From Self-Taught Animator to Oscar Winner: Gints Zilbalodis on Creating "Flow"

School of Motion Podcast

Mar 05, 2025•34 min

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Episode description

Oscar-winning director Gints Zilbalodis just proved you don't need fancy film school or million-dollar software to snag that golden statue. See the corresponding blog post with key takeaways here: https://www.schoolofmotion.com/blog/gints-zilbalodis-flow

EJ sits down with animation's newest golden boy, Gints Zilbalodis, the genius behind "Flow" (yep, the one that just took home an Oscar). From doodling in Flash to accepting Academy Awards, Gints' journey is the ultimate inspo for anyone who's ever thought, "Maybe I could make cool stuff too?" Spoiler alert: You absolutely can.

👉CHAPTERS👈
00:00 Intro
00:18 Chapter 1: Journey Into Animation
03:00 Chapter 2: Transitioning to Blender ∑
09:41 Chapter 3: From Working Solo to Teamwork
16:09 Chapter 4: Custom Workflows and Tools
19:15 Chapter 5: The Aesthetic of Flow
24:32 Chapter 6: Pushing Blender to Its Limits
26:42 Chapter 7: Future of Blender
28:37 Chapter 8: Advice for Aspiring Animators
32:35 Wrap Up

ARTISTS
Gints Zilbalodis https://x.com/gintszilbalodis
Martin https://x.com/_martinsh

PIECES
Flow (2024) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4772188/
Away (2019) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8288450/

RESOURCES
Geo-Scatter https://www.geoscatter.com/
Ghibli https://www.instagram.com/ghibliusa/
DillonGoo https://80.lv/articles/goo-engine-devs-team-up-with-blender-foundation-on-blender-npr-prototype
ClayPencil 2 https://www.instagram.com/_pepeland_/reel/DDt21XWsvne/

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