Rachel Cooley is an award-winning, NJ-based visual artist, animator, and storyboard artist. One frame at a time, Rachel is committed to bringing compelling stories and narratives to life by combining her unique visual & storytelling style, technical knowledge of filmmaking, and high level draftsmanship. No matter the medium- illustration, graphic narrative, animation- the goal is effective communication, audience connection, and thought provocation.

In 2023, Rachel graduated from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, & Television with an MFA in Animation and was awarded the 2023 Gerald Hughes Comedy Directing Fellowship for her film Boxed Out. Prior to UCLA, Rachel has worked as a Digital Content Creator for an aftermarket automotive firm and graduated in 2018 from Hamilton College with majors in Art & Biology.

At her core, she is a farm kid that hates to wear shoes and loves to climb trees. She grew up on a small family farm in central NJ. There she raised all types of livestock with her large family. She draws much inspiration from this unusual upbringing in her personal films, comics, and illustrations.

Currently, Rachel works as a freelance storyboard artist/ 2D animator. Her current project, in collaboration with UCLA Health, is a series of animated instructional videos to assist radiotherapy head & neck cancer patients before and after radiation treatments.

Current personal projects include: 1. a graphic novel “The Adventures of Red Fred” following the misadventures of an unhinged space-time traveling pirate and 2. a natural comedy-horror animated short “Judgement Day” chronicling a teenager's journey purchasing a pregnancy with her equally corky best friend.