Today we’d like to introduce you to Rita Chen.
Hi Rita, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in Beijing. From a very young age, I have had an obsession with cartoon characters (tale as old as time). My first fandom was the 2008 Beijing Olympics mascots. They had a spinoff show and everything – I was enamored with their designs and personalities. I was pretty anti-social growing up as an only child, so it was easy to sequester myself off in my little corner, make up stories, and draw pictures all day. I kept a little comic strip of my life. This same habit continued once my family moved to Toronto – my earliest memories of learning English were through cartoons. I would write stories online and publish them to my 1-2 friends. Pretty much all my childhood I was playing pretend.
I learned about CalArts through an online friend who first told me about CSSSA. I applied, got in (woo), and it was honestly the first time I felt like I had a real, tangible community of peers who thought like me. I made some lifelong friends there, many of whom ended up going to CalArts as well, where I completed my BFA in Character Animation. Since graduating, I’ve had the surreal experience of meeting my heroes and collaborating with artists I’ve admired for years. Now, as an independent filmmaker, I’ve really come to love the freedom of telling stories on my own terms. There’s something incredibly fulfilling about crafting a world from scratch. Each project teaches me something new, whether it’s about storytelling, collaboration, or just pushing through something creatively challenging. I’m still growing, still experimenting, and I think I always will be!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think what I struggle with most is viewing my craft from more of a commercial angle. They say if you love your job, you never work a day in your life, and that can be true, but in my experience I’ve needed to find good hobbies that can supplement what I do for a living. As much as my childhood self would be impressed with me that I get to be an artist, ultimately when all the glamor is stripped away, it is a job like any other. I get stuck in the mindset where all I want to do is output, output, output, but I think as artists much of what informs our work is the life we live away from screens. Right now I’m working on finding the balance between maintaining a good work ethic while still making time to go outside and take in inspiration from the world. I find that the work I’m proudest of is work created when I’ve been able to take a breath and live.
Another challenge for me is the stability of animation as a career. Over these past few years, it has felt harder to envision myself in a long-term position, as more and more people are taking on permanent freelancer roles and in-house talent dwindles. For me, it feels difficult to plan for my future when everything seems as uncertain as ever. Of course, this is the case with many industries as we reckon with the threat of emerging technologies. I suppose we will see how things shake out – there is nothing we can do except adapt to the changing waters.
Over the course of my career, I’ve met so many generous, thoughtful people who I’m lucky to now call friends. They’re the ones I turn to when I need to vent and they never make me feel like any problem is too small. I’m equally grateful to my family, who have always believed in me unconditionally and have been there to lift me up when things get tough. I’m incredibly thankful to be surrounded by people who remind me why I do what I do!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
A lot of my work is inspired by fantasy imagery and themes, which really comes from my love of Dungeons & Dragons and collaborative storytelling. I’ve been part of a home game for over a year and a half now, and the friendships and creative bonds I’ve built through that experience have had a big impact on how I think about story and character. As such, the primary focus of my work is on visual development, as I’ve found myself taking on a pre-production role in most of the professional work I have done so far. I really enjoy exploring surreal concepts and figuring out a fantasy world’s internal logic. That same love for fantasy showed up during my time at Titmouse, where I worked as a background painting mentee. I got to see how much passion the team behind The Legend of Vox Machina had for the genre, and how their personal interests genuinely shaped the work. It was exciting to see that kind of overlap between what people love and what they create professionally.
Beyond that, I think my films also have a clear thematic throughline. I am drawn to exploring uncertainty, and the relationships people form to cope with it, whether it be self-destructive or mutually beneficial. All my films so far have had this element in it to some degree. Star-Crossed and Chrysalis have characters who develop a desperate, one-sided craving for love from the other. Play Again is about one character assuring the other that they would find each other against the odds, and my most recent film, Stillturn, is about someone coming to terms with how the future she planned for herself isn’t going to come to pass – and how that’s ultimately okay. I put a lot of thought into my characters and their internal worlds. A lot of the times they reflect a conversation I am having with myself. I think I make these films to tell myself that everything is going to be okay, too!
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
My biggest piece of advice is to rely on people as much as you can. People are almost always more resourceful than not, more kind than not, and more willing to lend a hand than not. My favorite part about this career is how much information and resources are shared between fellow artists. We always want to build each other up, and push ourselves toward the next goal. Never be afraid to ask your friends to see their Procreate timelapses!! You’ll learn so much, I promise.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ritachenart.weebly.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pendragonfruit
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rita-chen-142a40153/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ritachen531
