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

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

artist, writer and former animator. He is well-known for having created the

animated series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

'' The Loud House'' (2016–present) for

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 ...

. Savino has also worked on ''

The Ren & Stimpy Show ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', commonly referred to as simply ''Ren & Stimpy'', is an American animated Comedy film, comedy television series created by John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotion ...

'', '' Rocko's Modern Life'', '' Dexter's Laboratory'', '' Cow and Chicken'', '' I Am Weasel'', '' The Powerpuff Girls'', '' Samurai Jack'', '' My Gym Partner's a Monkey'', '' Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil'', '' My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'', ''

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

'' 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 Group, Cookie Jar Entertainment. It premiered on Kids' WB ...

. 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. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

, 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 American cinema and television. Origi ...

, 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 (NA ...

. In May 2018, The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839 gave him a one year suspension due to sexual harassment allegations from

(which he was fired from in October 2017), leading to his animation career being put on halt. Since then, he has moved on to literature.

Early life and education

Savino was born and raised in

Royal Oak, Michigan Royal Oak is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. An inner-ring suburb of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Royal Oak is located roughly north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cens ...

, 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.

Influences

He cited his works from Cliff Sterrett, Charles M. Schulz, Jim Davis, Hank Ketcham, Walt Kelly, George Herriman, Bill Watterson, E.C. Segar,

Max Fleischer Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 11, 1972) was an American animator and studio owner. Born in Kraków, in Austrian Poland, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became a pioneer in the development ...

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

Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (; February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of America ...

Bob Clampett Robert Emerson Clampett Sr. (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, film director, director, film producer, producer and puppeteer best known for his work on the ''Looney Tunes'' animated series from Warner Bros. as well as the te ...

, Jay Ward, Joe Murray, and Stephen Hillenburg. While he did state he loved to watch cartoons, it was the comic books that drew him in.

Career

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

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

, Cartoon Network Studios and Disney Television Animation. He was originally the showrunner for the last two seasons of '' Dexter's Laboratory'', '' The Powerpuff Girls'', '' Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'' 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

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

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 ...

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 some Western newspapers. Compared to weekday comics, Sunday comics tend to be full pages and are in color. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, t ...

''For Brothers''.

Sexual harassment allegations

On October 17, 2017, Cartoon Brew reported that Nickelodeon had suspended Savino from their studio due to multiple allegations of

sexual harassment Sexual harassment is a type of harassment based on the sex or gender of a victim. It can involve offensive sexist or sexual behavior, verbal or physical actions, up to bribery, coercion, and assault. Harassment may be explicit or implicit, wit ...

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, replacing him with story editor Michael Rubiner as executive producer and showrunner. 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, he was given a one-year suspension from The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839. 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.

Personal life

In October 2019, Savino stated to be a born-again Christian.

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 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 Animation Studio people Screenwriters from Michigan Showrunners of animated series 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 Sex scandals in the United States Animation directors Animation controversies Animation controversies in television American children's book illustrators American magazine illustrators