• Art + Design

Jason Donati

Teaching Professor

Jason is an award-winning animator, cinematographer, and his personal animated films have been showcased internationally at Festivals and conferences including SIGGRAPH (Los Angeles, New Orleans, USA), Ani Mundi (Rio De Janeiro, Brazil), Seoul Film Festival (Seoul, Korea) and ASIFA East (NYC, USA). Donati is also a long-time member of ACM/SIGGRAPH as well as the Association Internationale du Film Animation (ASIFA East).

In 2007, Donati published his book, Exploring Digital Cinematography: An Introduction to the Essential Concepts and Technologies of Digital Cinematography, with Cengage Learning.

Jason has an M.F.A. from Rochester Institute of Technology and a B.F.A. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Education

  • M.F.A. from Rochester Institute of Technology
  • B.F.A. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst

Awards

  • First Place, Rhode Island International Film Festival (Providence Film Festival Award), 2008 (Judge: George T. Marshall)
  • First Place, MIMC Awards (Massachusetts Interactive Media Council), 2003 (Judge: Peter O'Neil)
  • First Place, New York State Student Film and Video Festival (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers), 2000 (Judge: Art Cosgrove)
  • First Place, Motion Art Festival (Best Student Animation), 1999 (Judge: Frank Arundel)
  • First Place, New York State Student Film and Video Festival (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers), 1999 (Judge: Art Cosgrove)
  • Scholarship Winner, Rhythm & Hues Studios Inc. (Cinematography), 1999 (Judge: Pauline Tso)
  • Scholarship Winner, The Erik Timmerman Award (Animation), 1998 (Judge: Howard Lester)
  • Scholarship Winner, The Foundations Award (Animation), 1997 (Judge: Patricia Galvis-Assmus)
  • First Honorable Mention, ASIFA-East Animated Film Festival (Student Film), 1999 (Judge: David levy)
  • Second Honorable Mention, ASIFA-East Animated Film Festival (Student Film), 2000 (Judge: David levy)
  • Selected, SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival (Animation Theater), 2000 (Judge: Joe Takai)
  • Selected, SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival (Animation Theater), 1999 (Judge: Brian Blau)
  • Selected, 7th International Animation Festival of Brazil, 1999 (Judge: Aida Queiroz)
  • Selected, California SUN International Film Festival, 1999 (Judge: Jack Reily)
  • Selected, NextFrame - UFVA's Touring Festival of International Student Film & Video, 1999 (Judge: Juan Carlos Rojas)
  • Featured, Digital Content Producer, June 2008 (Distribution U)
  • Featured, Animation Magazine, December 2006 (Canvassing the Big Animated Screen)
  • Featured, Videography Magazine – Special Issue
  • Featured, Fortune Magazine, September 2021 (James Dean may be resurrected for a new film, decades after he died)
  • Featured, Storybench, July 2021 (Animation and the future of TV news storytelling: A Q&A with Animation Professor Jason Donati)
  • Featured, Experience Magazine, October 2020 (A new film with a dead star? Thanks to CGI and deepfake technology, it’s possible)
  • Featured, [email protected], November 2018 (Lessons From the Pineapple Under The Sea)

Past Clients

  • Tufts Medical Center
  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
  • Bose Corporation
  • CGI Interactive, Inc.
  • Epicor
  • FARO
  • Public VR

Courses Taught

  • Animation Basics
  • Animation 1
  • Character Design for Animation
  • Animation for Games
  • Animation 2
  • Animation 3
  • Media Arts Degree Project 2

Research/Publications Highlights

Exploring Digital Cinematography, Cengage Learning, (September 12, 2007)

Professional Affiliations

Association of Computer Machinery (ACM/SIGGRAPH)

Association Internationale du Film d’ Animation (ASIFA East)

Research Interests

  • 3D Animation
  • Animation
  • Digital Cinematography
  • Visualization
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