bots

Chris Carden	Illustrator, writer, animator, and musician Chris Carden is the founder and owner of toonbots. He was a software engineer, senior consultant, and Maya instructor at Alias\|wavefront, Alias, and then Autodesk for ten years, and a creative director at Mackevision, a leading producer of 3D animation. Since 2005 he has been an adjunct instructor at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies, teaching 3D and animation. Chris lives in Southeast Michigan with his wife and three children.
Steve Stanchfield is an award-winning character animator, animation director, and animation historian, his experience includes working for many of the major animation studios on projects that include television shows, commercials, educational programming, original short films, interactive games, and feature animation. He is a professor of animation and animation history at The College For Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan, and is also the director of Thunderbean Animation, a small Ann Arbor-based studio that produces animation as well as compilations of rare and obscure animation on DVD at high quality. Animation historian, master of timing, process and style, Steve is loved by everyone he has ever worked with.	Steve Stanchfield
David Bentley	David Bentley is an illustrator, modeler, animator, and 3D visualization artist who has worked as a designer at General Motors, Chrysler, Lear, Alias\|Wavefront and Alias, Autodesk, and now is a professor at Detroit’s College for Creative Studies. He graduated with a BFA in Industrial Design from the Brigham Young University in 1997. David lives in Michigan with his wife and four children. David’s portfolio is online.
Niles Bontrager is is a motion graphics and effects artist, animator, illustrator, and musician from the Southeast Michigan area. His intrepid motion, 2D and 3D skills, combined with an eye for detail and passion for style make him a wonderful artist to work with. Niles is a College for Creative Studies graduate. You can see his work online.	Niles Bontrager
Mel Miller	Mel Miller is a College for Creative Studies Entertainments Arts graduate and 2010 Stratton Scholarship recipient. She is an animator and illustrator, working independently and with studios such as Thunderbean Animation, Alpha Omega Animation Design, and toonbots. Mel’s work is online.
Michael Winn is an illustrator, animator, and teacher in Southeast Michigan. A College for Creative Studies graduate, Michael is currently working as a storyboard artist by day and developing his Armsmasters animated series by night. Michael’s work is online.	Michael Winn
Patrick Stannard	Patrick Stannard is an illustrator and animator with a knack for character acting and lip synch. He works in 2D and 3D, and is a graduate of Detroit’s College for Creative Studies. His work is online.
Michelle Ouellette is a motion graphics artist, illustrator, graphic designer, and animator, using a broad spectrum of tools including After Effects, Nuke, Maya, Final Cut Pro, Photoshop, and Illustrator. She has worked at ad agencies, render houses, and marketing departments around Southeast Michigan, and studied at renowned Sheridan College in Ontario. A bright soul with bright ideas, she makes “beautiful” look easy. Michelle’s portfolio is online.	Michelle Ouellette
Mike Weiss	Mike Weiss studied animation at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and is currently a Technical Director at Mackevision, a leading 3D visualization company based in Stuttgart, Munich, and Detroit. Mike’s illustration and 3D skills, combined with his scripting abilities, make him essential to any group needing a high-performance production pipeline. He has worked as a Consultant, Application Engineer, Visual Effects Artist and Director at various companies, including Autodesk, Alias, GTN, Fisher-Unitech, and Creative Reign Studios. Mike’s work can be seen online.
Will Brake is a musician, recording engineer, electronics technician, and stage manager who loves making sounds that pull you into a special place. As proprietor of Soul Fruit Productions, Will has composed music and contributed sound designs for games and bands. He has performed with many blues, funk, jazz, and pop bands. Will has a solid reputation for his repair and modifications to sound gear for many local and national music heroes. His combined affinity for knob tweaking and fine art has led him naturally to become an outstanding textural sound sculptor.	Will Brake
Marcel Declercq	Marcel DeClercq has been writing scripts and novels for 25 years and has won awards for several of his screenplays. Marcel is currently writing a young adult science fiction novel, “Penelope and the Space Otter.” Marcel co-writes a comedy blog with London writer Stewart Sumner – “Tails From The Bird & Buffalo“.
Przemek Lodej is a 3D modeler and has taught Maya at Chrysler and Macomb Community College. Przemek has contributed his extensive skills in character design, data conversion, modeling, and visualization to Graphic Promotions, Quintek, Alias Systems, and Autodesk two years, before joining Mackevision. He graduated from Oakland University. Przemek’s portfolio is online.	Przemek Lodej
Daemian Wilson	Daemian Wilson, writer, illustrator and animator, studied at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and currently works as a creative consultant for Mackevision. He has lent his 3D skills to Autodesk, in the past, and was an Art Director at Creative Reign Studios. Passionate about life, creative beyond comprehension, Daemian’s strong illustration, character design, story, 3D modeling, animation, and rendering skills are a great asset to this group.
Comedienne and writer Dora Badger is a senior member of All Writers Group and editor of Detroit Stand Up, a monthly online magazine written entirely by Detroit-area comedians and people in the business of comedy. Dora is also a freelance web designer and writer/editor through elance.com. A ridiculous drooling fan of animation, Dora has seen almost as many animated films as live-action ones. Some of her comic and not-so-comic writing and work can be seen online.	Dora Badger