CHRIS COLMAN
I’ve been making animation for TV, commercials, and feature films for more than 15 years, working with start-ups, major studios, and everything in between.
After graduating in Character Animation from Central St Martins in 2011, I moved to Shanghai, where I played my part in the explosive growth of the Chinese animation industry. Along the way, I worked with DreamWorks and dozens of the world’s biggest brands, ran a production company, and won an array of industry awards for craft and creativity.
Alongside telling stories and making films, I’m passionate about supporting young people in their creative development by giving them access to educational opportunities that I’d love to have had. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed passing on knowledge to thousands of students at dozens of art schools, universities, and high schools in Asia and Europe. My mission is to guide young and not-so-young people towards telling stories that make a difference for people and the planet.
A few of the schools where I’ve taught:
SCHOOLS & International Schools
Green School Bali
Dulwich College Suzhou
Beijing Huijia Private School Beijing
HD Beijing School Beijing
RGS Guildford Nanjing
Wycombe Abbey School (WASNJ) Nanjing
Canadian International School Hefei
Wenzhou Foreign Language School Wenzhou
Tianjin Guanghua Cambridge International School Tianjin
Thomas School Jinan
Kang Chiao International School East China Kunshan
Shanghai United International School Hefei
Universities & ART SCHOOLS
Central St Martins, University of the Arts London
GOBELINS Paris
Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) Beijing
Beijing Film Academy Beijing
Beijing Technology and Business University Beijing
Shandong University of the Arts Jinan
Soochow University Suzhou
Southwestern University Chengdu
Shanghai Institute of Visual Art (SIVA) Shanghai
Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology
Northwest University Xi’An
In 2025, dismayed and angered by the growing rates of eco-anxiety and apathy fuelled by dominant doom narratives - yet energised by the largely untapped potential in impactful storytelling - I co-created Animated For Impact.
AFI is a series of education programmes teaching young people the power of storytelling - using animation, games, and digital media - to reimagine their relationship with nature, transform their outlook on the future, and discover the agency to act.
We’re official education partners with The Alliance for Sustainable Schools (TASS) and have delivered programmes at London Climate Action Week, Bangkok Climate Action Week and Green School Bali, among others.
Animated For Impact will be touring its latest programme “The Undoomables” around Asia in the 2026/27 academic year. Find out more here.
“Animated for Impact led a whole Upper School session at Green School, and they did an amazing job connecting with our young people about why storytelling is a powerful way to move us to respond to climate and biodiversity breakdown… Great job, and thank you!”
— Benjamin Freud
Head of Upper School & Strategic Lead,
Regenerative Education
Green School Bali
“Chris’ lecture created a bridge for students to engage with the animation industry. As a seasoned master in the field, he drew on his personal journey and representative works to guide the session, explaining the core challenges of animation creation, introducing fundamental industry knowledge, and skilfully inspiring students to reflect deeply on their own growth. The entire lecture was both educational and enjoyable, and it was widely praised.”
— Zhang Renjie
Deputy Principal, International Division
Wenzhou Foreign Language School
“Chris delivered an insightful lecture on the animation industry, showcasing several high-profile projects he has worked on. His professionalism and inspiring approach left a lasting impression on our students.”
— Shaun Clark
Course Leader, MA Character Animation
Central St Martins, University of the Arts London
“Chris came to CAFA to give a lecture with his ‘ita-bag’ full of sparkling ideas, witty animations, precious experiences and a lot of passion. Our students all enjoyed it and left inspired.”
— Qi
Associate Professor
Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), Beijing
Besides Animated For Impact, I develop bespoke professional workshops and masterclasses for charities, conferences, and cultural organisations.
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RAN is currently collaborating with UK charity and media production studio On the Edge. Working on the ground in Flores, Indonesia with fishing communities over more than a year, we’re training and mentoring a cohort of local young storytellers in storytelling and content creation skills.
Partnering with marine conservation NGO Thresher Shark Indonesia, starting with a comprehensive workshop and continuing with ongoing professional guidance and content co-creation, the project seeks to unleash participants’ creativity and bring their stories to life through film and animation, with the ultimate goal of shining a light on endangered mobula rays, and tackling unsustainable fishing practices by steering fishers to alternative methods and livelihoods.
ON THE EDGE - INDONESIA
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We created and facilitated a professional masterclass in collaboration with VOGUE China for creatives, directors and producers at one of Asia’s leading advertising industry festivals, ADFEST in Thailand. The masterclass introduced participants to the concept of CG metahumans, provided cutting-edge case studies, and supported them as they created their own virtual avatar and metaverse application.
ADFEST - THAILAND
I have produced world-class content for the world’s biggest brands, collaborating with industry leading directors, agencies and production companies like DreamWorks and Final Frontier on projects spanning all kinds of digital media and applications.
Airbnb - Fù
3D Animation
Coca Cola - CNY 2022
Game, Social, Mobile
Adidas - Love Unites
Film
Lego - May the 4th be with you
AR, Mobile
BMW - Bilibili Launch FiIm
Mixed Media Animation
Nike - Sneaker Slam
Interactive
I’m currently the creative director at RAN, an impact storytelling studio driven by a love of nature.
We are creatives and producers with over two decades of combined experience crafting films, animations, games, and digital campaigns for world-leading brands. We now put those skills to work for people and the planet’s future.
The biodiversity and climate crises are the most urgent challenges humanity has ever faced as a species, yet how they're being communicated, whether via abstract science facts or doom narratives, is causing many people to disengage. We believe the missing ingredient is better storytelling. Story makes people engage, care, and act.
As David Attenborough puts it: "Saving our planet is now a communications challenge."
RAN exists to answer that call.
“I worked closely with Chris and Yanyie on some groundbreaking projects in China that were only able to succeed due to their professional nature and their high level of aptitude for navigating complex commercial and social relationships. Not only are they are proficient at any project they do, but they are also lovely people. It’s always an absolute pleasure to work with them.”
— Ray Fu, Creative Producer
Vice / Airbnb / Vogue
