photo by Javier Lovera (2023)
Howie is a Toronto-based illustrator, animation director, and writer. His films have won several awards including the 2007 Tokyo Anime Fair Grand Prix for Flutter, and Canadian Screen Award nominations for both BAM (2015) and 4 North A (2021; written and co-directed by Jordan Canning). Along with writing, directing, and storyboarding for major studios such as Disney and Netflix, Howie maintains a fruitful ongoing relationship with the National Film Board of Canada for his more personal short films. Howie’s illustrations and designs have been featured in numerous venues, especially music packaging for grammy-winning artists such as David Binney and Donny McCaslin (bandleader of David Bowie’s Blackstar band). Along with his brothers, Howie is a co-founder of the music, film, and design studio PPF House. He recently finished storyboarding on Michael Green and Amber Noizumi’s Netflix Samurai Epic Blue Eye Samurai, and is currently working on Kid Koala’s feature film debut Space Cadet. Howie is in development on a new graphic novel and animated film.
TEACHING & SELECTED TALKS
2023 NFB Asian Heritage Month – Panel
2021-22 NFB Hothouse – Mentoring Director
2021 (Re)Rites of Passage: Asian Canada in Motion – Speculating Fictions - Panelist
2021 NFB Lunch Box Lecture Series
2020 Backstory (Podcast)
2019 Reel Asian Film Festival – Re-imagining Asian - Panelist
2012 Monterrey Film Festival (Mexico) – Designing Animation - Presenter
2000 U of T – Introduction to Visual Studies – Teaching Assistant
2021-22 NFB Hothouse – Mentoring Director
2021 (Re)Rites of Passage: Asian Canada in Motion – Speculating Fictions - Panelist
2021 NFB Lunch Box Lecture Series
2020 Backstory (Podcast)
2019 Reel Asian Film Festival – Re-imagining Asian - Panelist
2012 Monterrey Film Festival (Mexico) – Designing Animation - Presenter
2000 U of T – Introduction to Visual Studies – Teaching Assistant
SELECTED AWARDS & HONORS
2024 Canada Council for the Arts Concept to Realization Grant - Longbrook, 2088
2024 OAC Theatre Recommender Grant – fu-GEN – Ratamacue
2021 Nominee (Best Animated Short) – 4 North A – Canadian Screen Awards
2020 Canada Council for the Arts – Creation Grant: Ratamacue (Children’s picture book)
2016 Nominee (Best Animated Short) – BAM - Canadian Screen Awards
2015 Best New Canadian Animation Programme – BAM - Toronto International Film Festival
2013 Juror – Reel Asian International Film Festival
2012 Panelist: Art Direction – Monterrey International Film Festival
2010 Artist-in-Residence at Taipei Artist Village
2007 Open Entries Grand Prix: Flutter – Tokyo International Anime Fair
2007 Best Short Film: Flutter – Fantasia International Film Festival (Montreal)
2010 Artist-in-Residence at Taipei Artist Village
2010 Canada Council for the Arts Media Arts Travel Grant
2008 Canada Council for the Arts Media Arts Travel Grant
2007 Jury Prize: Flutter – Yorkton Short Film & Video Festival
2007 2nd Place – Best Animation: Flutter – Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival
2006 2nd Place – Most Innovative Film: Portraits on a Blustery Day – Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival
2004 Canada Council for the Arts Creation Grant: Portraits on a Blustery Day
2004 Ontario Arts Council Production Grant: Portraits on a Blustery Day
2004 CBC/Innoversity Pitch Contest: Drama: Chinatown Cops
2004 CBC/Innoversity Pitch Contest: Best Overall Pitch: Chinatown Cops
2003 CIFVF Production Grant: Rose Coloured Glasses
2002 CIFVF Development Grant: Rose Coloured Glasses
2000 Nominated for Chalmers Documentarian Award: 18 Fragments
2000 Canada Council for the Arts Media Arts Development Grant: Seven Days
2000 Canada Council for the Arts Media Arts Travel Grant
1999 FAP Grant from the National Film Board of Canada: 18 Fragments
1999 V Tape Video Art Award: Best Emerging Video Artist (Toronto)
2021 Nominee (Best Animated Short) – 4 North A – Canadian Screen Awards
