARS: EPISODE I, GREEN MILE, or JACK FROST. Her creativity led her to multi-media performance-based collaborations like PIED PIPER by the American Ballet Theater with David Parsons at the Metropolitan Opera, RECREATE by CADA-NYU, or FINN by Mabou Mines. Misha is a Professor at Pratt Institute and a former Professor at NYU, CADA. She is currently expanding into virtual reality and augmented reality immersive experiences.

FULL RESUME

director, writer, producer, designer, animator, VFX supervisor, professor

PERFORMING ARTS

ALL IS RELATIVE, written, directed, designed by, Virtual Reality Play, in production, New York

ATTAR, written, directed, designed by, hybrid media performance, in pre-production, New York

MARKET OF SOULS, directed, designed by, hybrid media dance performance, in development, New York

FINN, animation/video and digital set designed by; cross-media performance by Mabou Mines, NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts, New York, 2010

MADISON’S DESCENT, animation/video designed by, musical masque, produced by Peak Performances, Montclair State University, New Jersey, 2006

SPIRITS, written and directed by, animation/video and set designed by, cross-media performance by Misha Films in collaboration with Michael Curry Design, Salesian Theater, Prague, Czech Republic, 2005

IMMORTALITY, directed and designed by, video installation by Misha Films and NYU Bauhaus workshop for sculptor Anna Chromy, Paris, France, 2005

J.S. BACH: ART OF FUGUE, animation/designed by, Misha Films in collaboration with Envisions Center at Purdue University for New Century Saxophone Quartet, US and EU tour, 2003-05

RE-CREATE, written and directed by, choreographed and designed by, cross-media performance created during an art residency at CADA, NYU, Presenters Showcase, NYU Skirball Center for Performing Arts, New York, 2004

THE HYPNOTIST, choreographed and designed by, cross-media performance in collaboration with David Parsons, art residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Florida, 2003

PIED PIPER, animation/video and set designed by, ballet adaptation of J. Corigliano’s Pied Piper, Misha Films for American Ballet Theater at Metropolitan Opera, New York, 2001

FILM/TV directing, writing, design

PASSERS BY, written and directed by, with the support of Industrial Light & Magic, San Francisco,2000

REBOOT: FIREWALL, directed by, Mainframe Entertainment; CG TV series, Vancouver, Canada, 1997

BEAST WARS: TRANSFORMERS, THE TRIGGER part 2, directed by, An Alliance/Mainframe Entertainment, CG TV series, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 1996

RUNS, written, directed and animated by, short film created in art residency at ATR Media Integration & Communications Research Labs, Kyoto, Japan, 1996

NOVA, designed and directed by, opening jingle for TV Station Nova in co-production with GIA studio, Prague, Czech Republic and Paris, France, 1994

VERTIGO, designed, directed and animated by, opening jingle for 3D software showcase Vertigo, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 1994

FIRST POLITICAL SPEECH, directed/animated and designed by, short film created in an art residency for Simon Fraser University with the support of National Film Board of Canada, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 1993

ACCELERATE, created by, short promotional film for 3D software LifeForms, developed at Simon Fraser University in collaboration with Merce Cunningham, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 1992

FILM/TV character animation

CURIOUS PICTURES, Barbie Diaries, Lead Animator, New York, 2006

INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC, Lucas Digital Ltd., Lead Animator on VFX for feature films, San Rafael, CA, STAR WARS, EPISODE 1 - THE PHANTOM MENACE (Lucas Film, LTD. 1999), FRANKENSTEIN AND THE WOLFMAN (Universal Studios, 1999), DEEP BLUE SEA (Warner Brothers, 1999), THE GREEN MILE (Castle Rock Entertainment, 1999), JACK FROST (Universal Studios, 1998), SMALL SOLDIERS (Sony Studios, 1997)

MAINFRAME ENTERTAINMENT, Supervising animator on CG TV series, Vancouver, BC, Canada

BEAST WARS (An Alliance/Mainframe Entertainment Production,1996)

REBOOT (An Alliance/BLT Production, 1994-95)

ELECTRONIC ARTS Canada, Senior animator on 3D games, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 1995

ACTING

KABARET, voice-over, documentary, Czech Republic 1996

YOUNG ACTORS ASSEMBLY, Czech Republic, 1978-1982

STORY TIME, puppet theater, Czech Republic, 1981-1982

LECTURING

PRATT INSTITUTE, Department of Digital Arts, Professor at the B.F.A. program, 2018-current

NYU, Center for Advanced Digital Applications, Clinical Professor at the Master’s degree program, 2002-2016

VIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, Character Animation workshop, Viborg, Denmark, 2004

PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN, Visiting professor, Character Animation course, 2002

FAMU, Academy of Film and Television Arts, Character Animation course, guest professor, Prague, Czech Republic, 1996-1997

EDUCATION

USC/FAMU - Bobette Buster, Storytelling and Script Writing, 1997

CVUT, FACULTY OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, CZECH TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY,  - Department of Cybernetics, Prague 1986-1990

NATIONAL SCHOOL OF ARTS, visual fine arts, 1982-1986

YOUNG ACTORS ASSEMBLY - actors studio, Czech Republic, 1978-1982