Jason Donati is an award-winning animator, cinematographer, author, and educator whose creative and academic work bridges animation, digital cinematography, and emerging production workflows. His personal animated films have been showcased internationally at festivals and conferences including SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles and New Orleans, Ani Mundi in Rio de Janeiro, the Seoul Film Festival in Seoul, and ASIFA East in New York City. He is a long-time member of ACM SIGGRAPH and ASIFA East.
He is the author of Exploring Digital Cinematography: An Introduction to the Essential Concepts and Technologies of Digital Cinematography, published by Cengage Learning, a text that has supported students and educators in understanding the technical and aesthetic foundations of digital animated filmmaking.
Jason serves as Program Coordinator for Animation in the Department of Art + Design at Northeastern University. His teaching centers on animation production, dynamically driven and physics-based 3D animation, 3D modeling and asset creation, pre-production strategy, and industry-aligned pipelines. He is deeply committed to mentorship, iterative feedback, and preparing students for evolving creative industries.
During the 2025/26 academic year, he serves as a Northeastern AI Faculty Fellow, contributing to university-wide initiatives focused on the responsible integration of generative AI into creative practice and assessment. His current work explores how AI can support ideation, visualization, and production while reinforcing authorship, ethics, and critical thinking in arts education.
He holds an MFA from Rochester Institute of Technology and a BFA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Research/Publications Highlights
Exploring Digital Cinematography, Cengage Learning (September 12, 2007)
Departments
Art + Design
Education
- MFA, Rochester Institute of Technology
- BFA, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Awards
- CAMD Excellence in Teaching Award (2022-23)
- 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)
- 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, Animation Magazine, December 2006 (Canvassing the Big Animated Screen)
Research Focus
- Animation
- Digital Cinematography
- 3D Modeling
- Artificial Intelligence
- Game Art
- Visualization
Courses Taught
- Animation Basics
- Pre-production for Animation
- Animation 3
- 3D Modeling + Asset Creation Principles
- Media Art Degree Project
