Born and raised in New England, Chad Kaplan is a 2D artist and animator. He began drawing at a young age and started animating as an experiment around the year 2004. Animation quickly became a passion of his and he has animated a variety of short films in addition to some work on several features. While initially self-taught, Kaplan chose art and animation as something to seriously pursue as a young adult. He graduated cum laude from Emerson College in 2012 where he majored in animation and motion media. In addition, he received further education at Rhode Island School of Design where he developed more skills in the medium of animation. One of his earliest and bigger projects involved creating 2D animated dramatizations for the documentary Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the '70s (2012) directed by Mike Malloy. The film has screened at various festivals internationally and received a write-up in Variety magazine. Kaplan then went on to do animated work for another documentary My Name Is Jonah (2014) which has also received acclaim on the film-festival circuit. Kaplan's most ambitious project to date involved him serving as animation director on the 2016 live action/animated hybrid feature film Desert Mirage (2016) with frequent collaborator Michael Fredianelli. In addition to designing characters, layouts, and overseeing other aspects of the animation production, he was directly involved in animating several scenes for the movie over a three year period.