2020 Canada Council for the Arts – Creation Grant: Ratamacue (Children’s picture book)
2016 Nominee (Best Animated Short) – BAM - Canadian Screen Awards
2015 Best New Canadian Animation Programme – BAM - Toronto International Film Festival
2013 Juror – Reel Asian International Film Festival
2012 Panelist: Art Direction – Monterrey International Film Festival
2010 Artist-in-Residence at Taipei Artist Village
2007 Open Entries Grand Prix: Flutter – Tokyo International Anime Fair
2007 Best Short Film: Flutter – Fantasia International Film Festival (Montreal)
2010 Artist-in-Residence at Taipei Artist Village
2010 Canada Council for the Arts Media Arts Travel Grant
2008 Canada Council for the Arts Media Arts Travel Grant
2007 Jury Prize: Flutter – Yorkton Short Film & Video Festival
2007 2nd Place – Best Animation: Flutter – Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival
2006 2nd Place – Most Innovative Film: Portraits on a Blustery Day – Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival
2004 Canada Council for the Arts Creation Grant: Portraits on a Blustery Day
2004 Ontario Arts Council Production Grant: Portraits on a Blustery Day
2004 CBC/Innoversity Pitch Contest: Drama: Chinatown Cops
2004 CBC/Innoversity Pitch Contest: Best Overall Pitch: Chinatown Cops
2003 CIFVF Production Grant: Rose Coloured Glasses
2002 CIFVF Development Grant: Rose Coloured Glasses
2000 Nominated for Chalmers Documentarian Award: 18 Fragments
2000 Canada Council for the Arts Media Arts Development Grant: Seven Days
2000 Canada Council for the Arts Media Arts Travel Grant
1999 FAP Grant from the National Film Board of Canada: 18 Fragments
1999 V Tape Video Art Award: Best Emerging Video Artist (Toronto)
FILMOGRAPHY (Writer, Director, Designer, Producer)
2022-23 Space Cadet (feature): Lead Story Artist – Outsider Films
2021 Blue Eye Samurai (series): Storyboard – Netflix Animation
2021 4 North A (short film): Co-Director (w/ Jordan Canning), Storyboard, Designer – NFB
2020 Pegasus Code (PSA): Co-Director, Storyboard, Designer – Amnesty International
2017 Marco’s Oriental Noodles (short film): Writer/Director - CBC
2016 A Small Plot of Land – Donny McCaslin (music video) – Writer/Director -
2016 BAM (short film): Writer/Director – National Film Board of Canada
2013 Unnamed Tommy Lynch/Cartoon Network Pilot: Director – Cartoon Network, Fremantle Media
2014 Undisclosed Disney Legacy projects (2): Writer/Designer – Walt Disney Television Animation
2013 Yellow Sticky Notes: Canadian Anijam (segment): Writer/Director – Meditating Bunny Studios
2012-14 Disney First Look Contract for writing, design, directing new series
2012 Icarus (animated series): Executive Producer/Writer/Art Director/Director – Disney XD
2012 HOOD (animated series): Executive Producer/Writer/Art Director/Director – Disney XD
2012 LEO37: You & the Night (music video): Director – PPF House
2012 LEO37: Fanfare (music video): Director – PPF House
2011 Highrise: One Millionth Tower (interactive documentary): Animation Co-Director – NFB
* cover feature on Wired Magazine website; spotlight on Engadget.com; Premiered at Mozilla Fest
2011 Gravity Falls (animated pilot): Asst. Production Manager – House of Cool Animation/Disney
* Greenlit for 2013
2011 Samir Zarif: Keep the Faith (music video): Director/Writer/Animator – Mythology Record/Samir Zarif
2010 I Was the Child of Holocaust Survivors (animated short): Animation Co-Director – NFB
* Chosen by Toronto International Film Festival as one of 2010’s Top Ten Canadian Shorts
2010 Wish Wash (Dance Performance and Video Exhibition): Co-Director – Taipei Artist Village
2010 HOOD (animated pilot); Creative Producer/Writer/Art Director/Co-director - Disney XD
2009 Peggy Baker Four Phrases (animated short): Writer/Director/Editor/Animator – NFB
* commissioned by Canadian Governor Generals’ Awards (aka Canadian Pulitzer); premiered at Ottawa International Animation Festival
