Jan Balej (born May 30, 1958 in Prague) is an animation artist, film director and art designer from Czech Republic. Balej graduated from the Academy of Art and Industrial Design (UMPRUM) (Studio of Film and Television Graphics)^[1] in 1992.

Works

• 1992–1994 – Tom Thumb
• 1999–2000 – bedtime stories for Czech TV (notably The Doings of Hippopotamus Family)
• 2000 - Mire Bala Kale Hin: Tales from the Endless Road (with Katariina Lillqvist).
• 2000 – short film Džin
• 2003 – short film Shells
• 2006 – One Night in A City feature animated puppet film
• 2006 – Fimfarum 2 (the short: The Sea, Uncle, why is it salty?) – Fimfarum 2 was awarded the Czech Lion in 2006^[2]
• 2006 – Mr. Fin and Mr. Twig
• 2007 – The Head of a Studio of Animation and TV graphic of Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague
• 2008 – Karlik and Magic Fish – TV series with Czech Television
• 2009 - Little Rain Worms - TV series collaborated with artwork Jaromir Gal.
• 2015 – Little from the Fish Shop – feature animated film based on "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen