Jorge R. Gutierrez (born 1975) is a Mexican

animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video gam ...

, director, painter, writer, voice actor, and production designer. He co-created (with wife, Sandra Equihua) the Annie and Emmy Award-winning Ni ck toon '' El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera'', co-wrote and directed the Annie Award-winning '' The Book of Life'', which was nominated for a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

for Best Animated Feature Film, wrote and directed the Annie and Emmy nominated ''Son of Jaguar'' VR short for

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

, and most recently wrote and directed the Annie and Emmy Award-winning limited series ''

Maya and the Three ''Maya and the Three'' (Spanish title: ''Maya y los tres'') is a computer-animated fantasy streaming television miniseries created by Jorge R. Gutiérrez and produced by Tangent Animation. The nine-episode series premiered on Netflix on Octobe ...

'' for

Netflix Animation Netflix Animation is an American animation studio and a subsidiary of Netflix. The studio primarily produces and develops animated programs and feature films. History When Netflix began to produce original animated content in 2013, all of them ...

Biography

Born in 1975 in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

and raised in

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

, Gutierrez has completed various films, cartoons, illustrations and paintings exploring his love of Mexican pop and folk culture. Gutierrez attended the

California Institute of the Arts The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private art university in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for students of both ...

(CalArts), where he received his BFA (1997) & MFA (2000) in Experimental Animation under

Jules Engel Jules Engel (born Gyula Engel, March 11, 1909 – September 6, 2003) was an American filmmaker, painter, sculptor, graphic artist, set designer, animator, film director, and teacher. He was the founding director of the experimental animation ...

, and was mentored by

Maureen Selwood Maureen Selwood (born 1946) is an Irish-born American filmmaker and visual artist whose works employ simple line drawings, marriages between animation and live footage, digital projections and installations. She is a pioneer in the field of indepe ...

. There he created the 3D short ''Carmelo'', which won the 2001 Student Emmy Award in animation and was screened at Kodak's Emerging Filmmakers Program at the 2001

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. In 2000, Gutierrez worked under animator

Maurice Noble Maurice James Noble (May 1, 1911 – May 18, 2001) was an American animation production designer, background artist and layout designer whose contributions to the industry spanned more than 60 years. He was a long-time associate and right-hand m ...

, for the art direction of

Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...

' ''Timberwolf'' for

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

In 2001, he began creating ''Jorge Gutierrez' El Macho'', an animated web series for

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Sony Pictures or SPE, and formerly known as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc.) is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio Conglomerate (company), conglom ...

. Gutierrez has also done character design on many animated series including

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

's ''

ChalkZone ''ChalkZone'' is an American animated television series created by Bill Burnett and Larry Huber for Nickelodeon. The series follows Rudy Tabootie, an elementary school student who discovers a box of magic chalk that allows him to draw portals ...

'', as well as

Kids' WB Kids' WB (stylized as Kids' WB!) was an American children's programming service and brand of The WB that aired on the network from September 9, 1995, to September 16, 2006. The block moved to The CW (a result of the merger of Time Warner's The WB ...

's ''

¡Mucha Lucha! ''¡Mucha Lucha!'' (known as ''¡Mucha Lucha!: Gigante'' during its third and final season) is an American animated television series that premiered on Kids' WB, Teletoon, and Canal 5 from August 17, 2002, to February 26, 2005. It was created by ...

'',

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

's '' Class of 3000'', and

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's ''

The Buzz on Maggie ''The Buzz on Maggie'' is an American animated television series created by Dave Polsky for Disney Channel. The series centers on an ambitious and expressive tween fly named Maggie Pesky and her family and friends. The show is set in Stickyfeet, ...

'' for which he was nominated for a 2006 Annie Award in character design. As a writer, he's worked on Scholastic's ''

Maya & Miguel ''Maya & Miguel'' is an American animated children's television series produced by Scholastic Productions with animation by Starburst Animation Studios and by Yeson Entertainment. It aired on PBS Kids Go! from October 11, 2004 to October 10, 2007 ...

