pred. Siniša Mataić

Siniša Mataić is a graduate film animator, born in Zagreb, where he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts at the Department of Animated Film and New Media in 2010 with the auteur film God and Earthlings, realized as an animated music video for the TBF group. He works as a freelance artist, senior character animator and animation supervisor with over fifteen years of professional experience on domestic and international feature, serial and short film projects and in the video game industry.
He has been professionally trained at leading European and world institutions and mentoring programs, including The Animation Workshop in Denmark, Anomalia professional workshops in the Czech Republic, and advanced specializations in character and game animation on the iAnimate, CGtarian and Animawarriors platforms. His artistic and pedagogical focus is focused on character acting and combining the principles of classic cartoon 2D animation with modern 3D computer animation tools.
In his original work, he stands out with the short animated film Off Belay (2015), for which he was awarded the Grand Prize and the Tokyo Governor Prize at the prestigious Tokyo Anime Award Festival (TAFF 2016). As an animator and supervisor, he worked on the animated feature film The Cricket and the Ant, the international series The Wingfeather Saga (Angel Studios) and Talking Tom and Friends, the award-winning short films Planemo, Napo and How the Steel Was Tempered, and the feature films Murina and The Eighth Commissioner (awarded the Golden Arena for Visual Effects). Since 2020, he has been collaborating with the American company Esoteric Software on the development of official educational materials and video tutorials for the Spine software, as well as on beta testing of new functionalities and software quality control. Since 2026, he has been a lecturer at the Department of Animated Film at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb.

The center of my artistic, professional and research work is dedicated to character animation as a specific form of character acting and the biomechanics of movement through the medium of traditional and computer animation. My starting point is based on the principles of the classic tradition of 2D animation, understanding rhythm, timing, silhouette, weight and subtle pantomime, and their organic transfer into three-dimensional digital space.
The research focus is on the application of advanced concepts of acting in animation to achieve psychological persuasiveness, character identity and emotional depth of characters, avoiding mechanical reproduction of movement. In terms of technical and production, I explore contemporary production processes (pipelines), with a special emphasis on the integration of real-time technologies (such as Unreal Engine 5) into narrative animation, as well as innovative approaches to skeletal 2D animation for video games and interactive media through work with Spine software.
As an artist and pedagogue, I strive to demystify the animation process: I see animation not only as a technical process of creating the illusion of movement, but primarily as a directing and acting discipline in which every movement must arise from the inner state and motivation of the character. My goal is to bridge the gap between the craft tradition and the latest tools of the industry and to encourage the development of authorial expression through technically sovereign and content-wise thought-out shaping of movement.

Through intensive practical exercises, classes train students for the basics of 3D animation and advanced mastery of 2D animation and actors' expression. Through analysis and realistic production tasks, participants adopt work processes that prepare them for work in the profession. The field of teaching connects the tradition of animated film with modern industry standards and authorial work.

2020 - present - educational and development work for Spine software, Esoteric Software, USA: author of official video tutorials and educational materials and beta tester of tools for 2D animation in the gaming industry.
2022 - 2025 - The Wingfeather Saga, international animated series (Angel Studios, USA); 3D character animator in Unreal Engine 5.
2019 - 2022 - Professor Balthazar, series, episodes "Augustus' Third Happiness" and "Virtues from the Deep" (Diedra); animation supervisor and 2D animator
2019 - 2022 - The Cricket and the Ant, feature 3D CGI animated film (Diedra); animation supervisor and lead animator.
2020 - Napo, short 3D animated film (Miralumo Films); 3D character animator Academy Award Qualified, over 60 international awards.
2018 - The Eighth Commissioner, feature film (Embrio Production); VFX 3D Animator Award: Golden Arena for Visual Effects (Pula Film Festival 2018)
2018 - How Steel Was Tempered, short animated film (Creative Union)
2016 - Planemo, short 3D animated film (Lemonade 3D); 3D animation Award: Best Animation Award (Short on a Quick), screened at the Annecy Festival
2015 - Off Belay, short animated film (Luma film); screenplay, direction and animation Awards: Grand Prize and Tokyo Governor Prize at the Tokyo Anime Award Festival (TAFF 2016)
2010 - God and Earthlings, graduation animated film / animated video for the TBF group (Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb); screenplay, direction and animation screened at festivals: Days of Croatian Film, Animafest Zagreb, Animateka Ljubljana.