Mano Animation Studios is Pakistan's first hand-drawn animation studio, based in Karachi. The studio is run by its three partners, Founder Usman Riaz, Co Founder Mariam Paracha and CEO Khizer Riaz.
The studio gained recognition for its ambitious debut project, "The Glassworker," which will world premiere at Annecy International Film Festival in June 2024. The studio's mission is to reinvigorate traditional animation techniques while fostering local talent.
The studio aims to have a seat at the table in the film and animation world and hopes to continue telling South Asian stories through its own unique perspective. The studio has offices in LA and Karachi.
core Team
Usman Riaz
CO-FOUNDER
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
CO-FOUNDER
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
CEO
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 all organisation and production teams at the company.