Chris Savino

Christopher Mason Savino (born October 2, 1971) is an American comic book artist and former animator, best known for creating the animated series The Loud House for Nickelodeon. Prior, Savino worked as a storyboard artist or writer on animated shows such as The Ren & Stimpy Show, Rocko's Modern Life, Dexter's Laboratory, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Mickey Mouse, and Johnny Test.

Savino has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Annie Awards, and a Daytime Emmy Award. In May 2018, The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839 gave him a one-year suspension due to sexual harassment allegations from Nickelodeon (which he was fired from in October 2017), leading to his animation career being put on halt. Since then, he has moved on to literature.

Early life and education Savino was born and raised in Royal Oak, Michigan, where he attended Dondero High School. He is the ninth of ten children, having five sisters and four brothers. His biggest influence in the animation world was Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures because of the way its animation style differed from that of the other 1980s animated series.

Influences He cited his works from Cliff Sterrett, Charles M. Schulz, Jim Davis, Hank Ketcham, Walt Kelly, George Herriman, Bill Watterson, E.C. Segar, Max Fleischer, Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, and Jay Ward. While he did state he loved to watch cartoons, it was the comic books that drew him in.

Career

He began his career in the animation industry in 1991 and has worked for Spümcø, Joe Murray Studio, Nickelodeon Animation Studios, Hanna-Barbera, Cartoon Network Studios, and Disney Television Animation. He was originally the showrunner for the last two seasons of Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and My Gym Partner's a Monkey. He was also previously a writer for The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil, and Mickey Mouse. In June 2014, his short for Nickelodeon, The Loud House, was greenlit for a full series, and debuted on May 2, 2016.

On November 1, 2019, Savino released his debut children's novel, Coal: A Cautionary Christmas Tale, through Amazon Publishing. Later on December of the same year he published the first installment of his graphic novel duology Bigfoot & Gray.

On March 3, 2020, he published his first non-fiction book, a guide to write cartoons entitled Writing Cartoons in 4 Acts (Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Midpoint).

Since January 5, 2020, he also publishes the Sunday strip For Brothers.

Sexual harassment allegations

On October 17, 2017, Cartoon Brew reported that Nickelodeon had suspended Savino from their studio due to multiple allegations of sexual harassment against him; rumors of Savino's inappropriate behavior had existed for "at least a decade". As many as a dozen women accused Savino of sexual harassment, unwanted sexual advances, and threats of blacklisting female colleagues who no longer agreed to consensual relationships with him. On October 19, a Nickelodeon spokesperson confirmed that they severed ties with Savino, and that The Loud House would continue production without him, replacing him with story editor Michael Rubiner as executive producer and showrunner.

On October 23, Savino spoke for the first time since the allegations first appeared, saying he was "deeply sorry" for his actions. On May 30, 2018, he was given a one-year suspension from The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839. As part of his plea bargain with The Animation Guild, Savino was ordered to donate $4,000 to a charity chosen by the guild, complete 40 hours of community service, undergo counseling, and obtain a certificate of sexual harassment training.

The allegations and his union suspension process were featured in a March 2019 segment on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee titled "#MeToon" that was produced and animated by a crew of all women, and featured interviews with a few of the female animators that were involved in his successful union suspension campaign along with one of his alleged victims.

Personal life In October 2019, Savino stated that he was a born-again Christian.

Filmography Television Year Title Director Producer Writer Animator Notes 1991–96 The Ren & Stimpy Show layout artist 1993–96 Rocko's Modern Life storyboard clean-up/prop designer/character designer 1995 The Baby Huey Show layout artist/character prop designer (Season 2) 1995 Hate layout artist 1996 The Mouse and the Monster character designer 1996–97 Hey Arnold! storyboard director/prop designer/character designer 1997–2001 The Angry Beavers character designer5 episodes only1997 Duckman storyboard artist 1997–2003 Dexter's Laboratory storyboard artist/animation director 1998 Space Goofs storyboard artistEpisode: "Time for a Change" Cow and Chicken storyboard artistEpisode: "Cow Fly" I Am Weasel storyboard artistEpisodes: "I.R. in Wrong Cartoon" and "Unsinkable I.R." 1998–2005 The Powerpuff Girls storyboard artist 2000 The Cartoon Cartoon Show creator/storyboard director/model designer/animation layout "Foe Paws"animation layout "Jeffrey Cat: Claw and Odor" 2002–03 Samurai Jack 2002 Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? Character and Prop models 2003 The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy storyboard artistEpisode: "To Eris Human" 2004–07 Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends animation director 2005–06 Johnny Test storyboard artist; season 1 2005–08 My Life as a Teenage Robot 2007–08 My Gym Partner's a Monkey storyboard artist/sheet timer 2008 Ni Hao, Kai-Lan storyboard artist/storybook artist 2010–12 Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil executive producer 2010–11 My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic writerEpisodes: "Boast Busters" and "Stare Master" 2013 Mickey Mouse storyboard artistEpisode: "Bad Ear Day" 2015 Get Blake! writerEpisodes: "Get Snatched!" and "Get Western!" 2016–18 The Loud House creator/executive producer/storyboard artist 2016 All in with Cam Newton HimselfEpisode: "All in with Josh"

Film Year Title Director Producer Writer Animator Notes 1999 Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip storyboard artist 2001 The Flintstones: On the Rocks storyboard artist/art director

Internet Year Title Role Notes 2016 Cartoons VS Cancer Episode 9: "The One with Chris Savino" Podcast 2016–17 Nickelodeon Animation Podcast Episodes (2 & 40): "Chris Savino", "Inside the Loud House Writers' Room"

Awards and nominations Date Award Category Work Shared with Result Annie Awards Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television Production The Powerpuff Girls (for "Dream Scheme") Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or More) The Powerpuff Girls: 'Twas the Fight Before Christmas Craig McCracken, Brian A. Miller, Lauren Faust, Craig Lewis, Amy Keating Rogers, Robert Alvarez, John McIntyre, Randy Myers, James T. Walker, and Juli Murphy Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or More) My Life as a Teenage Robot: Escape from Cluster Prime Rob Renzetti, Fred Seibert, Scott D. Peterson, Alex Kirwan, Brandon Kruse, Heather Martinez, Chris Reccardi, Bryan Andrews, and Robert Alvarez Outstanding Short-Format Animated Program Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil (for "Racing the School Bus") Sandro Corsaro and Janelle Momary Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil Sherm Cohen Annie Awards Outstanding Directing in a Television Production Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil Clayton Morrow