Dale Hayward — Co-Founder

Stop motion has been my creative playground for two decades. In that time, I’ve worked as a director, producer, and educator, helping ideas move from sketchbook to screen. As co-founder of See Creature Animation and See-Learn Academy, I’ve had the chance to collaborate on projects that range from indie shorts to global campaigns. Highlights include The Little Prince (Netflix), Kiri & Lou, Bone Mother (NFB), commercials for Nike and Hot Wheels, and co-directing CNESST’s Hanging by a Thread, which won Gold + Grand Prix at the Idéa Awards. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: great animation has a human touch, and stop motion brings that. Over the years, we’ve developed a production system that delivers handcrafted stop motion at competitive rates, often faster and more affordable than most people expect. That combination of authenticity and efficiency is what keeps clients coming back. If you’re interested in animation that feels human, tactile, and unforgettable or want to learn how to produce it without losing your mind, let’s connect.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Stop Motion Animation expert with extensive experience in commercial and indie film production.

Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Experience: 20 yrs 11 mos

Skills

Stop Motion
Public Speaking

Career Highlights

Two decades of experience in stop motion animation.
Co-founder of successful animation studios.
Directed award-winning projects for major brands.

Work Experience

Nerd nite chch

Guest Speaker (0 mo)

Kiri and Lou Ltd

Animation Director - Kiri and Lou (10 mos)

See Creature animation

Director - Hot Wheels Megadrome (6 mos)

Co-owner, Director, Animator (14 yrs 6 mos)

ACM SIGGRAPH

Guest Speaker (1 mo)

See Learn

Co-Founder, Teacher (7 yrs 1 mo)

National Film Board of Canada

Animator - Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days (2 mos)

Director - Bone Mother (3 yrs 1 mo)

TouTenKartoon

Stop-motion animator - The Little Prince (8 mos)

Technical Coordinator - The Little Prince (stop motion) (2 mos)

National Film Board of Canada

Stop-motion Supervisor, Animator (1 yr 3 mos)

Philtre Films

Stop-motion animator (1 mo)

Headgear Animation

Director (0 mo)

National Film Board of Canada

Compositor, Stereoscopic After effects (1 yr 8 mos)

La Moustache productons

Co-owner, Director, Animator (2 yrs 8 mos)

National Film Board of Canada

Stop motion Animator (1 mo)

Headgear Animation

Stop motion Animator (0 mo)

Loaded pictures

animator (5 mos)

National Film Board of Canada

Animator (3 mos)

Headgear Animation

Stop motion Animator (1 mo)

La Moustache productons

Director (1 mo)

National Film Board of Canada

Director (2 mos)

Cuppa Coffee Studios

Animation director (5 mos)

Headgear Animation

2d animator (2 mos)

Cuppa Coffee Animation

Stop motion Animator (2 yrs 10 mos)

Education

Classical Animation diploma at Max the Mutt animation

Dale Hayward

Co-Founder

Montreal, Quebec, Canada20 yrs 11 mos experience

Most Likely To SwitchHighly Stable

Key Highlights

Two decades of experience in stop motion animation.
Co-founder of successful animation studios.
Directed award-winning projects for major brands.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a Stop Motion Animation expert with extensive experience in commercial and indie film production.

Contact

Skills

Core Skills

Stop MotionPublic Speaking

Other Skills

3D PrintingExperienced SpeakerCreative Problem SolvingAnimationProblem SolvingStoryboardingAfter EffectsIllustrationTraditional AnimationCharacter AnimationComputer AnimationCompositingVisual EffectsAnimation DirectionMotion Graphics

About

Experience

Nerd nite chch

Guest Speaker

Jun 2023 – Jun 2023 · 0 mo · Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand · On-site

"3D Printing Stop Motion: Solving A Challenge, Creating Another"
Presentation about our film Bone Mother

3D PrintingExperienced SpeakerStop MotionCreative Problem SolvingAnimationPublic Speaking

Kiri and lou ltd

Animation Director - Kiri and Lou

Nov 2022 – Sep 2023 · 10 mos · Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand · On-site

Animation Directing a lovely crew of 7 animators and 4 compositors in-house. Working remotely with Storyboard artists, Producers and the Director, Harry Sinclair in LA. Also managing the schedule, offline editing and keeping the studio from burning down.