2008-11 Toronto Summerworks Theatre Festival (animated bumpers): Director/Animator – Toronto Summerworks
2009 Deru: Peanut Butter and Patience (music video): Writer/Director/Animator – Mush Records/Deru
* featured on Kanye West’s Blog
2009 Breakout! (tween doc series): Director of Animated Intro, Cutaways & Online content – 3rd Element Productions/CBC
2008 Chinatown Cops (aired animated pilot): Co-Writer/Co-Director/Art Director – Portfolio Entertainment/Teletoon
2007 Portraits on a Blustery Day (animated short): Director/Animator/Writer – PPF House
* winner of Real Asian International Film Festival Most Innovative Film award; featured at Taipei International Film Festival 2008; recipient of Canada Council for the Arts Creation Grant
2006 Flutter (animated short): Director/Writer/Animator/Composer – PPF House/NFB/Bravo!FACT
* Grand Prix winner of Tokyo International Anime Fair; Best Short (Fantasia Genre Film Fest)
2006 World Urban Forum III (commercial): Writer/Director/Animator – UN-Habitat/NFB
2004 Sometimes Things Go Wrong at the Lounge Supreme (Live Action Short): Director/Co-Writer – PPF House
2004 Ice Ages (animated short): Writer/Director/Animator/Composer – NFB
2000 18 Fragments: selected writings by and about Antonin Artaud (documentary): Writer/Director/Editor – PPF House
*nominated for Chalmers Documentarian Award; Winner of V Tape Video Art Award for Emerging Artists; featured at Lux Cinema International Video Exchange in London
2021 Blue Eye Samurai (series): Storyboard – Netflix Animation
2021 4 North A (short film): Co-Director (w/ Jordan Canning), Storyboard, Designer – NFB
2020 Pegasus Code (PSA): Co-Director, Storyboard, Designer – Amnesty International
2017 Marco’s Oriental Noodles (short film): Writer/Director - CBC
2016 A Small Plot of Land – Donny McCaslin (music video) – Writer/Director -
2016 BAM (short film): Writer/Director – National Film Board of Canada
2013 Unnamed Tommy Lynch/Cartoon Network Pilot: Director – Cartoon Network, Fremantle Media
2014 Undisclosed Disney Legacy projects (2): Writer/Designer – Walt Disney Television Animation
2013 Yellow Sticky Notes: Canadian Anijam (segment): Writer/Director – Meditating Bunny Studios
2012-14 Disney First Look Contract for writing, design, directing new series
2012 Icarus (animated series): Executive Producer/Writer/Art Director/Director – Disney XD
2012 HOOD (animated series): Executive Producer/Writer/Art Director/Director – Disney XD
2012 LEO37: You & the Night (music video): Director – PPF House
2012 LEO37: Fanfare (music video): Director – PPF House
2011 Highrise: One Millionth Tower (interactive documentary): Animation Co-Director – NFB
* cover feature on Wired Magazine website; spotlight on Engadget.com; Premiered at Mozilla Fest
2011 Gravity Falls (animated pilot): Asst. Production Manager – House of Cool Animation/Disney
* Greenlit for 2013
2011 Samir Zarif: Keep the Faith (music video): Director/Writer/Animator – Mythology Record/Samir Zarif
2010 I Was the Child of Holocaust Survivors (animated short): Animation Co-Director – NFB
* Chosen by Toronto International Film Festival as one of 2010’s Top Ten Canadian Shorts
2010 Wish Wash (Dance Performance and Video Exhibition): Co-Director – Taipei Artist Village
2010 HOOD (animated pilot); Creative Producer/Writer/Art Director/Co-director - Disney XD
2009 Peggy Baker Four Phrases (animated short): Writer/Director/Editor/Animator – NFB
* commissioned by Canadian Governor Generals’ Awards (aka Canadian Pulitzer); premiered at Ottawa International Animation Festival
2008-11 Toronto Summerworks Theatre Festival (animated bumpers): Director/Animator – Toronto Summerworks
2009 Deru: Peanut Butter and Patience (music video): Writer/Director/Animator – Mush Records/Deru
* featured on Kanye West’s Blog
2009 Breakout! (tween doc series): Director of Animated Intro, Cutaways & Online content – 3rd Element Productions/CBC
