Jeff Chiba Stearns
Encyclopedia
Jeff Chiba Stearns is a Canadian
independent animation and documentary filmmaker who works in traditional and computer-based techniques.
, British Columbia
, of Japanese and European heritage. After graduating from the Emily Carr Institute with a Bachelor of Media Arts majoring in Film Animation, he went on to obtain a Bachelor of Education from University of British Columbia
.
and formally in Kelowna
.
His short animated films, The Horror of Kindergarten (2001) and Kip and Kyle (2000) were screened at film festivals and were bought and aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
(CBC) for their show ZeD
. His 2005 autobiographical animated short, What Are You Anyway? was created on a pre-license fee from the CBC and explores issues of growing up half-Japanese and half-Caucasian in a small Canadian town. It has screened at over 40 international film festivals, and won the award for Best Animated Short Subject at the Canadian Awards for the Electronic & Animated Arts.
Chiba Stearns also writes and lectures about Hapa
and mixed-race identity, cultural awareness, and the animation process. He coined the term "Hapanimation" to describe his unique blend of North American and Japanese animation styles.
His 2007 animated short film, Yellow Sticky Notes, won the Prix du Public at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival and Best Animated Short Film at the Calgary International Film Festival
. It was animated with just a black pen on over 2,300 sticky note
s, and is a reflection on the filmmaker's tendency to become overwhelmed with "to do" lists made up of yellow sticky notes. The film has screened in over 80 International Film Festivals and won 10 awards. After the film's international premiere at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, Yellow Sticky Notes, became one of the first films acquired by YouTube's Screening Room.
Chiba Stearns’s latest film, One Big Hapa Family
, released Fall 2011, is an animated feature-length documentary that explores the lives of children of all ages from interracial marriages and how they perceive their mixed-race identities at a young age. The documentary begins after a realization that Chiba Stearns has at a family reunion which sets him on a journey of self-discovery to find out why everyone in his Japanese-Canadian family married inter-racially after his grandparents’ generation. The film has since gone on to screen at over 20 film festivals and win 6 awards. One Big Hapa Family
has also screened at many North American universities including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and UC Berkeley.
On top of filmmaking, Chiba Stearns's animation studio, Meditating Bunny Studio Inc., has created commercials and viral videos for clients such as 3M, Generali, and Sharpie. In 2010, his short animated film, Ode to a Post-it Note, won the Webby Award for Best Branded Entertainment at the 15th Annual Webby Awards. The film was commissioned by 3M Canada to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Post-it Note and features Post-it Note inventor, Art Fry.
Chiba Stearns is also a past college animation instructor and the past Vice President of the Okanagan International Film Festival.
On May 1, 2010, he received the annual Emily Award, honoring outstanding achievements by an alumni, during the Convocation of Grad 2010 at the Chann Centre (UBC). On March 26, 2011 he was also awarded the Cultural Pioneer Award presented by Harvard HAPA.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
independent animation and documentary filmmaker who works in traditional and computer-based techniques.
Biography
Chiba Stearns was born in KelownaKelowna
Kelowna is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley, in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its name derives from a Okanagan language term for "grizzly bear"...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, of Japanese and European heritage. After graduating from the Emily Carr Institute with a Bachelor of Media Arts majoring in Film Animation, he went on to obtain a Bachelor of Education from University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...
.
Filmmaking
In 2001, Chiba Stearns founded Meditating Bunny Studio Inc., now based in VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and formally in Kelowna
Kelowna
Kelowna is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley, in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its name derives from a Okanagan language term for "grizzly bear"...
.
His short animated films, The Horror of Kindergarten (2001) and Kip and Kyle (2000) were screened at film festivals and were bought and aired by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
(CBC) for their show ZeD
ZeD
ZeD is a Canadian variety television program and website. The series premiered on CBC Television in March 2002 and ran to 2006. Hosted primarily by Sharon Lewis and Ziya Tong, ZeD publicized creative works from Canada and other countries, including a substantial portion of material created by...
