Bryan Joseph Konietzko (born June 1, 1975) is an American

animator An animator is an artist who creates 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 games. Animat ...

, writer, producer and director. He is best known, together with Michael Dante DiMartino, as the co-creator and

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

of the animated series '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and ''

The Legend of Korra ''The Legend of Korra'' (abbreviated as ''TLOK'' and also known as ''Avatar: The Legend of Korra'' or more rarely simply as ''Korra'') is an American animated Fantasy television, fantasy action drama television series created by Michael Dante ...

''.

Career

Konietzko has worked as a character designer at

Film Roman Film Roman, LLC, is an American animation studio currently based in Woodland Hills, California and formerly in Burbank. It was previously owned by Starz Inc., which is now a division of Lionsgate, and currently by Waterman Entertainment, the p ...

for ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...

'' and as assistant director for '' Mission Hill'' and ''

King of the Hill ''King of the Hill'' is an American animated sitcom created by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels that initially aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from January 12, 1997, to September 13, 2009, with four more episodes airing in First-run syndicati ...

''. He was a storyboard artist and art director for the

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

animated series ''

Invader Zim ''Invader Zim'' is an American animated science fiction horror comedy television series created by comic book writer and cartoonist Jhonen Vasquez for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the titular character Zim (voiced by Richard Steven Ho ...

''. Between 2001 and 2014, Konietzko, together with Michael Dante DiMartino, was mainly occupied with writing and producing the animated series '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and its sequel ''

'' for Nickelodeon. Konietzko's and DiMartino's long-standing creative partnership is collectively referred to as "Bryke" by fans, in reference to "

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

" naming conventions. As of 2015, Konietzko was working on writing and illustrating a

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...

series, ''Threadworlds'', that is to be published by First Second Books, but there is no release date. In September 2018,

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

announced that Konietzko and DiMartino would serve as executive producers and showrunners for the live-action series based on ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', which released in 2024. On August 12, 2020, Konietzko and DiMartino revealed on social media that they had both departed the show, due to creative differences with the Netflix team. In February 2021, ViacomCBS announced the formation of Avatar Studios, a division of

centered on developing newer animated series and movies set in the same universe as ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' and ''The Legend of Korra'', with both DiMartino and Konietzko helming the studio as co-chief creative officers reporting to Nickelodeon Animation Studio president, Ramsey Ann Naito. The first project of the studio is an animated film that is currently set to release on January 20, 2026.

Personal life

Konietzko graduated from Roswell High School in Roswell, Georgia, a suburb north of

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Illustration from the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

in 1998.Konietzko, Bryan
"About"
, ''bryankonietzko.com''. Retrieved 13 July 2012. He resides in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

with his wife Lisa. Konietzko is also active in photography and has a band, Ginormous, with which he has released several albums. These include ''Our Ancestors' Intense Love Affair'' and ''At Night, Under Artificial Light''.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Konietzko, Bryan 1975 births 20th-century American male artists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters 21st-century American male artists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American screenwriters American animated film directors American animated film producers American humorists Film producers from Georgia (U.S. state) American illustrators American male screenwriters American male television writers American storyboard artists American television directors American television producers American television writers Living people Nickelodeon Animation Studio people People from Roswell, Georgia Rhode Island School of Design alumni Screenwriters from Georgia (U.S. state) Showrunners of animated series Writers who illustrated their own writing American science fiction artists American science fiction writers American graphic novelists