Joe Bennett

Joe Bennett (born February 4, 1986) is an American writer, director, animator, and entrepreneur. He is the co-creator of Adult Swim's Common Side Effects, and of the 2024 Emmy Award-winning Scavengers Reign. Bennett is the co-founder of Green Street Pictures. He illustrated A Bathroom Book for People Not Pooping or Peeing but Using the Bathroom as an Escape, written by Joe Pera and 2021's I Will Not Die Alone written by Dera White. In 2022, Bennett appeared on Variety's "10 Animators to Watch."

Early life and education Bennett was born in East Point, Georgia, and raised in Fairburn, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. He has one older sister, Dera White. Bennett went to School of Visual Arts in New York, majoring in fine arts, with a focus on painting, and graduated in 2008. While in his junior year, SVA opened a digital lab which Bennett became interested in, particularly the ability to tell stories through animation.

Career Once Bennett graduated from SVA, he worked in post-production houses and advertising agencies such as J. Walter Thompson and Leroy & Clarkson, while animating shorts in his free time. In 2014, his shorts Odin's Afterbirth 1, 2 & 3 and Bedtime Stories began appearing in episodes of MTV's Liquid Television reboot. That same year, Bennett created bumpers for Adult Swim, which he wrote, directed, and animated.

In 2019, the animated and live-action short film showcase series Cake on FX unveiled the "Joe Bennett Collection ," which featured eighteen animated shorts directed and animated by Bennett. Some of the shorts include Jay, which starred Ted Travelstead and Claudia O'Doherty; Derecho, starring Kate Berlant, John Early, Ted Travelstead, and Felipe Di Poi; Birds starring Joe Pera; Yoo Wana Nowat lyee Didd starring Rory Scovel; and Radio starring Conner O'Malley.

ln 2020, Bennett created a short series called Iggy and Friends, which starred Martha Kelly and Caleb Hearon. Will Ferrell voiced episode 4. It was commissioned by AOK Originals.

Green Street Pictures In 2020, Bennett co-founded Green Street Pictures with Sean Buckelew, James Merrill and Benjy Brooke.

Scavengers Reign, co-created by Bennett and Charles Huettner, took eight years to bring to fruition. It originally aired as an eight-minute short in 2016 on Adult Swim, called Scavengers, about several human survivors on a hostile alien world. By the time it went to series with a twelve episode order from MAX in 2023, its world-building expanded. Scavengers Reign is a co-production between Titmouse and Green Street Pictures and co-stars Sunita Mani, Wunmi Mosaku, Alia Shawkat, Bob Stephenson and Ted Travelstead. It won the 2024 Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for "The Dream" episode and was nominated for Outstanding Animated Program. It co-starred Dave King, Emily Pendergast, Martha Kelly, Joseph Lee Anderson and Mike Judge. It followed former high school lab mates Marshall and Frances as they unravelled a conspiracy involving big pharma and the government to suppress knowledge of a rare fungus secret that may have contained the solution to cure all world's diseases. Adult Swim renewed Common Side Effects for a second season in March 2025.

Personal Bennett lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.

Filmography Shorts

Television series

Year Title Credited as Notes 2023 Scavengers Reignco-created with Charles Huettnerco-directed "The Signal"co-wrote "The Signal," "The Storm" and "The Wall" 2025-present Common Side Effectsco-created with Steve Helyco-wrote "Pilot" 2025-present Haha, You Clowns TBA My Two Cars TBA Dealiesco-created with Ted Travelstead