NICK JOHNSON is a writer, director, cartoonist, and producer living in Calgary AB Canada. He obtained a Bachelor of Design from the Alberta University of the Arts in 2013 and spent two years living in Edinburgh Scotland where he completed a Masters in Comics and Graphic Novels from the University of Dundee. He is now an Assistant Professor at AUArts teaching Illustration and Character Design.

He has pursued the craft of visual storytelling through a wide variety of media, from e-learning and children’s books, to comics and storyboarding, to film and animation. His first work in animation was as art director/storyboard artist for Young George and the Dragon at New Machine Studios. In 2019, he returned to write and co-direct the sequel Young George 2: No Dragons Allowed! Since then he has collaborated with Squid Brain Studios to direct and storyboard episodes of Ghost Toast and Young George: the Series.

As writer, director and producer, he collaborated with Squid Brain Studios and New Machine Studios to direct his first solo 3D animated feature Sunburnt Unicorn which recently finished production and is being submitted to film festivals.

His creative work has a strong focus on storytelling and performance, featuring expressive characters and emotional themes. Guided by philosophy, curiosity and compassion, he finds inspiration in CanLit, horror fiction, Marcel Proust, classic X-Men comics and the Ghosts of Utopia.

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