About

Nicole Tostevin


Digital Artist, Web/UI Designer, Graphic Designer, Motion Graphics Animator, WordPress Developer, Art Director, Filmmaker, Photographer

Born in San Francisco and raised in Northern California, I hold a BFA from Pomona College and an MFA from the California Institute of the ArtsMy goal has always been to create authentic and thoughtful design, whether film, video or web, that is bold, insightful and leaves a positive impact. Plato said that the key lies in the concepts of the good, the true and the beautiful so I am setting my compass on beauty!

My first computer animated film, Suspended Abbey, was made as my MFA Graduate Thesis film from Cal Arts and went on to win 20 awards, screen at 35 film festivals in 10 countries and was selected to be an official short film at The Sundance Film Festival.

Following a decade of working in the Game/Education software industry at Brøderbund Software and Smoking Car Productions, I transitioned to working as an independent contractor on web application products and high tech web sites. For the past 16 years, I have worked predominantly with small business clients in the Bay Area, but have worked remotely with individuals and large organizations across the globe.

Outside of work, I am an active member of Dance Medicine, serving as a co-producer, web designer/developer and publicity manager. I often moonlight as a motion graphics and 2D animator on independent film projects and love making short films for special events.

My family and I live in Marin with a gaggle of turkeys and animals and enjoy hiking the hills of West Marin.

“Tostevin” 

In ancient French, “Tostevin” comes from “toaster” or to seep toasted bread in wine. A “TASTEVIN” is a silver wine-tasting cup traditionally carried by a sommelier.  All I know is that I love all types of wine, toasted bread and making toasts at any occasion.

Education

POMONA COLLEGE
Studio Art
B.F.A, 1985

 
SAN FRANCISCO ART INSITUTE

Graduate Video, Performance
and Computer Art Program, 1987-1989

 
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF THE ARTS

School of Film,
M.F.A. in Experimental Animation. 1991

Awards

The majority of my awards below are for my computer animated short film, Suspended Abbey.

  • Audience Choice Award –  The Cacophony Film Festival, San Francisco, 1996
  • Grant recipient National Endowment for the Arts, USA, 1993
  • Best Experimental Film Award 15th Festival International Du Film D’Art Paris, France, 1993
  • Best Experimental Student Columbus International Film & Video Festival, Columbus, Ohio, 1993
  • Silver Apple Award National Educational Film & Video Festival, Oakland, California, 1993
  • Best Animation Award Louisville Film and Video Festival, Louisville, Kentucky, 1993
  • Director’s Choice Award Charlotte Film & Video Festival, Charlotte, North Carolina, 1993
  • Finalist Award Worldfest -Houston International Film Festival, Houston, Texas, 1993
  • Audience Choice Award Chicago Experimental Film Coalition Festival, Chicago, Illinois, 1993
  • Regional Finalist Student Academy Awards, Hollywood, CA, 1992
  • 2nd Place Best of Festival A.R.C.O International Film Festival Of Madrid Madrid, Spain, 1992
  • 1st Place Prize Mons International Festival Of Short Films, Mons, Belgium, 1992
  • 1st Place Film as Art American Film & Video Association Film Festival, USA, 1992
  • Coe Film Award ASIFA East Annual Animation Festival, New York, NY, 1992
  • Honorable Mention 16th Annual Atlanta Film & Video Festival, Atlanta, Georgia, 1992
  • 1st Place, Audience Award ASIFA San Francisco-Film Festival, San Francisco, CA, 1992
  • Golden Gate Award San Francisco International Film Festival, San Francisco, CA, 1992
  • Honorable Mention ARTSWEEK 92′, Rocky Mountain Film Center Denver, CO, 1992
  • Golden Eagle Award CINE – Council on Int’l Non-theatrical Events, USA, 1991
  • Grant Recipient Blum/Kovler Foundation Grant, USA, 1991
  • Honorable Mention Bucks County Film Festival, Pennsylvania, 1991
  • Award Winner Bank of America Award for Fine Art, USA, 1981
  • Award Winner John Phillip Souza Award, USA 1981

