Kirill Khachaturov
Director · Animator · Screenwriter · Porto, Portugal
Profile
Independent filmmaker working in animation: director, animator and screenwriter, writing and making his own films from the first frame to the mix.
He studied design at the British Higher School of Art and Design in Moscow, in partnership with the University of Hertfordshire, and film directing at the Moscow School of New Cinema. His debut short Protocorba (2019) had its world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Festival, as did his graduation film Naked (2020), which went on to win awards at Annecy, Ottawa and Animafest Zagreb. From 2023 to 2025 he directed at Sacrebleu. Based in Porto since 2022.
Alongside directing he runs the production side of his own films: building the pipeline, supervising animators, sound and post, and holding quality control across the whole chain.
Films
In development
Animated short, 15 min, black and white, in Portuguese
Director, screenwriter, animation. Script v7 complete, look development done.
2025
20 official selections · 1 award · broadcast on ARTE
Director.
2020
53 official selections · 14 awards · world premiere at Annecy
Director, screenwriter, animation. Awards at Annecy, Ottawa and Animafest Zagreb.
2019
24 official selections · 2 awards · world premiere at Annecy
Director, screenwriter, animation.
Experience
2023 – 2025
Director, Sacrebleu
Directing animation within a production company structure, working to a studio schedule and to delivery.
2014 – present
Independent director and animator
Own short films and commissioned work. End to end responsibility: script, direction, animation, edit, sound direction, delivery.
Production
Supervising the animation process
Building and running the pipeline; briefing and supervising animators; quality control of animation, sound and post; keeping a film on schedule and to a consistent standard across contributors.
Writing
Screenwriting
Writes his own scripts, from logline and structure to shooting script.
2008 – 2022
Art direction and communication design
Senior communication designer and art director in Moscow media and IT, including Yandex and Rambler&Co. Stage design, media installations and exhibitions. Internationally awarded; this is where the eye for image and composition comes from.
Education
2016 – 2019
Moscow School of New CinemaFilm directing
2011 – 2014
British Higher School of Art and Design, MoscowDesign in interactive media, in partnership with the University of Hertfordshire
2014
D&AD New Blood Academy, LondonGraphic design
Craft
Directing
- Screenwriting and story structure
- Direction of animation and performance
- Sound direction, foley led design
- Editing and colour grading
- Production supervision and quality control
Technique
- Hybrid 3D and hand drawn animation
- Photogrammetry based environments
- Hand drawn textures over 3D geometry
- Camera animation, cloth simulation
- Generative and procedural image
Software
- Blender, Cascadeur, Cinema 4D
- Marvelous Designer, Substance Painter
- Krita, Adobe Creative Suite
- DaVinci Resolve, TouchDesigner
- Processing, Figma
Awards
As director
Annecy (France) · Ottawa International Animation Festival (Canada) · Animafest Zagreb (Croatia) · Fantoche (Switzerland) · Cinanima (Portugal) · GLAS (USA) · London International Animation Festival (UK) · GoShort (Netherlands) · Odense (Denmark) · Japan Media Arts (Japan) · BAF (Germany)
97 official selections and 17 awards across three films
As designer
D&AD (UK, 2014) · European Design Awards, finalist (2014) · Communicator Awards (USA, 2013) · A’Design Award (Italy, 2013)