HBO: aka Mr. Chow



In early 2022, I had the opportunity to connect with Nick Hooker; a fantastic documentary film director. He had seen my short piece about Michael Chow for madhappy and asked me to create a few animated sequences for an upcoming feature length documentary on Mr. Chow.

What started as a few animated sequences grew into even more animated sequences, designing and animating the main title, graphics, photo treatments + motion, and a fantastic collaboration with the Mr. Chow documentary team, pulse films, and hbo. 

The animated sequences accent the emotional resonance and weight of Michael’s boyhood spent in China. We explore his ephemeral yet magical connection to his father, his close knit relationship with his mother, and the immense scale of his travel and cultural displacement in his early years.

Watch aka Mr. Chow on Max, and enjoy a supercut + process video of my animation below!

Direction, Design, Animation: Rohan Mcdonald Additional Animation + Clean up: Sacha Lusk


Animation Supercut + Process





Selected Styleframes




Visual Development



Initial Title Exploration