Meet Nathania Zaini | Stop motion Animator, Fabricator, and Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nathania Zaini and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nathania, Let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?
What matters most to me is friendship. Friendship with parents, siblings, and friends. I have worked in different fields and have lived in few different countries in my life. In those times, I faced difficult times, being away from my family, or experiencing struggles, or success. With them by your side in your rock bottom moments, I look back to every memory I hold dearly, even when it’s not a good memory.

All my success meant more when they are achieved with my loved ones, it humbles me and I never feel like anything is only mine, but have strong sense of ownership to what I work on, specifically because of whom I work with.
Working with my closest friends and family have lead me to do better in my creative process, to become more sensitive, to have empathy, and to be aware on my surrounding.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am quite new as a stop motion animator. The study to be one came late in my life and the journey has been a tough one. I am still on my way to be more consistent in my art in stop motion, but the scarcity of the jobs have pushed me to keep doing it on my own, and it’s become a luxury to be able to work on my own projects, with the stories I feel passionate about. The works become very personal. From these sets of personal works I have done, I became more familiar to my own voice.

I am most proud of my works when my personal experiences, and how I apply them in my art, makes the viewers feel, or be able to relate to them some ways. As Jim Carrey says, “the affect we have on others is the most valuable currency there is.”

The challenge for me as a stop motion animator is that the work is freelance-based, and it does not always come. But it has taught me to widen my range and to learn different skills on the way, which includes illustration, fabrication, and storyboarding, among other things.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There would always be a lot of parks, picnics, and supermarket hopping in my itinerary. So she’d be seeing a lot of Trader Joe’s, Costco, and Japanese supermarkets. Pack a bottle of Trader Joe’s Sara Bee Moscato, and Mendocino’s Pork Belly Banh Mi for a picnic at either Echo Park or Vista Hermosa Park.

I’d like to skip the shopping part and go to the arcades, like XLanesLA because they have Skee Ball and Supershot machines. There’s also another arcade with the super rare Bishi Bashi console which I would definitely take her to. Old timey arcade is something I secretly aspire to own one day.

Every night, I’d make it a point to explore Mexican food trucks in the area. El Flamin’ Taco in Koreatown has the best Al Pastor.

On Monday night, we’d go to Motown night at Short Stop in Echo Park for some dancing and music.

Any LA trip wouldn’t be complete without a little trip to Joshua Tree! So we’d spend 3 days 2 nights at an Airbnb that has outdoor hot tub in it. The drive is about 2 hours. My gas station road trip food is Chex Mix and a Chocolate Yoohoo, so there’s a designated time for that.

In Joshua Tree, the first thing we do is get coffee at Joshua Tree Coffee Company. The rest of the day is to go on a hike. The first night is for movie drive-in in Smith’s Ranch Drive-in Theater. The must dos in my list includes dinner at Ribs and Co, lunch at La Copine, S’mores and campfire, drinks in the outdoor hot tub, and breakfast at Country Kitchen.

If it happens to be post pandemic last Saturday of the month, we’d be going to see Almighty Opp’s Monthy Service. It’s a wonderfully bizarre performance that features puppets, musics, at a street corner in Koreatown. They have been going live on Instagram in the past pandemic years.

Our last meal in LA would be cherry pie from House of Pies.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My brother Randolph Zaini who is always pushing me to see the strengths I thought I didn’t have. For the tough love and being the honest critique. He’s a film director/writer and the smartest person, intellectually and emotionally. I tend to follow his path blindly, because I know it’s headed to a future I believe in.

My old roommate and best friend, Claudia Cardia, who is like a second mother to me. She is a mother to everyone, a wonderful cook, always going the extra mile to help people, and always welcoming everybody in our house. She taught me to be more open, to welcome new people in my life, and to be kind. She is also an amazing designer and animator who is currently based in Barcelona.

I didn’t have to wait to look back to those times to feel lucky to know these people. They always manage to make me realize how lucky I have been to have them in my life.

Website: www.nathaniazaini.com

Instagram: instagram.com/nathania_z

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathania-zaini-1a284a85

Image Credits
MoStopMo Studio, Randolph Zaini, Nathania Zaini