Christopher Mason Savino (born October 2, 1971) is an American writer,

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

artist, and former animator. He is well-known as the creator of the

animated series An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...

'' The Loud House''. Savino has also worked on ''

The Ren & Stimpy Show ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' (also known as ''Ren & Stimpy'') is an American animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. Originally produced by Spümcø for Nickelodeon, the series aired from August 11, 1991, to Dece ...

'', ''

Dexter's Laboratory ''Dexter's Laboratory'' is an American animated television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It follows Dexter, a short, enthusiastic boy-genius with a hi ...

'', ''

Cow and Chicken ''Cow and Chicken'' is an American animated comedy television series created by David Feiss for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It is the third of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. It follows the ...

'', '' I Am Weasel'', ''

The Powerpuff Girls ''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Telev ...

'', ''

Samurai Jack ''Samurai Jack'' is an American animated action-adventure television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. Tartakovsky conceived ''Samurai Jack'' after finishing his wor ...

'', '' My Gym Partner's a Monkey'', '' Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil'', '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'', ''

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

'' and ''

Johnny Test ''Johnny Test'' is an animated television series created by Scott Fellows, originally produced in the United States by Warner Bros. Animation and later produced in Canada by Cookie Jar Entertainment. It premiered on Kids' WB on September 17 ...

. Savino has been nominated for three

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

, two

Annie Awards The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally des ...

, and a

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ...

Early life

Savino was born and raised in

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Royal Oak is about north of Detroit's city limits. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 57,236. Royal Oak is located along t ...

, 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.

Career

He began his career in the animation industry in 1991 and has worked for Spümcø, Joe Murray Studio,

Nickelodeon Animation Studio Nickelodeon Animation Studio is an American animation studio owned by Paramount Global. It has created many original television programs for Nickelodeon, such as ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', '' The Fairly OddParents'', '' Rugrats'' and '' Avatar: ...

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

Cartoon Network Studios Cartoon Network Studios is an American animation studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the production arm of Cartoon Network, and started operating ...

and

Disney Television Animation Disney Television Animation (DTVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a sub-division of the Disney Ge ...

. He was originally the showrunner for the last two seasons of ''

'', ''

'', 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 ''

''. In June 2014, his short for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

, '' 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 Amazon Publishing (simply APub) is Amazon's book publishing unit launched in 2009. It is composed of 15 imprints including AmazonEncore, AmazonCrossing, Montlake Romance, Thomas & Mercer, 47North, and TOPPLE Books. Amazon publishes e-books via ...

. Later on December of the same year he published the first installment of his

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

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 The Sunday comics or Sunday strip is the comic strip section carried in most western newspapers, almost always in color. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, the funny papers or simply the funnies. The first US newspap ...

''For Brothers''.

Personal life

In October 2019, Savino claimed to be a

born-again Christian Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sep ...

Sexual harassment allegations

On October 17, 2017, ''

Cartoon Brew Cartoon Brew is an animation news website created by Amid Amidi and animation historian Jerry Beck that was launched in 2004. Cartoon Dump It also created ''Cartoon Dump'', a weekly podcast showing poorly made TV cartoons featuring ''Mystery Sc ...

'' reported that Nickelodeon had suspended Savino from their studio due to multiple allegations of

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fr ...

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 fired Savino, and that ''The Loud House'' would continue production without him. 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, Savino was given a one-year suspension from

The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839 The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839 is a professional guild and union of animation artists, writers and technicians. It was formed in 1952. In 2002, the organization changed its name from Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists. The full name of the ...

. 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. In a September 2019 interview, Savino mentioned his regret about his actions.

Filmography

Television

Film

Internet

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Official website for Savino's Sunday strip ''For Brothers''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Savino, Chris 1971 births Living people American writers of Italian descent American cartoonists American television directors American television writers American male screenwriters American Christians American male television writers American storyboard artists Hanna-Barbera people Cartoon Network Studios people People from Royal Oak, Michigan Nickelodeon people Screenwriters from Michigan Showrunners 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male writers Animators from Michigan Television producers from Michigan American animators Animation directors