2008 Chinatown Cops (aired animated pilot): Co-Writer/Co-Director/Art Director – Portfolio Entertainment/Teletoon
2007 Portraits on a Blustery Day (animated short): Director/Animator/Writer – PPF House
* winner of Real Asian International Film Festival Most Innovative Film award; featured at Taipei International Film Festival 2008; recipient of Canada Council for the Arts Creation Grant
2006 Flutter (animated short): Director/Writer/Animator/Composer – PPF House/NFB/Bravo!FACT
* Grand Prix winner of Tokyo International Anime Fair; Best Short (Fantasia Genre Film Fest)
2006 World Urban Forum III (commercial): Writer/Director/Animator – UN-Habitat/NFB
2004 Sometimes Things Go Wrong at the Lounge Supreme (Live Action Short): Director/Co-Writer – PPF House
2004 Ice Ages (animated short): Writer/Director/Animator/Composer – NFB
2000 18 Fragments: selected writings by and about Antonin Artaud (documentary): Writer/Director/Editor – PPF House
*nominated for Chalmers Documentarian Award; Winner of V Tape Video Art Award for Emerging Artists; featured at Lux Cinema International Video Exchange in London
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS, BROADCASTS & PUBLICATIONS
2021 Toronto International Film Festival: 4 North A
2017 Brooklyn Academy of Music: Animation Block Party – Marco’s Oriental Noodles
2017 CBC – Keep Calm + Decolonize: Marco’s Oriental Noodles
2016 Filmfest Dresden: BAM
2015 Sommets du cinema d’animation (Montreal): BAM
2015 Reel Asian International Film Festival: BAM
2015 Toronto International Film Festival: BAM
2014 Bonbon Magazine: selected comics and illustration
2014 CAAMFest (San Francisco): You & the Nite
2013 Ottawa International Animation Festival: Yellow Sticky Notes: Canadian Anijam
2013 Animation Block Party (New York) – Yellow Sticky Notes: Canadian Anijam
2012 Reel Asian Film Festival (Toronto) – Flutter
2012 Summer Works Festival – Petrichor (with Kitchen Band Productions)
2010-12 Air Canada Onboard Broadcast – Flutter & Peggy Baker: Four Phrases
2011-12 HBO Canada Syndication Broadcast – Flutter
2010 Wish Wash – Performance and Exhibition (Taipei Artist Village)
2010 “Gods & Greens” – comic book published by Animator Made (Los Angeles)
2010 Festival International du Film sur l’Art: Peggy Baker Four Phrases
2009 Sheffield Documentary Festival: Peggy Baker Four Phrases
2009 Ottawa International Animation Festival: Peggy Baker Four Phrases
2009 Vancouver International Film Festival: Peggy Baker Four Phrases
2009 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Ceremony: Peggy Baker Four Phrases
2008 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (San Francisco): Flutter
2008 Teletoon Pilot Program (Canada): Chinatown Cops
2008 Telluride Film Festival (Telluride, Colorado): Flutter
2008 Sundance TV American Broadcast Premiere: Flutter
2007 Bravo TV Canadian Broadcast Premiere: Flutter
2007 Bumbershoot Arts Festival (Seattle): Flutter
2007 Asian Pacific International Film Festival (Washington DC): Portraits on a Blustery Day
2007 Taiwan International Animation Festival (Taipei): Flutter & Portraits on a Blustery Day
2007 Palm Springs International Short Film Festival: Flutter
2007 Asian American International Film Festival (New York): Flutter
2007 Fantasia International Film Festival (Montreal): Flutter
2007 Yorkton Short Film & Video Festival: Flutter
2007 Silverlake Film Festival (Los Angeles): Flutter
2007 Viewfinders International Film Festival For Youth (Halifax): Flutter
2007 MIP TV (Cannes): Flutter
2007 Canadian Animation Festival 8 Preview (Tokyo): Flutter
2007 Tokyo International Anime Fair: Flutter
2006 Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival: Portraits on a Blustery Day & Ice Ages
2006 UN-Habitat World Urban Forum III (Vancouver): UN-Habitat World Urban Forum III
2006 MIP TV (Cannes): UN-Habitat World Urban Forum III
2004 Toronto Distillery Jazz Festival: Lumina Series (film set to live music): Sometimes Things Go Wrong at the Lounge Supreme
