Thaw Naing
I’m a production designer, concept artist, and background painter/mattepainter in the animation and film industry. Would love to make my own films - soon! Check Quick Tour for highlights, Work Experience below for details.
Reach me at studiothaw@gmail.com | Timezone is Sydney, Australia
I travel as much as I can, if you would like to meet in person, let’s meet up at one of the events below!
Annecy Festival 2024 June 09-15 in Annecy, France
Lightbox Expo 2024 Oct 25-27 Pasadena, Los Angeles, U.S.
THU Storytelling 2025 Sept 17-20 Kaga City, Japan
Tokyo Game Show 2025 Sept 25-28 Makuhari Messe, Chibi, Tokyo, Japan
TENTATIVE Lightbox Expo 2025 Oct 24-26 Pasadena, Los Angeles, U.S.
TENTATIVE Annecy Festival 2026 Annecy, France
WORK HISTORY
Companies
Affiliates / Clients
ANIMATION FEATURE
The Legend of Aang: The Last Air Bender (release Oct 2026) - snr Background Paint
ANIMATION LONG FORM
Tales from Outer Suburbia S1 (release 2025-2026) - Production Design at Flying Bark Productions
Badjelly the Witch S1 - early visual development, colourscripts, test backgrounds, test storyboards. Mukpuddy, Mercury Filmworks, Sphere, Wildbrain.
Tales of Nai Nai S1 - co-Art Direction, Visual Development, Background Paint.
Colourscripts, Visual Development, Background Paint for: Quimbo S1, Tumeke Space S1, The Drawing Show S1-3, Dead Sea Squirrels S1, Night Eyes Season S1
Background Paint for : The Barefoot Bandits Season S3, Jandal Burn S2, Inutai S1, Taohi Gods S1, Pipi Ma S2-4
LIVE ACTION FEATURE
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) - Design Characters/Props
Captain Marvel (2019) - Design Environment/Props
Shadow in the Cloud (2021) - Stylized Mattepainting
Ghost in the Shell (2017)- Very early designs
Mortal Engines (2018) - Very early designs (previous iteration)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) - Concept Design, Prop Design
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) - Concept Design, Prop Design
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - Concept Design, Prop Design, Storyboard
ANIMATION SHORT FORM
Plague Seeker - Background Layout for Sakowski Studios
Defister - Concept Art, Background Design/Paint for Sakowski Studios
Godhand - Concept Art, Background Design/Paint for Sakowski Studios
LIVE ACTION SHORT / LIMITED
Judgment Tavern (2016) - Concept Art Environment/Character/Costume. Sydney Film Festival, New Zealand International Film Festival, IFF Pacific Meridian (Russia), A&K Film Fest (Prague).
Disney Tomorrowland Experience Pitch - Storyboards
Advertisements for New Zealand Tourism - Storyboards
VIDEO GAMES AND MOBILE APPS
Tomo (unreleased) - Key Art , Character Designs
The Conqueror: Disney Star Wars experience - Art Director, Illustrator
The Conqueror: Warner Brothers Harry Potter experience - Concept Design
ILLUSTRATION / PUBLISHING
Collaborated with Dan Fleming and published Making the Transformational Moment in Film: Unleashing the Power of the Image (with the films of Vincent Ward) for Michael Wiese Productions. Short-listed for the Kraszna-Krausz book awards.
Illustrations for educational school journals, tradebooks, graphic novels, digital teaching resources by Learning Media Ltd (NZ), Scholastic Ltd (NZ), Macmillian Publishers (AUS/NZ), McGraw Hill Education (AUS), Huia Publishers (NZ), Lift Education (NZ)
EDUCATOR & CURRICULUM DESIGN
Head of Department - Animation College / Yoobee Colleges (Bachelors of Animation programme)
Senior Lecturer - Animation College / Yoobee Colleges (Bachelors of Animation programme)
EDUCATION
FORMAL EDUCATION
Bachelors of Design, Massey University, Wellington
ONLINE EDUCATION
Mattepainting / Set Extension with Disney Set Extension Supervisor Eric Bouffard
Visual Development with Dreamworks Art Director / Sony Vis Dev Artist Zac Retz