Christopher Papa | 516-655-9647 | Brooklyn, NY | Ctonypapa@gmail.com

Brands

Paramount+

Nickelodeon

Nick Jr.

Noggin

Awards

  • Kid Screen -Best Learning App 2023
    Emmy Award Winner 2019
  • Emmy Award Winner 2018
    Emmy Award Winner 2011
    AIGA Award 2011
    Promax/BDA (Various)

Chris Papa

Designer / Motion + Product + Brand Systems

Hands-on Creative with Executive-Scale Experience

I’m a hands-on Producer, Designer and Motion Specialist with 20+ years building family-facing products, educational content, brand systems and marketing executions at scale (Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Noggin, Paramount). I’ve built and led animation and interactive studios, shipped big launches—but I’ve also always been on the tools: drawing, designing systems, animating characters, and solving the practical math of production (budget, timing, scale, repeatability, performance, people management).

My portfolio skews kids/family because I found real success in that niche and helped build it into a large creative business. The skills translate anywhere: clear visual hierarchy, accessible design, consistent systems, strong motion language, and reliable execution under deadlines.

Key Skills

Design / Brand
Brand systems & toolkits • Typography/layout • Style guides/brand books • Production design • Campaign design • Cross-channel consistency

 

Motion / Video

After Effects • Premiere • Motion systems • Loop libraries • Template building (MOGRT/AE systems) • Character animation • Timing/acting passes • On-set & post VFX supervision

 

Product / UX

Figma • UX/UI visual design • Design-to-build collaboration • Accessibility-aware visual clarity • Rapid prototyping • Design QA & launch polish • Iteration using feedback/metrics

 

Workflow / Leadership

Stakeholder engagement • Cross-functional collaboration (design/eng/marketing/research) • Team coaching • Pipeline optimization • Localization-ready production systems • Vendor/partner management

 

Tools

Adobe Creative Cloud • Figma • Autodesk Maya • Character Animator • AI-assisted previsualization & ideation tools

 

Professional Experience

Digitoonz (Remote / Global) | 2023 – Present

Animation Director & Executive Producer

Series direction and production leadership for character animation projects across global teams, including Nick Jr. YouTube Shorts (Dora the Explorer, The Backyardigans). Hands-on across creative execution and production flow—aligning brand, schedule, and output quality.

  • Directed animation style, timing, and performance for short-form series and deliverables

  • Served as storyboard/animatics supervisor and revisionist—guiding iteration, tightening beats, and aligning teams on staging, timing, and story intent

    Introduced AI-assisted previz/ideation workflows to accelerate blocking and iteration

  • Partnered cross-functionally to deliver consistent, on-brand content across stakeholders and teams

Paramount / Noggin (NYC) | 2020 – 2023

Vice President, Design, Animation, CGI & Interactive

Studio head and hands-on creative leader for Noggin and Nick Jr. original content, app experiences, and brand systems—spanning video, games, interactive UX, marketing, and toolkits.

 

  • Developed and shipped original IP, video series, and interactive experiences for kids 2–7

  • Built and maintained a unified asset system: style guides, character libraries, motion toolkits, production templates, and internal tools

  • Led product-facing visual systems for both parent and kid surfaces (app UX + marketing), ensuring consistency and clarity

  • Managed cross-functional operations across Production Tech, Legal, HR, Research, Marketing, and external vendors to scale a full-service content pipeline

  • Designed and optimized pipelines for animation, VFX, educational gameplay, and multi-platform publishing

Nickelodeon (NYC) | 2016 – 2020

Vice President, Animation & VFX

Led multi-platform brand animation strategy and execution—short-form, marketing, social, and interactive launches across Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., and Noggin.

    • Built and led enterprise creative services spanning animation, social, interactive, and brand systems

    • Launched and scaled YouTube / YouTube Kids short-form content strategies (including Shorts)

    • Drove sustained channel growth and engagement with efficient production approaches and consistent brand output

    • Guided technical and creative teams through product and marketing launches; managed multiple budget lines and vendor relationships

    • Developed franchise style guides and campaign systems for major IP (e.g., SpongeBob, TMNT, Nick Jr.)

    Developed and implemented design style guides and social media campaigns for Nickelodeon’s biggest animated franchises, SpongeBob Square Pants & Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Nick Jr.

Education

MASTER of science (Ms), Computer Arts & Post-Production

2003, New York University, New York NY. 

Bachelors of FIne Arts (BA), Genral Fine Arts & Illustration

2002, Maryland Institute College of Arts, Baltimore MD.

Paramount, Noggin, New York, NY 2020 - 2023

Vice President, Design, Animation, CGI, & Interactive

Creator and development executive for Paramount’s premiere preschool brands Noggin and Nick Jr. The creator of multiple YouTube Kids series amassing >1B views and Noggin’s slate of original IP which are foundational to the company ethos, its brand marketing, and featured as animated stars of educational video and gaming content. 3-time Emmy award winning creative leader, taking home top honors for original content, brand marketing, and animation.

