Gustavo Baía

Director/Animator/Illustrator

Hello, my name is Gustavo Baía, I am a 2D Animator and Illustrator from Portugal.I am a self taught animator that has worked with numerous studios throughout the years, in both film productions and advertising, as well as director/animator for 4 self produced short-films.
My freelance experience as an animator has allowed me to acquire diverse skills in all facets of animation production, on various softwares and different types of animation.I also enjoy woodworking, but if I were you I wouldn’t hire me for that kind of work...yet.I am always looking for interesting new projects, challenges and people to work with, so if you’re looking for someone who's a hard worker, easy to work with and loves his job, then look no further and send me an email.Some studios I worked with:

Lets work together!

Sopa da Pedra (2023)

Directed and animated by Gustavo Baía
Coloring by Gustavo Baía and Erica Laranjo
Music by Herman José

Software - Adobe Photoshop

A music-video I made my second collaboration with the famous Portuguese comedian, musician, and presenter Herman José.Like my previous collaboration with Herman José, I had full creative control for this project; the only thing I was asked to do was take some inspiration from one of my early works called "Auto-Mutilação".Since I had less time this time around, I decided to animate this video with fewer frames, keep every scene short, and focus a lot on interesting compositions.This project kept me inside my home working non-stop for almost a full month, but it was the most fun I had making any project to date, and I really hope it shows.

69,000 Calorie CAKE MUKBANG ASMR!!! (2022)

Directed by Gustavo Baía & Erica Laranjo
Animated by Gustavo Baía
Cakes by Erica Laranjo

Software - Adobe Photoshop

Look, I'll just say it...
This short animation is my personal favorite of all of the projects I have been involved with. It is without a doubt a personal opinion of mine, but I just enjoy everything about it.This video is for a side project and Youtube channel that I have along with my partner and frequent collaborator, Erica Laranjo, an immensely talented illustrator and painter.I am happy with the animation and the look of the main character, but the heart and soul of this video are definitely the cakes. I mean, just look at them.I just love this one a lot!

Maçarico (2022)

*Directed and animated by Gustavo Baía *
Music by Carlos Paião and Herman José

Software - Adobe Photoshop

A music-video I made for a famous Portuguese comedian/musician/presenter Herman José with lyrics from the late musician and songwriter Carlos Paião.The song tells the story of a mischievous dog that loves music, but can’t stand hearing his owners singing.When I was approached with this project I was given about a month and a half to create the whole video to be released in December, I had full creative control with just two demands, they wanted the dog (Maçarico) to be cute and asked me to have fun with this project.I certainly had fun making this video, but as for the Maçarico cuteness, I think you can be the judge of that…

A Cat Called Jam (2019)

Cartoon Saloon

Directed by Lorraine Lordan

My role - Animator
Software - Moho

A Cat Called Jam tells the story of Jam, a Maine Coon cat who sees himself differently to how the rest of the world sees him. To the world he is just one more cat, but to himself he is every bit a dog.This 8min film is directed by Lorraine Lordan and funded by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and Raidió Teilifís Éireann/RTÉ under the Frameworks Scheme.

Poopgulls (2021)

Directed by Gustavo Baía & Erica Laranjo
Animated by Gustavo Baía
Backgrounds by Erica Laranjo

Software - ToonBoom

Why can't all Seagulls be as considerate as this one...I can't handle all of these Poopgulls!A short animation I made with Erica Laranjo after going to the beach in the winter and not finding a clean place to sit down because of all the seagull poop and trash.The animation was done in ToonBoom, with a mix of rigging and frame by frame animation.

Auto-Mutilação (2014)

Directed and Animated by Gustavo BaíaMusic by Realista

Technique - Pencil on paper, painted in Photoshop

Music-video for my friend Realista, directed, drawn and animated by me.
The video presents a day in the life of a man, who fights a daily battle that he will never win, leaving him broken and in pieces...This video was finished in 2014 when I was in college, I see it as my first real attempt at creating a full animated video.
At the time I was watching a lot of Bill Plympton films, his very raw style and technique taught me a lot about the animation process, so when I started to animate this project I took a lot of inspiration from him.Auto - Mutilação will always have a special place in my heart, I learned a lot while making it and most importantly it was my daily escape for a year and a half.Selected for the 8th edition of FARCUME - Faro´s International Short
Films Festival and Indie Lisbon Video Library of 2015

El Coloso (2014)

Directed and Animated by Gustavo Baía

Technique - Paint on paper

El Coloso is a hand painted short-film I made in college, based on Francisco de Goya’s painting “El coloso”.People often tell me that, of all the films I made, their favorite is El Coloso and for a long time I couldn't understand why, but I have grown to like it as well for my own reasons.I think this video has a unique charm and confidence that came from the very short deadline and the speed that I was working, I had no other option than to embrace and accept the imperfections, I didn't have the time to overthink every single aspect of the short, so a lot was done by heart and instinct.In the end I think this film greatly represents who I am as an animator and illustrator.