. His 2005 autobiographical animated short, What Are You Anyway? was created on a pre-license fee from the CBC and explores issues of growing up half-Japanese and half-Caucasian in a small Canadian town. It has screened at over 40 international film festivals, and won the award for Best Animated Short Subject at the Canadian Awards for the Electronic & Animated Arts.
Chiba Stearns also writes and lectures about Hapa
Hapa
Hapa is a Hawaiian language term used to describe a person of mixed Asian or Pacific Islander racial or ethnic heritage.-Etymology:In the Hawaiian language, hapa is defined as: portion, fragment, part, fraction, installment; to be partial, less. It is a loan from the English word half...
and mixed-race identity, cultural awareness, and the animation process. He coined the term "Hapanimation" to describe his unique blend of North American and Japanese animation styles.
His 2007 animated short film, Yellow Sticky Notes, won the Prix du Public at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival and Best Animated Short Film at the Calgary International Film Festival
Calgary International Film Festival
The Calgary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for ten days in late September and early October...
. It was animated with just a black pen on over 2,300 sticky note
Post-it note
A Post-it note is a piece of stationery with a re-adherable strip of adhesive on the back, designed for temporarily attaching notes to documents and other surfaces. Although now available in a wide range of colours, shapes, and sizes, Post-it notes are most commonly a square, canary yellow in colour...
s, and is a reflection on the filmmaker's tendency to become overwhelmed with "to do" lists made up of yellow sticky notes. The film has screened in over 80 International Film Festivals and won 10 awards. After the film's international premiere at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, Yellow Sticky Notes, became one of the first films acquired by YouTube's Screening Room.
Chiba Stearns’s latest film, One Big Hapa Family
One Big Hapa Family
One Big Hapa Family is an animated/live-action feature-length documentary directed by Canadian director Jeff Chiba Stearns. The documentary explores aspects that influence most Japanese-Canadians to marry inter-racially and how the mixed Japanese generation perceives its multiracial...
, released Fall 2011, is an animated feature-length documentary that explores the lives of children of all ages from interracial marriages and how they perceive their mixed-race identities at a young age. The documentary begins after a realization that Chiba Stearns has at a family reunion which sets him on a journey of self-discovery to find out why everyone in his Japanese-Canadian family married inter-racially after his grandparents’ generation. The film has since gone on to screen at over 20 film festivals and win 6 awards. One Big Hapa Family
One Big Hapa Family
One Big Hapa Family is an animated/live-action feature-length documentary directed by Canadian director Jeff Chiba Stearns. The documentary explores aspects that influence most Japanese-Canadians to marry inter-racially and how the mixed Japanese generation perceives its multiracial...
has also screened at many North American universities including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and UC Berkeley.
On top of filmmaking, Chiba Stearns's animation studio, Meditating Bunny Studio Inc., has created commercials and viral videos for clients such as 3M, Generali, and Sharpie. In 2010, his short animated film, Ode to a Post-it Note, won the Webby Award for Best Branded Entertainment at the 15th Annual Webby Awards. The film was commissioned by 3M Canada to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Post-it Note and features Post-it Note inventor, Art Fry.
Chiba Stearns is also a past college animation instructor and the past Vice President of the Okanagan International Film Festival.
On May 1, 2010, he received the annual Emily Award, honoring outstanding achievements by an alumni, during the Convocation of Grad 2010 at the Chann Centre (UBC). On March 26, 2011 he was also awarded the Cultural Pioneer Award presented by Harvard HAPA.
Filmography
- One Big Hapa FamilyOne Big Hapa FamilyOne Big Hapa Family is an animated/live-action feature-length documentary directed by Canadian director Jeff Chiba Stearns. The documentary explores aspects that influence most Japanese-Canadians to marry inter-racially and how the mixed Japanese generation perceives its multiracial...
(2010) - Ode to a Post-it Note (2010)
- Yellow Sticky Notes (2007)
- “What Are You Anyways?” (2005)
- The horror of Kindergarten (2001)
- Kip & Kyle (2000)