Humaira Thalayan y

Humaira’s idea of motivating herself to do what she really loved was to quit her job. Having graduated with a degree in Business Computing, she enrolled in the reputable Vancouver Film School to study 3D Animation and Visual Arts. “Then I came half a world away to try and do what I love,” Humaira says. After graduation, she landed the “best first job any- one could ask for,” as an animator for a company called Wrinkled Pants Software.

It’s where she works now. The ipad applications she creates rely on stories and activities to help underachieving elementary and secondary school kids improve their reading skills. They’re a hit with schools in Vancouver, where they’re bought in bulk. Humaira says the hugely successful projects have been considered a breakthrough in learning apps.

Though she loves her work, Humaria has bigger plans. She loves 3D Animation and says she wants to “bring bring to the screen what we don’t on’t normally see”. It’s the he most fun she’s ever had. “Getting into a mindset of a child and trying y g to c create animation that would hold t their attention and keep them entert tained is really liberating,” Humaira s says. She hopes eventually to r return to Sri Lanka and open her o own studio where she can teach art a and animation. “This is a rapidly g growing industry and I would like to g get my country involved in it,” says H Humaria. It’s clear she likes to d dream big, saying, “I would also lo love to receive an academy award fo for best animated feature or animate ed short. I know it’s a huge dream, b but we’ve got to dream in ridiculous a amounts, then at least getting halfw way there would be an amazing p place to be.”