Won a 2º place prize, at the film festival Videotalentos in Madrid in 2014.

Emmanuel Willis
Road to Glory (2018)

Directed and animated by Gustavo Baía

Technique - Acrylic paint on paper

For a long time I wanted to make a short film that showed my love for Boxing.I decided to start watching the classic anime series Ashita no Joe and it inspired me to start working on my short film.
Ashita no Joe was my background noise/visual for the whole making of this film.
I wanted to say something about the sport I love through 2D animation, after it was finished I felt I got it out of me and I was happy with it.

Shown at the Art All Night - Trenton: 6th Annual Film Festival in New Jersey in 2018.

Riona’s Warriors

elk.studios

Produced by RedRay Films, elk.studios and Score Draw Music in collaboration with BBC Studios and developed with funding from Northern Ireland Screen.

My role - Animator
Software - Moho

Riona and her friends love playing at being warriors.
They practice blood curdling war cries and crochet chain-mail suits. They dream up scary names for each other and make extra pointy… eh, where have they gone? Sorry. They do get a little distracted sometimes. They might be mighty warriors but they’re children too.They live in a time that is half myth and half imagination - in a Celtic castle (Caislean-Oir) by a Celtic sea (Fraoch-Linn) full of fabulous Celtic creatures (GrRRrr!)
Upstairs there is a court of Lords and Ladies, who tell their children to run along and play nicely whilst they do grown-up things like dancing fashionable dances and wearing fabulous hats. Downstairs there are Viking Raiders banging on the door!Riona and her band are very excited about this. They like nothing better than playing warrior games with the Horrible Hoard in the big boat who call on them every day. The Vikings attack the castle and the children drive them away, but they’re always back to play another game tomorrow. Hooray! Thanks to Riona and her friends the grown-ups never realise the Vikings were there at all.

Angel (2019)

Pistachio Studios

Directed by Gustavo Baía & Cláudio Sá
Animated by Gustavo Baía
Music by Gilbert Grimes

Technique - Pen and paint on paper, animated in MohoA music-video I co-directed with Pistachio Studios for a musician called Stuart Epps.
It tells the story of a man whose heart flew away from his chest and what he had to do to get it back.The artwork and animation was fully done by me alone, all of the assets were drawn and painted on paper, then rigged and animated on Moho.Selected in 2019 for the CINANIMA film festival - *for the Antonio Gaio
award * - Best national film.

Lady Betty (2020)

Wackala

Directed by Paul McGrath
Animated by Paul McGrath and Gustavo Baía
Character rigging by Paul McGrath and Gustavo Baía

Software - Moho
In a cosy corner of a country pub, two old friends wile away the evening trading tall tales. Soon they begin telling the story of Lady Betty, the first and only female executioner in Ireland. As the men talk, we are zipped back to the late 1700s, to a lonely shack on the edge of town where Betty Sugrue – Lady Betty – and her son Padraic eke out a meagre existence.Told through Paddy and Mick’s… distinctive style of storytelling, which mostly involves constantly interrupting each other and arguing, we see and hear about the hard and twisted life of Lady Betty.
Selected for:
Galway Film Fleadh, 2021
Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival, 2021
Aesthetica Short Film Festival, 2021
Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, 2021
Rock Horror Film Festival, 2021
Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Horror Film Festival, 2021

Light Leeches (2021)

Directed and animated by Gustavo Baía

Software - Moho

In an alien planet, a peaceful couple goes into a cave to witness the hatching of their eggs, but in doing so they lead a dark, mysterious entity inside with them.After a year of only working on Moho I decided to try and make a short-film all by myself.
My idea for the short-film was to make something in the realm of horror sci-fi, but violent and abstract.I’m very happy with the way it turned out, but I feel I can expand this universe a bit more in the future…