BIOGRAPHY
An Award Winning Filmmaker specialized in Family & Kids Entertainment, Hani Kichi, is the driving creative force behind Blink Studios’ original entertainment properties and contracted service work. An Animation aficionado, Kichi is well versed in every aspect of development and production, with over 20 years of experience as a Designer, Director, Producer and Head of Production. An Entrepreneur who co-founded and led Blink Studios since 2005 while contributing to developing the kids entertainment industry across the Middle East.
Kichi’s talent was the driving force behind the Co-production of the regional and international versions of the pre-school show DRIVER DAN’S STORY TRAIN SEASON 1 & 2 airing on “Cbeebies” the BBC’s pre-school channel. He also achieved similar success with the adaptation of Cartoon Network’s “Skatoony” as both Producer and Director.
His series expertise in kids edutainment peaked with the come back of the regional version of “Sesame Street” , where he undertook several roles as Senior Writer, Supervising Producer, Director, and Music Director 2014-2015. The show scored massive success airing on 16 regional channels with 270+ Million views on its YouTube channel.
His film achievements started with his first musical animated short Ostora “The Legend”, which gained 35 international nominations and 3 awards for its unique artistic and technical treatment. For his second short film, as Producer, “Daddy ABC” was nominated at 26 International Film Festivals and received 4 awards. His 3rd short film “1001 Inventions and World of Ibn Al-Hytham” starring Hollywood veteran actor “Omar Sharif” in his last cinematic role was selected by UNESCO as the official film for “The Year of Light 2015”.
Kichi’s seasoned experience in edutainment mixed with his technical mastery in CGI led to creating the World’s First Holotoon Experience on Microsoft HoloLens by developing a Social Emotional Learning Mixed Reality “MR” IP called “Karim and Noor”. 2018 celebrated this break through in immersive storytelling with 3 awards including The Auggie Awards for Best Film/Art in XR during the Augmented World Expo 2018 in Silicon Valley.
Kichi produced and directed 200+videos for various regional and international enterprises such as General Electric, HSBC, Prime Minister Office of Dubai, 1001 Inventions, Kalimat Publishing, etc… Which is also highlighted with the 2009 Award Winning Animated TVC for “Quaker”.
After living and working in Dubai for the last 20 years, Hani Kichi currently resides in Irvine, California.