Studio head overseeing the development and production of original shows, games and mobile app features for the Noggin/Paramount studio. Talent acquisition, technical director, and production executive to internal teams of multi-disciplinary creatives and external production partners from around the globe.

  • Developed Ip, concepts, and visual identities for video productions, interactive games, and DTC marketing, resulting in Noggin emerging as an award-winning app of kids 2-7.
  • Published a weekly slate of videos and games to the Noggin App, Paramount Plus, and YouTube Kids, expanding the brand’s content library, increasing audience awareness and subscriber count into the millions.
  • Created, maintained, and implemented Noggin’s asset library of original style guides, custom character art, key art, series design guides, animation production guides, motion libraries, brand books, and internal animation tools using Adobe Creative Cloud & Maya Pose Library, connecting all of Noggin’s departments (Growth, Learning, Research, Marketing, ect.) to best-in-class visual assets increasing design productivity and visual brand consistency company wide.
  • Cross functionally managed Noggin’s creative operations within a large corporate infrastructure of Production Technologies, Legal, HR, and Building Operations to build a full-service content pipeline which became 5x larger than the small educational start-up’s original footprint and evolved into to a full service EdTech production studio capable of release and quality demands.
  • Lead visual strategist for the development and implementation of both parent and kid facing visuals identities in the app UX and it’s marketing materials, resulting in a cohesive DTC experience and increased brand awareness and affinity.
  • Developed and optimized production pipelines for video, animation, vfx, and educational games.
  • Negotiate production deals, liaise with Legal and Production Management in papering contracts and software licensing. Review and approve project calendars, team compositions, and all stages of creative content.

Nickelodeon, New York, NY 2016 - 2020

Vice President of Animation & VFX

Strategically determined and led the brand marketing and short-form vision for branded multi-platform animated content creation. Managed a large consumer-facing portfolio and aligned cross-functional groups with building brand awareness, connection, and new content loyalty. Guided technical and creative teams through marketing and product launches while managing three separate multi-million-dollar budget lines.

Strategically determined and led the brand marketing and short-form vision for branded multi-platform animated content creation. Managed a large consumer-facing portfolio and aligned cross-functional groups with building brand awareness, connection, and new content loyalty. Guided technical and creative teams through marketing and product launches while managing three separate multi-million-dollar budget lines.

  • Pioneered branded content & maximized YouTube potential, through marketing creative and the launch of successful YouTube Kids series.
  • Built and led an enterprise marketing and content creative service that provides animation, brand, social, and interactive solutions for Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, & Noggin. Global rebrands and product launch for Nick Jr & Noggin.
  • Launched and leveraged the power of YouTube Shorts to increase brand awareness, engagement, loyalty, and retention among the target audience and to drive traffic to the main Nick Jr. YouTube channel.
  • Achieved >1M views per week of branded content while minimizing channel investment & growing the channel subscriber base into the tens of millions.
  • Developed content and launched educational interactive series across multiple media platforms and partners.
  • Successfully integrated leading kids brands into interactive games and original series creation. Develop original content with the world’s most popular kid’s characters to create immersive stories, games, and activities for the Noggin app; Apple, Amazon, and Roku streamer partners; and Paramount Plus.
  • Hired, trained, and coached industry-leading production teams to be agile and goal-oriented.
  • Created a collaborative culture across the UX, animated, and interactive short-form design and production teams who work cross functionally to meet specific project goals.
  • Led the Noggin educational app product launch, built the team and short-form content.
  • 360° strategic leader in launching the interactive educational entertainment app; involved in the content pipeline, original video development, interactive games development, parent brand marketing, kids facing interface visual design, & internal partnerships.
  • Launched and led the development of Nickelodeon franchise marketing channels.

Developed and implemented design style guides and social media campaigns for Nickelodeon’s biggest animated franchises, SpongeBob Square Pants & Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Nick Jr.

Education

MASTER of science (Ms), Computer Arts & Post-Production

2003, New York University, New York NY. 

Bachelors of FIne Arts (BA), Genral Fine Arts & Illustration

2002, Maryland Institute College of Arts, Baltimore MD.

Brands

Paramount+

Nickelodeon

Nick Jr.

Noggin

Awards

  • Kid Screen -Best Learning App 2023
    Emmy Award Winner 2019
  • Emmy Award Winner 2018
    Emmy Award Winner 2011
    AIGA Award 2011
    Promax/BDA (Various)

Nominations

  • Emmy Nomination 2022
  • Emmy Nomination 2021
    Emmy Nomination 2019
    Emmy Nomination 2013
    Emmy Nomination 2013
    Emmy Nomination 2013
    Emmy Nomination 2010
    Promax/BDA (Various)