2025 | CG Short Film
A whimsical world with a reverent emotional core.
Bound is a CG animated short film about Turnip, a forgotten imaginary friend who longs for someone to stay.
When Oliver, a runaway child, stumbles into his world, their friendship fills the enchanted Knot Woods with laughter and adventure. But the woods have their own magic, and the longer Oliver stays, the more he begins to change. Turnip must face a painful truth and learn that the depth of a friendship is not tied to its length.
BOUND
Production overview
-
Bound adopts a handmade, stop-motion-inspired aesthetic while remaining fully CG. The entire film was build using a fully procedural, node-based workflow, allowing both characters and environments to evolve iteratively without breaking visual continuity.
A defining technical choice was the use of procedural character materials that shift every five frames to create thumbprint surface variation. This approach gives the characters an imperfect, tactile quality that echoes stop-motion.
The environment of Knot Woods was designed to feel warm, playful, and completely hand-crafted. Pumpkin motifs appear throughout the forest, hinting at it’s darker history and foreshadowing Oliver’s eventual transformation.
-
Bound features motion capture performances by Cassidy Kemp-Woffenden and Molly MacAlister, captured at the Miramar Creative Centre.
I directed all motion capture sessions, guiding performers through story beats and emotional intent while encouraging a playful, childlike physicality to match the film’s tone. Sessions were intentionally exploratory, allowing performances to feel spontaneous and expressive.
V-Cam technology enabled real-time shot discovery and camera blocking. Performances were later refined through motion editing to support the film’s stylized movement and pacing.
-
Bound was produced as a Master’s capstone project between August 2024 and February 2025, spanning pre-production through final delivery.
The team worked across Houdini FX, Motive, Nuke, Pro Tools, and DaVinci Resolve.
I led the production as primary producer, managing budget, scheduling, scope, and coordination, while also working hands-on as a CG Generalist. This dual role allowed me to make informed production decisions grounded in the realities of the pipeline.
-
MASON GARNER - Creative Director, Character Designer, Co-Writer
NADIA KOOLINA - Producer, Performance Director, Co-Writer, Camera & Editorial
LUCY ALLEN - Surfacing & Lighting Artist
RAY XIE - FX Artist, Compositor
EUNIE HWANG - Motion Graphics & Story Artist
JOEL COOPER - Composer
CALEB O’HALLORAN - Sound Designer
Who is DozeFace?
DozeFace is a NZ-based Animation Lab founded in 2025 that creates animated bedtime experiences for adults who want to slow down.
We use story, sound, and atmosphere to help the day end gently.
Why Bedtime Stories?
More than entertainment, bedtime stories are rituals of emotional caregiving.To be told a bedtime story is to feel noticed, guided, and accompanied into the night.
We believe that in today’s reckless attention economy, mindful media is needed now more than ever.
-
We create emotionally intelligent visuals and soundscapes that gently shepherd viewers away from digital noise and toward rest.
Not to induce sleep, but to prepare the restless mind to welcome it.
-
Our name pays tribute to the universal, often comical moment when our faces betray our surrender to rest. Sometimes unsightly, sometimes adorable, always human.
We prioritize and embrace emotional authenticity; we’re not just in the business of sleep, we’re in the business of what it means to be human in our most unguarded moments.
-
I am the co-founder and producer of DozeFace, where I lead the studio’s creative direction, production strategy, and long-term vision. My role sits at the intersection of storytelling and systems: shaping what we make, how we make it, and how we care for the people making it. I oversee development, scheduling, resourcing, and collaboration, ensuring that each project balances emotional intent with practical, sustainable production.
Alongside my producing work, I contribute as a writer and technical artist, supporting story development, layout, lighting, sound, and pipeline decisions where helpful. This hands-on involvement allows me to anticipate creative and technical needs early, communicate clearly across disciplines, and ground production decisions in an understanding of craft. While production leadership is my primary focus, these skills help me stay closely connected to the work itself and to the artists bringing it to life.
Animated Web Series | 2023-2025
BuzzFeed
The Animation Lab is a vibrant content space at BuzzFeed focused on animation - a place for humor, art, crazy ideas and motivated people.
I served as a Production Manager for award-winning shows including Weird Helga, The Good Advice Cupcake, Chikn Nuggit, and The Land of Boggs.
For more work, please contact for résumé.