IMDB Profile
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7138903/
His love for drawing began when he was a kid. He enjoyed expressing himself with his creative imagination through drawing tool and paper.
Nicholas Hong is a South Korean-born, Canadian Art Director and Visual Development Artist with 11+ years of experience across 2D and CG feature Animation, episodic television, preschool and commercial productions based in Toronto, Canada. A graduate of Sheridan College’s renowned Animation program (B.A., 2013), Nicholas has spent over a decade crafting concept art, location designs, color keys, and art direction for both television and feature animation. His work has contributed to projects for major studios including Disney Jr, Illumination Mac Guff, Cinesite, Netflix, Warner Brox, and Meta.
Before moving to Canada, Nicholas studied for five years at a private art academy in Seoul to prepare for enrollment in an art-focused high school. After relocating with his family, he faced the challenge of finding his path in a new country. Encouraged to apply to animation school, he persevered through multiple attempts before being accepted into Sheridan College. It was there, during his first year, that he discovered a deep passion for concept art in Animation.
Nicholas began his professional career in Vancouver, designing for clients such as Nickelodeon and DreamWorks TV for Netflix. In 2015, he was honored with a Mentorship Award from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Conference in Los Angeles. That same year, he also worked on a mural project for BC Children’s Hospital, an experience that deeply reinforced his belief in art's power to uplift and inspire.
In 2017, he moved to Montreal to work as a Visual Development Artist on Feature animation projects including Riverdance and Fearless at Cinesite. A year later, he co-founded Kooma Studio Inc., where he collaborated with an app developer to create an interactive game for preschoolers.
Since returning to Toronto in late 2019, Nicholas has taken on art direction roles for 2D Animated project and CG-animated projects while continuing to contribute as a freelance visual development artist, most notably on the feature film Paws of Fury, directed by one of the original directors of The Lion King.
Since 2020, he started to build his carrer as an Art Director, establishing show style, production design, colour language, making design standards and maintain consistency while leading and mentoring artists throughout production.
At Pipeline Studios, I served as Art Director on Alma's Way for PBS Kids and Fred Rogers Productions. I collaborated closely with Series Directors, led designers and background artists, participated in artist recruitment and interviews, and was invited to NYC to participate in director-level client meetings and Bronx location scout to help establish authentic visual references and environments for the series as the showrunner from Sesame Street requested.
At Fresh TV Studio, working on Lucas the Spider as Art director, I worked with the remote designers and CG artists to meet the standard as the original look done by the Former Pixar Animator on Youtube Shorts.
At Guru studio, managed to do colour keys to match the established show style for each episode and provided paint-overs and creative reviews for the remote BG artists and met the tight production deadline.
In 2023-2024, At House of Cool, he led the design team on Disney Jr.'s Rise Up, Sing Out 2, providing Art direction package for the internal team and external Animation and FX team overseas, collaborating with director and production teams, and participating in the recruitment and interview process for artists.
Nicholas values every opportunity to bring joy and warmth through visual storytelling. Whether for children or audiences of all ages, he is passionate about creating artwork that carries emotion, positivity, and a sense of wonder.
Awards
2015 Summer LA Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrator Mentorship Award
