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Hi, I’m Melissa Mahanes. I’m a meticulous animator with more than a decade of experience across traditional and digital media, with a focus on 3D character animation. I enjoy shaping stories through expressive motion and collaborating with teams to craft polished, on-time work. I’m proficient in Autodesk Maya, Adobe Photoshop, and Unreal Engine, and I bring a strong background in customer service and teamwork. I quickly grasp new concepts, communicate clearly, and take pride in delivering thoughtful, high-quality animation work on deadline.…Hi, I’m Melissa Mahanes. I’m a meticulous animator with more than a decade of experience across traditional and digital media, with a focus on 3D character animation. I enjoy shaping stories through expressive motion and collaborating with teams to craft polished, on-time work. I’m proficient in Autodesk Maya, Adobe Photoshop, and Unreal Engine, and I bring a strong background in customer service and teamwork. I quickly grasp new concepts, communicate clearly, and take pride in delivering thoughtful, high-quality animation work on deadline.

Melissa Mahanes

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Hi, I’m Melissa Mahanes. I’m a meticulous animator with more than a decade of experience across traditional and digital media, with a focus on 3D character animation. I enjoy shaping stories through expressive motion and collaborating with teams to craft polished, on-time work. I’m proficient in Autodesk Maya, Adobe Photoshop, and Unreal Engine, and I bring a strong background in customer service and teamwork. I quickly grasp new concepts, communicate clearly, and take pride in delivering thoughtful, high-quality animation work on deadline.…Hi, I’m Melissa Mahanes. I’m a meticulous animator with more than a decade of experience across traditional and digital media, with a focus on 3D character animation. I enjoy shaping stories through expressive motion and collaborating with teams to craft polished, on-time work. I’m proficient in Autodesk Maya, Adobe Photoshop, and Unreal Engine, and I bring a strong background in customer service and teamwork. I quickly grasp new concepts, communicate clearly, and take pride in delivering thoughtful, high-quality animation work on deadline.

Available to hire

Hi, I’m Melissa Mahanes. I’m a meticulous animator with more than a decade of experience across traditional and digital media, with a focus on 3D character animation. I enjoy shaping stories through expressive motion and collaborating with teams to craft polished, on-time work.

I’m proficient in Autodesk Maya, Adobe Photoshop, and Unreal Engine, and I bring a strong background in customer service and teamwork. I quickly grasp new concepts, communicate clearly, and take pride in delivering thoughtful, high-quality animation work on deadline.

Skills

Experience Level

Expert

Expert

Expert

Expert

Work Experience

Director, 30-Second Bumper (Animation 395) at Savannah College of Art and Design

March 24, 2025 - May 29, 2025

Directed a 30-second bumper for Animation 395, assigning leadership roles, assessing team strengths to optimize collaboration, developing a project plan spreadsheet to manage workflow, and ensuring timely submission of assignments.

Participant, 24-Hour Animation Challenge at California State University, Long Beach

October 4, 2024 - October 5, 2024

Collaborated with a team of five to create a 30-second animation based on a prompt; delegated tasks by skill set; modeled and rigged two characters within two hours for use in the film; provided support in production and postproduction to meet deadlines.

Director / Creator, Self-Directed Minute-Long Film at Savannah College of Art and Design

September 9, 2024 - November 14, 2024

Learned and utilized Unreal Engine 5 within a 10-week timeframe to produce a minute-long film; developed and pitched three story concepts; created storyboards and mood boards; combined pre-made animations with frame-by-frame animation to complete each shot.

Pre-production / Crew Support, Back to Bones at Savannah College of Art and Design

September 8, 2025 - Present

Assisted in pre-production by pitching ideas and creating rough cube-cut visuals to visualize world and characters; contributed to film development; supported production with leadership and collaboration; awarded MAKE Thesis Grant third place for $1,000 to support film production.