Vivienne Medrano

Vivienne Medrano (born October 28, 1992), also known by her pseudonym VivziePop, is an American animator, YouTuber, writer, director, and producer. She is best known as the creator of the musical television series Hazbin Hotel and the web series Helluva Boss. She also created the webcomic ZooPhobia.

Early life Medrano was born on October 28, 1992, grew up in Maryland Medrano directed her first short animated film, titled The Son of 666 in 2013. Medrano named the film after the song of the same name by Pitbull and Kesha, and its score contained homages to the song as well. In October 2014, she released an animated music video for the song "Die Young" by Kesha, which accumulated over 50 million views by October 2019. In September 2025, Medrano said she would love to develop the world of "Timber" in the future, adding she has "projects that are...in my head that I would love to work on. It's just about finding the time."

SpindleHorse

Medrano founded the animation studio SpindleHorse, under which the pilot for Hazbin Hotel, the pilot and first season for Helluva Boss, and several animated shorts would be released. Medrano serves as the director, writer and character designer for SpindleHorse Toons. In an interview with Cartoon Brew, she said that much of the Hazbin Hotel pilot was funded by money from her Patreon, rather than income from YouTube's algorithm. Cartoon Brew described her as a "paragon of indie success in animation".

In October 2019, the pilot episode of Hazbin Hotel was released on Medrano's YouTube channel. By September 2025, it had garnered over 117 million views. In July 2020, Medrano released an animated music video for Hazbin Hotel called "Addict", featuring the Silva Hound song of the same name. In August 2020, Hazbin Hotel was picked up for a full series by A24. Animation Magazine said that A24 was taking a "bold step" by picking up the series. In 2023, scholar Ben Mitchell described Medrano's Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss as series which were "sensationally popular" and an effective use of Patreon to subsidize the show's art "through monthly tiered payments".

On September 30, 2020, Medrano released an animated short film titled "Bad Luck Jack", based on ZooPhobia. The short won an Ursa Major Award in the "Best Dramatic Short Work" category. The short was also listed as a "Recommended Anthropomorphic Dramatic Short Work" on the Ursa Major Award website. In September 2025, Medrano said she would like to do more with the webcomic's characters, possibly including more animated shorts and a graphic novel, the latter of which she wanted do as a college student. It was later reported that Medrano, and Spindlehorse itself, would retain "full creative control and final cut on the series." The Hollywood Reporter also stated that Medrano had signed a "first-look deal with Prime Video to develop new projects."

In August 2025, it was announced that the Australian studio branch of Spindlehorse, Spindleroo, would be releasing an 11-minute animated pilot for the webcomic Homestuck. It will be the first project for Spindlehorse not built around Medrano's story or characters. She expressed her excitement about this project to Polygon, in September 2025, saying it will be "very experimental" and called it a "test pilot" for many aspects, including "the studio, the process, a new style, [and] a new technology," adding that audience reaction will determine whether studios are interested in developing it into a full animated series, or if it will be continued on her YouTube channel. She also told the publication that she hoped that the project would be opening the door for Spindlehorse working with additional creators, like artists or those who created webcomics, with "more original projects," to support other voices apart from her own ideas.

In September 2025, Medrano revealed that she has a five season-plan for Hazbin Hotel and a four season-plan for Helluva Boss, with seasons 3 and 4 of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss already in production, respectively. She described the second season of Hazbin Hotel as what the show was "meant to be" in terms of visuals, scale, narrative, pacing, and everything else, noting that the first season was "made in a vacuum" because she didn't know "if the show would continue". She also stated that while the original pilot of Helluva Boss has a "very special place in her heart", it functionally does not work with the rest of the show, calling "Mission Zero" a new "starting point" for the series and new audiences. She called her experience on the series "a delight". She also worked as a character designer on the series.

During the 2026 Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Medrano was confirmed to be writing and directing an animated film for Warner Bros. Pictures Animation titled Prehistoria. The film marks her feature-length directorial debut.

Personal life Medrano is bisexual, and on the asexual spectrum. She grew up Presbyterian, and says she remembers going to church and questioning a lot of stories in the Bible, such as Adam and Eve and Lucifer.

In a January 2024 interview following the release of Hazbin Hotel on Amazon Prime Video, she described herself as a "queer woman on the internet who made something popular", and related herself to her character Charlie Morningstar, saying that both she and Charlie are in a "position of fighting uphill battles to just have [their] dreams exist." Previously, Medrano had described herself, on social media, as a "proud 'fiery' atina," and said that Vaggie was the character she related to most, saying that Vaggie and Charlie "feel like sides of [her]self."

In August 2025, she stated that she has ADHD.

Filmography Film and pilots Title Year Credited as Notes Director Writer Producer Animation/Art Other Blenderstein! 2011 Assistant The Son of 666 2013 Creator "That's Entertainment" 2019 Hazbin Hotel pilot Bad Luck Jack 2020 ZooPhobia short

Television Title Year Credited as Notes Director Writer Producer Animation/Art Other Hazbin Hotel 2024–present Creator Helluva Boss 2019–present Keenie, Deerie, various characters Creator Ollie & Scoops 2019–present Poopsie St. Pierre Eddsworld 2021 Face Painter Episode: "The Beaster Bunny" Normal British Series 2022 ButtMunch Episode: "Being British"

Music videos YearTitleArtist2024 "Polkamania!" ("Vampire" segment) "Weird Al" Yankovic