2004 Hot House 2 (Montreal): Ice Ages
2002 Presto – comic published by PPF House
2002 Presto, Presto Showroom (Toronto): selected videos, prints and comics
2002 Summer Works Festival, Factory Theatre (Toronto): Ma Jolie (written by Alan Dilworth)
2002 Optic: Biosphere, Atlantis (Toronto): Cat and Rat (Tiger, Snake, Pig)
2002 Canadian Video Exchange, University of Egypt, (Cairo): Ideas for a City
2002 International Festival of Animated Objects, Glenbow Museum (Calgary): Grandma’s Big Day Out
2001 NextFest: Digital Motion Picture Festival, Broadway Theatre (Saskatoon): (secret private stuff)
2001 Video Primer: Personal Stories, Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto): Grandma’s Big Day Out
2001 rePLACE: Lan Escape, Art System (Toronto): Grandma’s Big Day Out
2001 Optic: Video Rave, The Warehouse (Toronto): Funk is a Four-Colour Word
2000 Minor Adjustments: UK/Canadian Video Exchange, LUX (London, England): Downcast Eyes
1999 Tranz-Tech: Toronto International Video Art Biennial, Latvian House: 18 Fragments...
1999 V tape Video Art Award Presentation Ceremony and Screening, V Tape (Toronto): Selected Videos
1999 Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery (Toronto): Stan Douglas: Win Place or Show, Der Sandmann, Nut•ka
1999 Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery (Toronto): Jessica Stockholder: First Cousin Once Removed or Cinema of Brushing Skin
1999 Images Festival (Toronto): Grandma’s Big Day Out
2017 Brooklyn Academy of Music: Animation Block Party – Marco’s Oriental Noodles
2017 CBC – Keep Calm + Decolonize: Marco’s Oriental Noodles
2016 Filmfest Dresden: BAM
2015 Sommets du cinema d’animation (Montreal): BAM
2015 Reel Asian International Film Festival: BAM
2015 Toronto International Film Festival: BAM
2014 Bonbon Magazine: selected comics and illustration
2014 CAAMFest (San Francisco): You & the Nite
2013 Ottawa International Animation Festival: Yellow Sticky Notes: Canadian Anijam
2013 Animation Block Party (New York) – Yellow Sticky Notes: Canadian Anijam
2012 Reel Asian Film Festival (Toronto) – Flutter
2012 Summer Works Festival – Petrichor (with Kitchen Band Productions)
2010-12 Air Canada Onboard Broadcast – Flutter & Peggy Baker: Four Phrases
2011-12 HBO Canada Syndication Broadcast – Flutter
2010 Wish Wash – Performance and Exhibition (Taipei Artist Village)
2010 “Gods & Greens” – comic book published by Animator Made (Los Angeles)
2010 Festival International du Film sur l’Art: Peggy Baker Four Phrases
2009 Sheffield Documentary Festival: Peggy Baker Four Phrases
2009 Ottawa International Animation Festival: Peggy Baker Four Phrases
2009 Vancouver International Film Festival: Peggy Baker Four Phrases
2009 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Ceremony: Peggy Baker Four Phrases
