Founder, creative director
Assaf Zellner
אסף צלנרAssaf Zellner, 45, is the founder and creative director of Studio Animedia. His road actually began in music. After studying sound engineering and acoustics he opened a post production studio and wrote music and sound for cinema, theatre, events and commercials.
But working alongside animators stirred a wish to tell stories through the image as well. He went on to study animation, drawing, character design, storyboard, concept, directing and editing, and graduated with honours.
He then worked with the leading studios in the country, rose to lead animator and creative director, and ran projects for advertising agencies, television channels and large companies. Close to two decades ago he founded Animedia, out of a belief that every story deserves a visual language of its own.
Since then he has directed and led productions combining animation, film, 3D, design, music and sound. His work has appeared in commercials, in series and in feature productions, among them award winning pieces and films that reached an Academy Award nomination.
Today Assaf combines the experience he has gathered with AI tools, seeing them as an extension of the creative toolbox, not a substitute for the idea, the taste, or the director who ties all the parts into one piece.
For him, good directing starts with listening: to the person behind the project, to the story they want to tell, and to the feeling they want to leave with the audience.
