An award-winning director, writer, designer, animation director, and character animator was born in communist Czechoslovakia, nurtured in inclusive Canada, and matured in the innovative San Francisco and the melting pot of Brooklyn. Fluent in several languages, cultures, and various visual media and art forms. She developed her storytelling skills by creating original short films such as PASSERS BY or THE FIRST POLITICAL SPEECH and animating and directing on the ground-breaking TV shows REBOOT and BEAST WARS, TRANSFORMERS for Mainframe Entertainment. Misha was a Lead Animator at George Lucas’s company Industrial Light & Magic, contributing to films like GREEN MILE, SMALL SOLDIERS, or JACK FROST.
Her creativity led her to multimedia performance-based collaborations, such as PIED PIPER by the American Ballet Theater with David Parsons at the Metropolitan Opera House, ReCREATE for the NYU Skirball Performance Center, or FINN by Mabou Mines. For many years, she worked closely with medical experts and wrote and directed about 30 episodes for an educational series, KIDNEY CLIPS by the National Kidney Foundation.
She’s recently expanded into XR storytelling with a choose-your-own-story voice-controlled virtual reality experience, ALL IS RELATIVE.
Misha is a professor at Pratt Institute and a former professor at NYU-CADA, with two decades of experience.
FULL RESUME
director, writer, producer, designer, animator, educator
PERFORMING ARTS
ALL IS RELATIVE, written, directed, designed by; choose-your-own-story voice-controlled virtual reality experience/installation, in post-production, New York, 2025
ATTAR, written, directed, designed by; hybrid media performance, in development, 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; created during the NYU Bauhaus workshop in collaboration with sculptor Anna Chromy, Paris, France, 2005
J.S. BACH: ART OF FUGUE, animation/designed by; large-scale projections for live performances, in collaboration with Envisions Center at Purdue University for New Century Saxophone Quartet, US and EU tour, 2003-05
ReCREATE, written, directed by, designed by, co-choreographed, multi-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, multi-media performance in collaboration with David Parsons, art residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Florida, 2003
PIED PIPER, animation/VFX directing and design, set designed by, ballet adaptation of J. Corigliano’s Pied Piper, Misha Films for American Ballet Theater at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, 2001
FILM/TV directing, writing, design
NATIONAL KIDNEY FOUNDATION, KIDNEY CLIPS, written, directed by; educational series for patients and doctors on various kidney-related diseases, 20 episodes, worldwide distribution in 10 languages, 2020-23
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 sequence for TV Station Nova in co-production with GIA studio, Prague, Czech Republic and Paris, France, 1994
VERTIGO, designed, directed and animated by, opening sequence 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 the 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 Character Animator, New York, 2006
INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC, Lucas Digital Ltd., Lead Character Animator on VFX for feature films, San Rafael, CA, 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 Character 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 Character 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 for the B.F.A. and M.F.A. programs, NY,2018-current
NYU - ITP, Final thesis presentation review panel for Virtual Reality Immersion class, NY, 2016-19
NYU, Center for Advanced Digital Applications, Clinical Professor at the Master’s degree program, 2002-16
PURDUE UNIVERSITY, Visiting professor, Indiana, 2002
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 and 1997
EDUCATION
USC/FAMU - Robert McKee: Storytelling and Script Writing, by Bobette Buster, 1997
CVUT, FACULTY OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, CVUT - Department of Cybernetics, Prague 1986-1990
NATIONAL SCHOOL OF ARTS, visual fine arts, 1982-1986
YOUNG ACTORS ASSEMBLY - Actors Studio, Czech Republic, 1978-1982
AWARDS
ALL IS RELATIVE
New York State Council on the Arts, individual artist award, 2024
ATTAR
New York State Council on the Arts, individual artist award, 2015
ATLANTIC CENTER FOR THE ARTS residency, 2003
BEAST WARS, Transformers
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE, Innovation Collection Award, 1998
DONG-A International Festival of Comics and Animation, 1998
WORLDFEST Houston, Gold Award for Animation, 1998
REBOOT
ALLIANCE FOR CHILDREN & TELEVISION, Best Animated Program
GEMINI AWARD, Best Animated Program or Series
WORLDFEST Houston, Bronze Award for Animation
COLUMBUS International Film & Video Festival, Honorable Mention
ALLIANCE FOR FILM & TELEVISION, Award of Excellence Nominee
IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions, Best Entertainment Product
GEMINI AWARD, Best Animated Program or Series
FIRST POLITICAL SPEECH
EUROGRAPHICS: The Best Student Art Film Award