2008 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (San Francisco): Flutter
2008 Teletoon Pilot Program (Canada): Chinatown Cops
2008 Telluride Film Festival (Telluride, Colorado): Flutter
2008 Sundance TV American Broadcast Premiere: Flutter
2007 Bravo TV Canadian Broadcast Premiere: Flutter
2007 Bumbershoot Arts Festival (Seattle): Flutter
2007 Asian Pacific International Film Festival (Washington DC): Portraits on a Blustery Day
2007 Taiwan International Animation Festival (Taipei): Flutter & Portraits on a Blustery Day
2007 Palm Springs International Short Film Festival: Flutter
2007 Asian American International Film Festival (New York): Flutter
2007 Fantasia International Film Festival (Montreal): Flutter
2007 Yorkton Short Film & Video Festival: Flutter
2007 Silverlake Film Festival (Los Angeles): Flutter
2007 Viewfinders International Film Festival For Youth (Halifax): Flutter
2007 MIP TV (Cannes): Flutter
2007 Canadian Animation Festival 8 Preview (Tokyo): Flutter
2007 Tokyo International Anime Fair: Flutter
2006 Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival: Portraits on a Blustery Day & Ice Ages
2006 UN-Habitat World Urban Forum III (Vancouver): UN-Habitat World Urban Forum III
2006 MIP TV (Cannes): UN-Habitat World Urban Forum III
2004 Toronto Distillery Jazz Festival: Lumina Series (film set to live music): Sometimes Things Go Wrong at the Lounge Supreme
2004 Hot House 2 (Montreal): Ice Ages
2002 Presto – comic published by PPF House
2002 Presto, Presto Showroom (Toronto): selected videos, prints and comics
2002 Summer Works Festival, Factory Theatre (Toronto): Ma Jolie (written by Alan Dilworth)
2002 Optic: Biosphere, Atlantis (Toronto): Cat and Rat (Tiger, Snake, Pig)
2002 Canadian Video Exchange, University of Egypt, (Cairo): Ideas for a City
2002 International Festival of Animated Objects, Glenbow Museum (Calgary): Grandma’s Big Day Out
2001 NextFest: Digital Motion Picture Festival, Broadway Theatre (Saskatoon): (secret private stuff)
2001 Video Primer: Personal Stories, Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto): Grandma’s Big Day Out
2001 rePLACE: Lan Escape, Art System (Toronto): Grandma’s Big Day Out
2001 Optic: Video Rave, The Warehouse (Toronto): Funk is a Four-Colour Word
2000 Minor Adjustments: UK/Canadian Video Exchange, LUX (London, England): Downcast Eyes
1999 Tranz-Tech: Toronto International Video Art Biennial, Latvian House: 18 Fragments...
1999 V tape Video Art Award Presentation Ceremony and Screening, V Tape (Toronto): Selected Videos
1999 Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery (Toronto): Stan Douglas: Win Place or Show, Der Sandmann, Nut•ka
1999 Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery (Toronto): Jessica Stockholder: First Cousin Once Removed or Cinema of Brushing Skin
1999 Images Festival (Toronto): Grandma’s Big Day Out