Kelowna Comicon Ambassador - JEFF CHIBA STEARNS

Roze
Jun 9
2 min read

The Kelowna ComiCon team is excited to welcome Jeff Chiba Stearns as an official Kelowna ComiCon Ambassador.

About JEFF

Jeff Chiba Stearns is an Emmy®-nominated and Webby award-winning animation and documentary director, producer, and an accomplished author and illustrator. After graduating from the Emily Carr University of Art + Design with a degree in Film Animation, he founded Vancouver-based boutique animation studio and publishing company Meditating Bunny Studio Inc. in 2001.

From directing animated commercials for companies like Sharpie and Post-it Note, to short and feature length films including Yellow Sticky Notes (2007), One Big Hapa Family (2010), Yellow Sticky Notes | Canadian Anijam (2014) and Mixed Match (2016), Jeff’s work has broadcast around the world, screened in hundreds of international film festivals and garnered over 40 awards.

Jeff has also written and illustrated best selling children’s books and graphic novels including Mixed Critters (2018), Nori and His Delicious Dreams (2020) and On Being Yukiko (2021). He has currently completed his latest graphic novel Tomey - The Unyielding Spirit of Tomekichi Homma set to release this fall 2025. He is also working on his next graphic novel Ojiichan's Dragon, slated for a 2026 release.

Jeff has spoken at hundreds of schools and universities across North America and around the world. He has been awarded the Cultural Pioneer Award by Harvard University and the Emily Award by the Emily Carr University where he currently teaches Professional Practice in Animation. In 2017, he was awarded the Diversity in Film award for his outstanding contribution to film by Vancouver Asian Film Festival. Jeff is also the host of the upcoming animation podcast, Animation Meditation and the director of over 60 episodes of the hit pre-school animated series The Treebees which broadcasts nationally in Canada and amassed 60+ millions views on YouTube.