Jeff Chiba Stearns is a renowned filmmaker, artist, and illustrator, with a prestigious career spanning multiple mediums and genres. Born in Kelowna, British Columbia, to a Japanese and European heritage, he graduated from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design with a degree in Film Animation in 2001.
Chiba Stearns founded Meditating Bunny Studio Inc., a Vancouver-based boutique animation studio, which specializes in creating animation and documentary films that blend philosophical and social elements with humor, entertainment, and inspiration. His work has been broadcast globally, screened at hundreds of international film festivals, and garnered 33 awards.
One of his most notable works is "What Are You Anyways?", an animated film that explores multiethnic issues and won seven film festival awards. This film led Chiba Stearns to become an international spokesperson on mixed-race identity, and he coined the term "Hapanimation" to describe his unique style, blending Japanese animation with North American animation.
Yellow Sticky Notes (2007) is another notable work, featuring animation created with a black pen on over 2,300 sticky notes. The film won the Prix du Public at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, was selected for over 90 international film festivals, and won 10 awards, including an Emmy nomination in 2011. The film also achieved over 1.8 million views on YouTube's Screening Room.
Chiba Stearns' feature documentary, One Big Hapa Family (2010),explores the experiences of children of mixed-Japanese descent and the high Japanese-Canadian interracial marriage rate in Canada. His second feature-length documentary, Mixed Match, is currently in production and focuses on the complexities of multiethnic people in finding bone marrow transplants.
Throughout his career, Chiba Stearns has received numerous awards and accolades, including the Emily Award from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, the Cultural Pioneer Award from Harvard University, and a Webby Award for Best Branded Entertainment. He has also instructed college animation, written articles for national publications, and lectured globally on topics such as multiracial identity, cultural awareness, filmmaking, short film distribution, and animation.
In addition to his professional accomplishments, Chiba Stearns has also made significant contributions to the animation and filmmaking industry, pushing boundaries and challenging traditional norms. His work continues to inspire and entertain audiences worldwide, solidifying his position as a pioneer in the field of animation and documentary filmmaking.
