Meet our Creative Director, and Co-Founder, Christina

Christina came to the UK from Austria to study animation at Bristol University where her talent was spotted by Aardman Animations. She worked on a number of Aardman projects including ‘Morph’ and ‘Rex the Runt’ and was an animator on the internationally successful “Chicken Run”. A few years later, in 2002, Christina set-up Sliced Bread with Jamie.

Christina is highly skilled in animation story development, illustration and storyboarding, and was the Creative Director and animator on projects such as the Sony’s Trona, the UNIQA online series, Dr P, and Serelaxin. If you’re ever curious about what a day in the life of our Creative Director looks like, then read on to find out more!

What has been your favourite project you’ve worked on so far?

There have been loads of projects I loved working on over the years. I really like character projects – the MTR one was great fun. It’s the one with little chaps running around a building site and stumbling from one mishap into the next. I liked Trona as well, we did this one in the early years of Sliced Bread – these are definitely some of my favourite projects. 

What do you love most about working at Sliced Bread?

I love being able to make creative decisions in-line with our client’s requirements, finding creative solutions for them and being able to use conceptual thinking. I love having the opportunity to work on a variety of projects. Because every project is different, different styles and different messages. They are fairly short-term and often there are several of them running at the same time, I don’t ever get bored.

If you were stuck on a desert island for 1 month, what are the 3 things you would bring with you?

I would bring my sketchbook and a pen so I can draw and doodle. And I would bring a knife so I can hunt for food (like ‘cutting fruit off a tree’….)

Christina at home doing some stop-frame animation for her Bog Roll Friends project.

What is your favourite thing to have on toast?

I love avocado and poached egg, butter and marmite, and coconut oil and jam. Not all together but 3 separate combinations!

If you could compare yourself with any animal, which would it be and why?

It would not be anything massive that hunts for prey or anything like that. I think I would be a bird because they are light, flexible and they can go anywhere. And I like the way they hop!

What words would describe your style of working?

Analytical to fully understand what it is exactly the client wants to communicate, curious and playful when developing visual concepts for the stories and messages, disciplined and precise without losing sight of the bigger picture, when it comes to production 

What do you think is the best thing since sliced bread in your professional/personal life? 

Apart from Sliced Bread Animation, I have to say it’s my daughter Lilly. She’s definitely the best thing that’s happened in my life (amongst several others)

Could you share a few of your go-to creative resources that you use for inspiration?

I find inspiration from anywhere and it could literally be anything. Obviously there’s the internet where you can find anything and everything. Whatever I find interesting, I will sketch it out. I will try to look for images that I find interesting and they don’t necessarily have anything to do with projects, but this will flow into my own work later on. It will naturally come to my mind when I’m doing research for a project.  But if we have to find a reference for a client, I will go to Behance, Instagram etc…

What is your all-time favourite animation?

I don’t have one favourite that I watch over and over again but I really like The Iron Giant, Ratatouille, The Wrong Trousers, and Spirited Away.

Are you interested in working at Sliced Bread? Click here to see our current job openings.