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Working as computer graphics (CG) director for Polygon Pictures Inc based in Japan, 38-year-old Hormaz Baria was involved in the production of Lost in Oz, Season 1 TV series that won the Daytime Emmy in 2017 in the Outstanding Children’s Animated Program category. Emmys are considered the television equivalent of the Academy Awards (for film), Grammy Awards (for music) and Tony Awards (for theater).
Lost in Oz won over the other nominations: Dragons: Race to the Edge; Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures; Milo Murphy’s Law; and The Mr Peabody & Sherman Show. When asked to elaborate on his contribution, Baria noted in his email responses to Parsiana, "Though I worked as an animator on this TV series for the first two episodes and by the end of the first season I had moved on to being its CG director, the joy of our work being appreciated on such a global platform is immense. The animation industry, however lucrative or creative, is a huge industry. There are studios all over the world which are competing to get such recognition so this definitely means a lot to me.”
"The Daytime Emmy Award is an American accolade bestowed by the New York based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming,” according to Wikipedia. First conferred in 1972, to qualify for a Daytime Emmy award, a show must originally air on American television between 2 a.m. and 6 p.m., and to at least 50% of the country.

 

 

 

 

 
Baria’s ties with Japan began in 2011 when he was seeking "a good international platform… All I had ever heard about Japan was that it was the safest place to be… When I moved here, the people and their attitude won me over. The place is beautiful, the people polite and their work ethics something to envy. I have learnt so much from them, respecting others however big or small you may be in the company, punctuality, completing the job given within the deadline, the dedication and focus on the job on hand.”
Four years ago when he was senior animator at Polygon, Baria had worked on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Season 4 TV series produced by Lucas Animation that also won the Daytime Emmy. Being in the field for the last 19 years, Baria writes, "I chose animation as my specialization because I was always fascinated with characters coming to life. I started as a teacher in a computer institute which kept me updated with the various changes in technology and helped me learn the different aspects of animation on my own.”
The first animation studio he joined was Maya Entertainment in 2002 where he gained production experience and his project The Tales of Jack Frost was nominated for the BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award under the category of Best Children Animation. When a test for DreamWorks’ internationally famous Shrek series was taken at Maya, it was Baria’s responsibility as senior animator — project lead to animate the shots, as mentioned in his curriculum vitae. Having grown up watching Disney and MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) cartoons he says he was "thrilled to work on a Disney TV series My friends Tigger & Pooh and Back at the Barnyard which was also nominated for the Daytime Emmy in 2009.” That was a decade ago when he was lead animator at Ittina Animation Studios. His 3D animated short film Yama and Moo under the banner of Frameboxx Animation had earned much acclaim too.
A commerce graduate from the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University, Baria started his professional life serving as faculty member at the Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) and the Institute of Computer Animation and Design (ICAD) teaching 3D animation and design software. When working for Prime Focus he got an opportunity to learn VFX (visual effects) and was a part of their advertising division involved in their film trailers and post-production activities.
Besides his wife Khushnuma, a postgraduate in human resources, and son Anaoshak who is studying in Grade 1 at the Indian International School in Japan, Hormaz has not got an opportunity to meet any other Parsis in Japan though he would love to "break some bread over chai instead of the local favorite green tea,” he says.
Viewing Zoroastrianism as a "very complex yet simple religion,” he favors the ideology of good thoughts, words and deeds whilst giving people the right to follow various rituals and traditions. "My parents never forced religion on me and I wouldn’t do that to my son. Being away from home, we miss the festivities of New Year, the food and the merriment with friends/family but in March the Japanese celebrate the spring equinox as well and that gives me a sense of belonging to this wonderful community here,” adds Baria.