Rustam Hasanov

Art Direction Track
DreamWorks NETFLIX Nickelodeon

Rustam Hasanov is concept artist on the Oscar-winning Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, where he contributed to the visual development of the film’s world and characters alongside production designer Guy Davis. He is a 2025 Annie Award nominee for Best Character Design in an Animated Series, for his work on Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at Nickelodeon — where he also served as Art Director and spearheaded the visual translation of the TMNT Mutant Mayhem film into an ongoing series. In 2019 he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Title Sequence for his work on Game of Thrones at Elastic.

His feature and series credits include Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie, The Book of Life, Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia, The Bad Guys 2, and Fright Krewe (DreamWorks/Hulu). He is currently Concept Designer at Universal Creative, contributing to theme park experience design, and serves as faculty at CalArts and PNCA. He trained at ArtCenter College of Design.

Key credentials

  • Concept Artist — Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Oscar for Best Animated Feature, 2023)
  • 2025 Annie Award nomination — Best Character Design in an Animated Series (Tales of the TMNT)
  • Primetime Emmy Award — Best Title Sequence, Game of Thrones (at Elastic, 2019)
  • Art Director & Character Designer — Nickelodeon: Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
  • Art Department — Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie, The Book of Life, The Bad Guys 2
  • Character Designer — Fright Krewe (DreamWorks/Hulu)
  • Art Department — Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia (3 seasons)
  • Concept Designer — Universal Creative (theme park experience design)
  • Faculty — CalArts & PNCA (2025)
  • ArtCenter College of Design

What you’ll work on with Rustam

  • Designing a cast of characters that holds visual logic across wildly different shapes and personalities
  • Building character design systems — rules that make your world legible without making it predictable
  • Developing the portfolio pieces that animation and games studios are actually looking for

Board

Mentored labs & courses

Art Direction Track

Deadline: New
Tara Rueping
Activision, Lucas Film, Sony Pictures Animation
Rustam Hasanov
DreamWorks, NETFLIX, Nickelodeon
July 13 - 31, 2026
3 weeks
/ 12 participants
English
Kutná Hora, Czech Republic
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