Rutledge grew up in the Boston suburb of Concord, Massachusetts, and began animating as a child after acquiring a copy of Macromedia Flash in sixth grade. He studied film and animation at the Rhode Island School of Design before attending the Pratt Institute, where he became interested in 3D animation and computer graphics.³ His Pratt thesis film, The Loaf Zone (2018), set in the fictional Loaf Town and rendered in a gooey, stretchy CG style, won a Vimeo staff pick and led him toward directing his own work for Adult Swim while freelancing as an effects artist and technical director.^3,4

He co-runs the production studio Grin Machine with Cole Kush and Dan Streit, creating work for television, advertising, and music videos.¹ Their 2022 music video Caution for the musician Cuco, co-directed with Kush, used CG animation and motion capture to tell the story of someone learning to slow down in an overwhelming world.⁴ Rutledge's films have screened at Sundance, Annecy, Ottawa, and Pictoplasma.² He cites Newgrounds.com, David OReilly, and Sander Joon as influences.⁴