Chad Essley

My name is Chad Essley, and I'm an independent filmmaker in Portland Oregon. I run a small animation studio called CartoonMonkey Studio, and I specialize in character and kid friendly animation. I've been animating for around 15 years, with a combination of being a life long and self taught cartoonist, and being lucky enough to have several great animation mentors from the world of independent animation. I’ve been lucky enough to know, befriend, and learn from several of the world’s greatest independent animators here in the pacific northwest, including Bill Plympton. (Thanks Bill!) I've been a technology enthusiast since the early days of computing, in fact I started out using a Koala Pad on one of the first commercially available home computers, the Commodore 64. I then moved on to the Amiga computer, where I completed six animated short films for Sesame Street in the early 90's. Today, I'm a strong advocate for the Tablet Pc, as well as many other evolving technologies, I try and keep up with the latest, having a deep understanding of operating systems, interface design, as well as overall usability study. This experience leads to my adventures in software beta testing. I have always loved using the latest animation and paint / drawing software, and have been part of many hardware and software beta teams including the Chumby device, Alias Sketchbook Pro, TVPaint, ArtRage, and now I have the great fortune to be a part of the beta team for ToonBoom Inc. I run a small botique animation studio in northwest Portland Oregon, (CartoonMonkey Studio) and my work’s emphasis is on original and interesting hand drawn (as well as computer aided cut-out style) animation. Chad Essley is an independent animation director located in Portland Oregon with over 15 years of experience working as a professional animator in the field of commercials, multimedia, and television.