Mano Animation Studios is Pakistan’s first hand-drawn animation studio.
Co-Founded by Usman Riaz, the studio, based in Pakistan, employs a select group of talented artists and creatives working to produce their first feature film, ‘The Glassworker’.
The Mano team has built a collaboration network that extends to Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan, Peru, Argentina, Spain, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
core Team
Usman Riaz
DIRECTOR
Usman Riaz is a film director, scriptwriter, animator, and composer born in Pakistan.
At 21, he was selected as a TED Fellow in 2012, speaking and performing at TED Global 2012. He was chosen as a TED Senior Fellow in 2013 and has spoken at TED and TEDx Conferences in Japan, India, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Turkey, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Usman received a full scholarship to study Composition at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, United States. Before that, he studied Graphic Design at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in Karachi.
A prolific artist, Usman wrote the original story and drew the entire storyboard and animatic for the ‘The Glassworker’ himself.
Manuel Cristobal
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Manuel Cristobal has produced eleven films, eight of them in animation. He is a two-time winner of the Jury Award at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival with "Wrinkles" (Ignacio Ferreras, 2012) and "Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles" (Salvador Simó, 2019). Manuel is also a five-time winner of the Spanish Film Academy Goya award, winner of the European Film Academy EFA Award, and the Platino Award - all in the Best Animated Film category.
He was also the Executive Producer of the film Another Day of Life (Raúl de la Fuente, Damian Nenow, 2018), which went on to win the EFA award and premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
He also created the “Madrid For The Oscars” scheme that supported the Oscar-winning short film “The Windshield Wiper” by Madrid artist Alberto Mielgo.
Mariam Riaz Paracha
ART DIRECTOR, ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
Mariam is a Pakistani-American artist and production designer.
She studied Design at Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture and did her MA in Theatre and Art Education from Emerson College, Boston.
She is the Co-founder of Spoken Stage, an organization that promotes freedom of expression through art, performance, and writing in Pakistan.
In 2015, she started Mano Animation Studios with Usman Riaz and Khizer Riaz. She is the art director for the feature hand-drawn animated film ‘The Glassworker’ and helped create the locations and environments in the film. She assists in the production and direction for the film.
Khizer Riaz
PRODUCER, LINE PRODUCER
Khizer Riaz is a film producer and entrepreneur from Pakistan. He studied business at King's College London.
After working in banking in London, Khizer moved to his native Karachi to pursue a career as an entrepreneur, which led him to start Mano Animation Studios with Usman Riaz and Mariam Paracha in order to produce animated films for the international market.
Khizer is the CEO of Mano Animation Studios and Producer of the feature hand-drawn animated film ‘The Glassworker’. He has been an integral part of the film's journey from Kickstarter to date and currently heads Producer and Line Producer, all organizational and production teams.
Aamir Riffat
ANIMATION DIRECTOR
Aamir is a Communication Design graduate from Indus Valley School of Art of Architecture, Pakistan. Aamir was Associate Art Director at Ogilvy & Mather Pakistan.
He is the Co-Founder of Aarrff Animation, creating animated content for YouTube personalities PewDiePie & Marzia.
As Animation Director at Mano Animation Studios Aamir supervises the animation team and production.
Sofia Abdullah
HEAD OF CHARACTER DESIGN
Sofia graduated from The One Academy of Communication Design Malaysia, majoring in Advertising Design. Sofia was also a senior Background Artist at Animasia Studios Malaysia.
She is the Co-Founder of Aarrff Animation, creating animated content for Youtube personalities PewDiePie & Marzia.
At Mano Animation Studios, Sofia supervises character design and production.