Official Selection Film Festivals

  • American Film Institute , AFI/Mars Showcase New York, Silver Spring, MD, 2004
  • Metropolitan Museum of Art,  “Program for Art on Screen”, New York, NY, 1994
  • Images 94 Festival of Independent Film & Video, Toronto, Canada, 1994
  • New York Metropolitan Museum of Art Program for Art on Screen, New York , NY, 1994
  • 16th Big Muddy Film Festival, Carbondale, IL, 1994
  • SUNDANCE International Film Festival,  Official Selection Short Film, Park City, Utah, 1993
  • Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, Guest filmmaker, Oberhausen, Germany, 1993
  • Best Experimental Film Award, 15th Festival International Du Film D’Art,Paris, France, 1993
  • Semana De Cine Experimental De Madrid, Official Selection, Madrid, Spain, 1993
  • Columbus Intl Film & Video Festival, Best Experimental Student Award, Columbus, OH, 1993
  • National Educational Film & Video Festival, Silver Apple Award, Oakland, CA,1993
  • Louisville Film and Video Festival, Animation Award, Louisville, KY, 1993
  • Charlotte Film & Video Festival, Director’s Choice Award, Charlotte, NC, 1993
  • Worldfest -Houston International Film Festival, Finalist Award, Houston, TX, 1993
  • Onion City Film Fest,  Audience Choice Award, Chicago, IL, 1993
  • IMAGE Forum Film Festival, Tokyo, Japan, 1993
  • International Audio Visual Experimental Festival of Arnhem, Arnhem, Netherlands, 1993
  • HIROSHIMA’92, The 4th International Animation Festival, Hiroshima, Japan, 1992
  • VIII International Festival Of Films Directed By Women, Madrid, Spain, 1992
  • Tel Aviv International Film Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel, 1992
  • A.R.C.O Int’l Film Festival Of Madrid, 2nd Place Best of Festival Award Winner, Madrid, Spain, 1992
  • Mons Int’l Festival Of Short Films, Belgium, 1st Place Prize Student Category, Mons, Belgium, 1992
  • American Film & Video Association Film Festival, 1st Place Film as Art, New York, NY, 1992
  • ASIFA-East Annual Animation Festival, Coe Film Award, New York, NY, 1992
  • 16th Annual Atlanta Film & Video Festival, Honorable Mention, Atlanta , GA, 1992
  • ASIFA San Francisco-Film Festival, 1st Place, Audience Award, San Francisco, CA, 1992
  • San Francisco International Film Festival, Golden Gate Award, San Francisco, CA,1992
  • ARTSWEEK 92′, Rocky Mountain Film Center, Honorable Mention, Denver CO, 1992
  • Bucks County Film Festival, Honorable Mention, Doylestown, PA, 1991
  • Cinanima 91-15th International Animation Film Festival, Espinho, Portugal, 1991
  • International Film Schools Festival, Poitiers, France, 1991
  • Sinking Creek Film/Video Festival, Nashville, TN, 1993
  • Ann Arbor Film Festival, Ann Arbor, MI, 1993
  • Florida Film Festival, Maitland, FL, 1993
  • Medicine Wheel Animation Film Festival, Toured the USA, 1992

“I worked with Nicole as a senior-level collaborator in the creation of the ground-breaking, award-winning video game, THE LAST EXPRESS, designed by PRINCE OF PERSIA creator Jordan Mechner. Nicole led the Art Department both creatively and managerially, creating the unique and highly stylish look and feel of the game, and successfully running a large team of animators. Her own artistic skills are impeccable, her knowledge base extremely strong, and her management was both firm and nurturing of up-and-coming talent. We were able to communicate very effectively with each other, handle with any bumps in the road together, and she and her team ultimately delivered A++ quality work. In addition, Nicki has an enthusiastic, positive personality, making for both exciting brainstorming sessions and a fun day-to-day working relationship. Highest recommendation.”

Mark Netter
VP of Strategy at Revolve Agency

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