Meet Chad Welson | Writer, Director, & Story Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chad Welson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chad, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Aristotle says virtue is the mean between two extremes, and I try to think of risk in the same way. On one side of the scale is perceived safety and security, holding on to what you have, and on the other is reckless abandon and unrestrained rashness. The magic happens somewhere between those extremes, and the line I aim for is right outside my comfort zone.

I was risk-averse for most of my life, a trait I learned from my father. I wanted to work in animation ever since I was a little kid, wearing out my VHS Cassettes of Max Fleischer’s Superman and The Sword in the Stone. But when I got older, I took the safe route, compromising my dreams for the security of a salaried job at an advertising agency. Things were going well! I’d just gotten married to my best friend and long-time partner, and I was getting to do creative work with talented people, I was content, but there was still this hole I couldn’t fill.

In reality, it turns out there is no such thing as security. I was laid off, along with several others, all as shocked and dismayed as I was. At this point, I decided that since there was no real security blanket to cling to, I might as well take some action and rekindle my dreams of working in animation.

Armed with a new portfolio focused on storyboarding for animation, I began getting my name and my work in front of as many people as possible, peers and pros alike. Deciding to nuke my portfolio from orbit and start from scratch was risky. I lost access to decades of portfolio samples in graphic design and motion graphics, work that put food on our table; but it was decades of work that wouldn’t get me a job in animation.

This gamble eventually landed me the 2021 TV Story Trainee position at DreamWorks Animation, and I haven’t looked back since!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I draw stories! I am a writer, director, and storyboard artist in the animation industry, most recently on Dragons: The Nine Realms at DreamWorks Animation.

It had always been my dream to work in animation, but getting here wasn’t easy. I grew up on the coast of Southeast Texas in the small town of Hamshire. As a neurospicy kid with an overactive imagination fueled by Saturday Morning Cartoons and Steven Spielberg flicks, I spent most of my childhood either trying to acquire superpowers or searching for Bigfoot in the Texas wilderness. Eventually, I figured out how to put that overactive imagination to work writing and drawing my own stories. I wanted desperately to see those stories on TV and the big screen, but we didn’t have a lot of money, and Hollywood was a long way from my tiny hometown.

I eventually settled for a career in advertising and marketing, slinging graphic design, illustration, and motion graphics for advertising agencies across the country. It was good work for a time, but it never fulfilled me the way I wanted it to. I would continue to fill sketchbooks and notebooks with my own stories and characters, though it would be a long while before they ever saw the light of day.

After getting caught in a wave of layoffs and losing my salaried job at an advertising agency, I decided to rekindle my dream of working in animation. One of my first mentors, Chris Oatley, pushed me to look at the careers of my heroes in the industry and study their career paths. Everyone enters the industry by a different door, but success leaves clues. So I researched the animators I admired the most, like Genndy Tartakovsky, Rebecca Sugar, Alex Hirsch, and Bruce Timm. I noted that all of them got their starts in the story department working on other shows before they had their own. With that top of mind, I started to build a portfolio focusing solely on storyboarding.

It was a grind, and I felt like I’d fallen out of love with drawing. In reality, I realized it was a skill issue. I was a competent artist, sure, but I was entering an industry where every single person was probably the best artist at their school! I never had any formal schooling or training outside of my high school art classes, and I needed to improve my skills if I wanted to be competitive in the industry. While working on my story samples, I continuously drilled figure and gesture drawing. I studied anatomy and broke down the compositions of my favorite movies. Eventually, this gave me the tools and the confidence to attack the blank frame and visually tell the story.

My biggest lesson along the way was having a “craftsman mindset” in regards to my work, choosing to focus on developing my skills, mastering my craft, and producing the best work I was capable of at that time. These are all things that are in my control. I can’t make someone hire me. I can’t control the ebb and flow of the industry’s ups and downs, but I can control my skills and the work they allow me to create. Don’t worry about being the noun; all you have to worry about is doing the verb.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love this town, and all the pop-culture history under every stone!

As an avid lover of books, one of our first stops driving up north to Hollywood would be at The Last Bookstore in Downtown Los Angeles. Such a cool place to lose yourself in! Amazing selection of books and vinyl, as well as rare books and collectors’ items! Themed rooms for horror, thriller, comics, and more! As a bonus, it’s right around the corner from the Bradbury Building, the shooting location for the Tyrell Corporation building in Blade Runner. Each trip there is a unique adventure, can’t recommend it enough.

Next, we’d begin our museum tour! There are so many amazing museums in Los Angeles. The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is an amazing tour through the history of film in the area. The Getty Villa is a picturesque site of the J. Paul Getty Museum, featuring antiquities from ancient Greece and Rome, staged in a recreated Roman villa. We could hit the Guiness World Record Museum and the Hollywood Wax Museum on Hollywood Blvd., and take a stroll around the Chamber of Horrors. We could finish up with the Petersen Automotive Museum, and oogle at the history of automotive locomotion, and even get an up-close look at The Batmobile, Christine, and Luke Skywalker’s landspeeder from Star Wars!

Once the sun sets, the comedy scene in LA rises! I think one of the best times you can have in Los Angeles is Puppet Up! The Legendary Brian Henson, along with a talented cast of other Muppeteers, perform a raunchy adult improv show with walls of puppets to choose from! Fueled by suggestions from the very buzzed audience, they perform just like they do for The Muppet Show: they are up on a stage with their puppet above their head, playing to a camera that is projected on three big screens. Hands down, the best time ever for an adult fan of the Muppets.

Finally, we’d finish up the evening with tacos and tiki drinks at the Tonga Hut, LA’s oldest surviving tiki bar! Most days of the week, Durangos Tacos cook up the best tacos right outside the lanai and are a great addition to your tropical cocktail.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I feel fortunate to have grown up in a family that supported my creativity, and tracing it all the way back I have to dedicate this shoutout to my mother, Joan. She did not enjoy reading at all, but she was saddled with a son who was fascinated with books long before he knew what reading was, and the number of times she had to read “The Monster At The End of This Book” with starring lovable, furry old Grover was unfathomable. Thanks, Mom!

My wife Sarah is a Disney Imagineer, and has always been a creative North Star I can steer toward when I’m feeling lost on the horizon. Seeing her unending work ethic and striving toward her creative dreams is always an inspiration, and keeps my fire burning.

Finally, I’d like to recognize the mentors who spent their valuable time and incredible skills to help me bring my work to a professional level: Chris Oatley, Justin Copeland, Allan Jacobsen, and Beth Sleven. I literally wouldn’t be here without each one of you, so thank you!

Website: https://www.cartoonomancer.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cartoonomancer/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadwelson/

Twitter: https://x.com/cartoonomancer

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Cartoonomancer

Image Credits
Chad Welson