See creature animation

2 roles

Director - Hot Wheels Megadrome

Dec 2020 – Jun 2021 · 6 mos

Directed and oversaw the whole production of a series of 8 x 3 minute films for Hot Wheels / Megablox. All in stop motion and animated with the actual toys, the films take place inside the Megadrome. Elliot and his friends have to navigate through the obstacles and race to the finish if they want to get home to Hot Wheels city.
Written and produced by the team at Makers

Co-owner, Director, Animator

Sep 2011 – Present · 14 yrs 6 mos

Director and animator on various commissioned projects (commercials, documentary sequences, and short films) For clients such as Nike, Tim Horton's, Lego, Star wars, CBC, NFB, and more!
Represented by Tonic DnA in Canada

Acm siggraph

Guest Speaker

Jul 2019 – Aug 2019 · 1 mo · Los Angeles, California, United States · On-site

"Bone mother: the challenges of making an indie 3D printed film"
White paper Presentation on creating the stop motion film, Bone Mother

3D PrintingProblem SolvingPublic SpeakingStop MotionCreative Problem SolvingAnimation

See learn

Co-Founder, Teacher

Feb 2019 – Present · 7 yrs 1 mo · Montreal, Canada Area

For years I have worked on productions from all aspects of the animation industry and now I'm sharing that knowledge with you through online courses and resources tailored to develop the best animators possible.

National film board of canada

2 roles

Animator - Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days

Jun 2018 – Aug 2018 · 2 mos

Sylvie and I had the honour of living with Filmmakers Regina Pessoa and Abi Feijo in their Portuguese villa for 3 months while we animated a series of scenes in the film, Uncle Thomas: Accounting for the Days. Some of the scenes required us to work in After Effects, others were stop motion animating her uncle's actual items, but the main work was following Regina's animation on the wall with charcoal.
It was a magical experience to work on such a personal film and it was made happened by National Film Board of Canada.

Director - Bone Mother

Apr 2015 – May 2018 · 3 yrs 1 mo

A vain and arrogant youth dares to enter Baba Yaga’s living house of bones. What emerges will forever fill our nights with terror.

Toutenkartoon

2 roles

Stop-motion animator - The Little Prince

Promoted

Nov 2013 – Jul 2014 · 8 mos · Montreal, Canada Area

Feature length CGI & Stop Motion S3D animated film

Technical Coordinator - The Little Prince (stop motion)

Jun 2013 – Aug 2013 · 2 mos

Feature length CGI & Stop Motion S3D animated film

National film board of canada

Stop-motion Supervisor, Animator

Jun 2012 – Sep 2013 · 1 yr 3 mos · Montreal, Canada Area

Supervised the Stop-motion production of Cordell Barker's "If I was God". Oversaw the puppets, sets, props, and wardrobe fabrication and also animated.

Philtre films

Stop-motion animator

Aug 2009 – Sep 2009 · 1 mo

Animated on Krista Muir's music video "Concrete Lovesong". Directed by Kara Blake

Headgear animation

Director

Jun 2009 – Jun 2009 · 0 mo

Directed, designed & animated the StereoScopic MIlk dot "Kid Kong"
in After Effects
http://www.headgearanimation.com/work/milk_dots_3d/kid_kong

National film board of canada

Compositor, Stereoscopic After effects

Mar 2009 – Nov 2010 · 1 yr 8 mos

Stereoscopic After effects Compositor on the film "Les Yeux Noirs"

La moustache productons

Co-owner, Director, Animator

Jan 2009 – Sep 2011 · 2 yrs 8 mos · Montreal, Canada Area

Directed and animated various stop-motion, 2D, and after effects productions. Commercials, music videos and documentary segments for clients such as Gaz Metro, Adidas, Osheaga, Pop Montreal, etc.