Sandro Mario Corsaro is an American producer, animator, and author. He is the global head of

Wayfair Wayfair Inc. is an American e-commerce company based in Boston, Massachusetts that sells furniture and home goods online. Formerly known as CSN Stores, it was founded in 2002, and currently offers 14 million items from more than 11,000 global su ...

and the former SVP and CCO of

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

and

Fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating from Portugal and Spain, usually in triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is usually bipartite: it has ...

. He is primarily known for creating the

Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven yea ...

animated series '' Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil''.

Early life

Growing up in

Stoneham, Massachusetts Stoneham ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, nine miles (14.5 km) north of downtown Boston. Its population was 23,244 at the 2020 census. Its proximity to major highways and public transportation offer convenient access to Bos ...

, Corsaro began showing interest in drawing at age 3 while attending St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers, MA., and continued to pursue this passion throughout his adolescence. His father, Mario, owned a shoe store in the North End. Like his show's protagonist, Corsaro often performed downhill

stunt A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery sp ...

s via

skateboards A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. They are usually made of a specially designed 7-8 ply maple plywood deck and polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboarde ...

bikes A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

, and

toboggan A toboggan is a simple sled traditionally used by children. It is also a traditional form of transport used by the Innu and Cree of northern Canada. In modern times, it is used on snow to carry one or more people (often children) down a hill ...

s. However, a leg injury from one bike trick required him to be hospitalized at Lahey Hospital.

Career

In 1999, he moved across to the West Coast to attend the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

, where he majored in both Fine Arts and Animation. While still in college, he worked as a production associate on ''

The Iron Giant ''The Iron Giant'' is a 1999 American animated science fiction film produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation and directed by Brad Bird in his directorial debut. It is based on the 1968 novel '' The Iron Man'' by Ted Hughes (which was publish ...

''. After graduating, he was a development intern on ''

Osmosis Jones ''Osmosis Jones'' is a 2001 American live-action/animated buddy cop crime action comedy film written by Marc Hyman. Combining live-action sequences directed by the Farrelly brothers and animation directed by Piet Kroon and Tom Sito, the film ...

''. While working as an animator in 2002, Corsaro came up with his show's titular protagonist, which he then named " Kid Knievel." He allotted time, often at 4 A.M., to work an animated pitch introducing characters from the proposed show. His hometown of Stoneham inspired the fictional town in '' Kick Buttowski,'' evident from landmarks including the Stoneham library, the

town square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

, and streets including Broadway, Main Street, Bear Hill Road, and Kenneth Terrace. In 2006, his proficiency in

Flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Barry Allen) ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Wally West, the first Kid F ...

helped him become creative director of

Disney Online Disney Interactive is an American video game and internet company that oversaw various websites and interactive media owned by The Walt Disney Company. History 1995–1996: Formation and beginnings In December 1994, Disney announced that it wa ...

. After finishing the animated short, he hired an

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...

to help him pitch the cartoon to Disney. After 8 years of concept and pitching, with many rejections, it was officially picked up in 2010 and the protagonist's name was changed from Kid Knievel to Kick Buttowski. Corsaro has worked at numerous entertainment companies and is also an author. In his books, he shares his distinctive techniques for applying traditional animation principles in the digital environment. Sandro has spoken at Siggraph, NAB, Flashforward, and on G4. He also served as a consultant to Adobe. In 2013, Corsaro became Chief Creative Executive at

Partial bibliography

* Corsaro, S. (2002). ''The Flash Animator''. Indianapolis, Ind: New Riders. * Corsaro, S., & Parrott, C. J. (2004). Hollywood 2D Digital Animation: The New Flash Production Revolution. Boston, Mass: Thomson Course Technology. * Corsaro, S. (2003). ''Flash MX: animación''. Diseño y creatividad. Madrid: Anaya Multimedia.

Filmography

* 2010–2012: '' Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil'' - creator, executive producer, and the voice of the DiPazzi Twins.

References

Boston Globe article

External links

Official website

Published Papers for Siggraph
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corsaro, Sandro Living people Walt Disney Animation Studios people Flash artists Adobe Flash USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni American animators American animated film producers Annie Award winners 1977 births Sigma Alpha Epsilon members St. John's Preparatory School (Massachusetts) alumni