'' as well as Disney's '' Brandy & Mr. Whiskers'' and ''

Vampirina ''Vampirina'' is a computer-animated children's television series created by Chris Nee. Based on the ''Vampirina Ballerina'' series of books written by Anne Marie Pace and published by Disney-Hyperion, the series was announced in March 2016 and ...

''. In 2008, Gutierrez won two Annie awards (Best TV Animated Show & Best TV Character Design) and one Emmy (Best TV Character Design) working on his passion project for Nickelodeon, '' El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera'', along with his co-creator and wife, Sandra Equihua who also won an Emmy for her character designs. In 2010, he created some of the sketches in Cartoon Network's '' Mad'' including "Dear Reaper...", "Dog vs Mailman" (part 1, 2 and 3), "Video Game Cheats", "Arcade Boy" and "Dog vs Fire Hydrant". In 2012, Gutierrez directed and co-wrote a computer-animated adventure feature film with a ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'' style love story set against a Mexican "

Day of the Dead The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...

" backdrop. The film, with the official title '' The Book of Life'', was co-produced with

20th Century Fox Animation 20th Century Animation, Inc. (originally known as Fox Family Films, Fox Animation Studios, and 20th Century Fox Animation and sometimes referred to as Fox Animation) is an American animation studio located in Century City, Los Angeles. Formed i ...

and was released on October 17, 2014. He earned his first

nomination for

Best Animated Feature Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

in 2014. He was also nominated for three Annie awards (Best Film, Best Director & Best Character Design). In February 2015,

Reel FX A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the en ...

and Gutierrez announced a multi-year, multi-picture deal which included Kung Fu Space Punch and The Book of Life 2. In 2016 Gutierrez designed, voiced, wrote and directed the Annie and Emmy nominated ''Son of Jaguar'' VR short for

Spotlight Stories. In 2016, Gutierrez was awarded an Impact Award by the

National Hispanic Media Coalition The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) civil rights organization that was founded to eliminate hate, discrimination, and racism towards the Latino community. NHMC collaborates with other social justice organizations ...

for his “Outstanding Direction in a Motion Picture”. On August 2, 2017, it was reported that Gutierrez would write and direct '' The Billion Brick Race'', a spin-off of ''

The Lego Movie ''The Lego Movie'' is a 2014 computer-animated adventure comedy film written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from a story by Lord, Miller, and Dan and Kevin Hageman. Based on the Lego line of construction toys, its story focu ...

'', for

Warner Animation Group The Warner Animation Group (WAG) is an American animation studio serving as the computer-animated feature film label of Warner Bros.' theatrical film production and distribution division, Warner Bros. Pictures. Established on January 7, 2013, th ...

. However, on February 8, 2018, it was reported that Gutierrez had left the project. In October 2020, he signed an over-all-deal with

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

Animation. He directed the Immigration music video for the Emmy Award-winning series ''

We the People The Preamble to the United States Constitution, beginning with the words We the People, is a brief introductory statement of the Constitution's fundamental purposes and guiding principles. Courts have referred to it as reliable evidence o ...

'', and wrote and directed the Annie (Best TV Animated Show & Best TV Music) and Emmy (Best Writing, Best Promo, Best Sound and Induvial Achievement for Color) Award-winning ''

'', a nine episode animated limited series for

. His next project for the platform is an original animated film titled ''I, Chihuahua'' with Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias.

Personal life

Gutierrez did not speak until the age of five. As an adult, he was diagnosed with

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

following his son's diagnosis.

Filmography

Film

Television

Bibliography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gutierrez, Jorge 1975 births Living people Annie Award winners California Institute of the Arts alumni People from Tijuana Artists from Baja California Artists from Mexico City Emmy Award winners Mexican illustrators Mexican culture Nickelodeon Animation Studio people Netflix people Showrunners El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera People on the autism spectrum