Antonio Espada

Animation Reel

Mt. Misery Intro

Parallax Test

The Rite

Takeaway Stowaway

Marisol's Match

Reeling after a hard loss, rookie monster fighter Marisol comes home to face the true battle -- the judgement of her superstar older brother.

While making my senior thesis film, I drew inspiration from the ancient Taino semis of Puerto Rico for the "monster" designs and the huge sports culture from the island. I wanted to create a "Latin-future" style story, where tech and sci-fi ideas blend with traditionally Latin elements. For my final film as a student, I wanted to push my animation skills by choreographing fights and trying VFX animation.The storyboarding, backgrounds, props, animation, compositing, editing, sound design, and Rio's voice were all done by me.Made with Storyboard Pro, ToonBoom Harmony, Adobe After Effects, Premiere, Illustrator, and Photoshop.

Animation Test

Film Stills

Pre-Production

Housing PSA

A one-minute animated short on the importance of housing rights commissioned by the non-profit Center for Popular Democracy.I was the project manager on a team of six. Alongside boarding and animating, I was managing members, maintaining our files, and ensuring we were on track to our deadlines.Made with ToonBoom Harmony, Adobe After Effects, Premiere, Illustrator, and Photoshop.

Animatic:

Team Breakdown:

Our First Museum Heist

Two teens discover they have superpowers and try to show them off by doing the most extreme thing they can think of - rob a museum.
Created in Storyboard Pro.

My Coworker is a Monster?!

Teenager Alex gets in way over their head when their coworker Reggie gets turned into a monster overnight.
Created in Storyboard Pro.

The Moonlit Lovers

A smitten servant has to choose between loyalty to the Moon God and their human lover on Earth.

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Moonlit Lovers was a concept art project from Bad Suns, a collective of Pratt animation students.Over three months, we created an original short from script to timed animatic. As director, I was responsible for managing the team of volunteers remotely while also writing the script, concept sketches, designing characters, maintaining our files, and providing creative direction.

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Work shown on this page is mine unless credited otherwise.

Animatic

Design Package & Credits

The Bad Suns Team:

Antonio Espada
Director, Writer, Editor, Character Designer (Jaci)Davan Howard
Prop Designer, Character Designer (Ouyae)Elliot Kampmeier
Storyboard ArtistJulia Mukai
Storyboard ArtistJulia Ognibene
Background Designer, Character Designer (Yoral)Lee Petroll
Color Designer, Creative ConsultantJason Raymond
Writer, Storyboard ArtistJacob Sommer
Character Designer, Storyboard ArtistElizabeth Tian
Character Designer (Aio)Avery Vang
Background DesignerPaige Vang
Background DesignerLola Vira
Creative Consultant

La Agua de Vida
(The Water of Life)

After their father falls ill, three siblings embark on a dangerous quest to find a spring rumored to have magical healing water to save him.A concept art project based on the Catalan version of the Water of Life fairytale. The setting is late 1800s rural Puerto Rico and centers on themes of family, class struggles, and the absolute power of nature.

The Bane of Aclon

The story of a petty thief, a bungler soldier, and how they first meet. This is an origin story from a larger worldbuilding project.This comic is inked traditionally and put into a hand-bound book. It is reversible, with each character's backstory read from their respective cover. The tale of how they meet is in the center of the book.

Kendra's Cover

Amari's Cover

Kendra's Story

Amari's Story

Center Story

"Love" Comic

The final for one of my freshman classes, "Love" was an introspective work navigating my frustrations with relationships at the time.It was my first time creating a full-length color comic, and my first time using Adobe InDesign. It was eventually printed and hand-bound.Read the whole comic below!

About

Antonio is a 2D Animator from New Jersey. He graduated from Pratt Institute in 2025 with a BFA in Digital Arts (2D Animation). His biggest inspirations are things with fight scenes, body horror, or silly little guys. When he's not drawing, he enjoys gaming, reading, writing, and struggling at guitar.