Stop-motion director

Stop-motion direction & paper worlds

I am Anaïs Herd-Smith, a stop-motion director, paper artist and set designer. I direct films that bring handcrafted paper worlds, illustrated characters and sculptural sets to life through frame-by-frame animation.

From an idea to an animated world

Nature, mythology and the character of the material guide my visual storytelling. Working with animators, directors of photography, papercraft designers and production teams, I develop a film’s direction and visual world, with particular attention to texture, colour and detail.

Advertising, luxury campaigns & television

My portfolio includes the Tekla Fabrics Holiday campaign, paper cherry blossoms for Monsavon, New Year animations for Roger Vivier and an International Women’s Day TV ident for MTV. These projects explore stop-motion advertising, paper animation, brand films and short social media formats.

A collaborative craft

Each film credits the people who shape its production: animation, cinematography, model making, set design and production. The project pages include finished films and, where available, behind-the-scenes material showing the work in the studio.