About R.J. Sullivan

BIO

R.J. Sullivan is an award-winning animated filmmaker, composer, and screenwriter. Through Catch and Hatch Studios, he produces hand drawn 2D animated films for children and adults. 

His short films have been shown in over 100 film festivals internationally. In 2023, his childrens short, Arlo Sings the Blues won Best Animation Film at the 2023 BAMkids Film Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) in New York. 

In 2024, R.J. produced The Pinto Variety Hour, an adult animated comedy series pilot, which had its world premiere at the Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation, and Technology in August 2024. Since then, the pilot has screened at over 30 international festivals, earning multiple awards including Best TV Show, Best TV Pilot, Best Animation, Best Screenplay, Best Web Series, Special Jury Award for Animation, Best Voice Acting in a TV Pilot, and Best Director for a TV Pilot.

In 2025, his short film, The Intention Invention, won Best Animation Short at the Greece International Film Festival and the Seattle Film Festival and was selected for over 25 international festivals.

Other notable film festivals that have officially selected Catch and Hatch films include Australia's biggest Oscar qualifying short film festival, St. Kilda Film Festival, the Oscar-qualifying Flicker's Rhode Island International Film Festival, Dances With Films (in LA and New York), Breaking TV Film Festival in London, and Birmingham Film Festival in Birmingham, England.  

R.J. hand-painted watercolor backgrounds for his children’s short Pinto the Mean Bean, which had its West Coast premiere at the 26th Annual Dances With Films festival in June 2023 at the iconic TCL Chinese Theatres in Los Angeles.

Both of his children’s shorts, The Pinto Variety Hour, and The Intention Invention have been featured in showcases at the Hollywood Theatre in the Portland, OR, Airport. Arlo Sings the Blues was part of the Fall 2023 program (September - December), while Pinto the Mean Bean was showcased in the Winter 2024 program (January - March). An abridged 10-minute version of The Pinto Variety Hour pilot was also included in the Fall 2025 shorts program and The Intention Invention screened in the Fall 2026 program.

Originally from Ventura, CA, R.J. now lives in Portland, OR, with his family. He earned a B.A. in Arts and Letters from Portland State University in 2004 and founded Catch and Hatch Studios in 2022. 

Currently, R.J. is seeking a production company to help complete season one of The Pinto Variety Hour and producing an animated feature called Turn Signal.

 FILM FUGITIVES INTERVIEW:

GRAPEVINE BIRMINGHAM -  The Pinto Variety Hour will have its UK premiere at Breaking TV Film Festival

WATCH INTERVIEW:  HOLLYWOOD TIMES - INTERVIEW WITH ANIMATION FILMMAKER R.J. SULLIVAN 

READ INTERVIEW:  WE ARE MOVING STORIES - INTERVIEW WITH R.J. SULLIVAN

Pinto's Backstory