Zachary Thomas Moncrief (born January 8, 1971) is an American artist, producer, director, and writer in the animation industry. He's currently a co-executive producer on Netflix's pre-school series ''
Ghee Happy''. His titles have included supervising producer, writer, supervising director, storyboard artist, designer, and songwriter. In 2009, an episode from ''
Phineas and Ferb
''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated series, animated Musical film, musical-television comedy, comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series originally aired on t ...
'', which he directed entitled "
The Monster of Phineas-n-Ferbenstein", received a
Primetime Emmy Award nomination in the category for Outstanding Special Class Short-format Animated Programs.
Personal life
Moncrief left
Montvale, New Jersey
Montvale is a borough in northern Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, bordering the state of New York. The borough is part of the New York City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 8 ...
in 1989 after graduating from
Pascack Hills High School
Pascack Hills High School (PHHS) is a four-year comprehensive public high school, one of two secondary schools serving students in ninth through twelfth grade as part of the Pascack Valley Regional High School District in Bergen County, in the ...
where his father was the
vice principal. Upon completion of high school, he decided to attend
California Institute of the Arts
The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a Private university, private art school in Santa Clarita, California. It was incorporated in 1961 as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the US created specifically for ...
, a
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
-funded college specializing in
animation
Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...
.
Career
Zac Moncrief's career began as an intern on the animated feature, ''
The Pagemaster'', and then moved on as an assistant
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 ...
on the film ''
Cats Don't Dance
''Cats Don't Dance'' is a 1997 American animated musical comedy film directed by Mark Dindal. The film features the voices of Scott Bakula, Jasmine Guy, Matthew Herried, Ashley Peldon, John Rhys-Davies, Kathy Najimy, Don Knotts, Hal Holbrook, ...
''. While there, he sold a pilot to
Fred Seibert
Frederick G. Seibert is an American television producer and media proprietor.
Seibert began his professional career as a jazz and blues record producer and audio engineer in the 1970s. He co-founded the record label Oblivion Records by 1972 an ...
(then president of
MTV Networks
Paramount Media Networks is the division of Paramount Global that oversees the operations of its television channels and online brands. The division was originally founded as MTV Networks in 1984, named after MTV. It would be known under this ...
and
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 ...
), for the ''
What a Cartoon!'' series titled ''Godfrey and Zeek''. This transitioned into doing story work for Hanna-Barbera's other series, ''
Johnny Bravo
''Johnny Bravo'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network. The second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, it aired from July 14, 1997, to August 27, 2004. The titular Johnny Bravo (voiced by ...
''.
Moncrief went on to open his own company, creating animation on several
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...
s, as well as a commercial work featuring
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...
'
Road Runner, the
Carl's Jr.
Carl's Jr. Restaurants LLC is an American fast-food restaurant chain store, chain owned by CKE Restaurants, CKE Restaurant Holdings, Inc., who also owns Hardee's, with franchisees in North and South America, Asia, Oceania, Europe, and Africa.
...
spot featuring
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Renowned for his defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best rebounding forw ...
, as well as animation for a GM-sponsored ride at
Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...
. Soon after, Moncrief joined Seibert again on a shorts program at
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 ...
called ''
Oh Yeah! Cartoons''. There, Moncrief created ''Kitty the Hapless Cat'', ''Baxter and Bananas'', and worked on other shorts like ''
The Fairly OddParents
''The Fairly OddParents'' is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows the adventures of Timmy Turner, a 10-year-old boy with two Fairy godmother, fairy godparents named List of The Fai ...
'' and the Emmy winning short ''Max and His Special Problem''. He spent his remaining time at Nickelodeon storyboarding in season one of ''
Dora the Explorer''.
Shortly thereafter, he was asked to teach at his
alma mater
Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...
(CalArts) and by
Walt Disney Television Animation
Disney Television Animation (DTVA; also shortened to Disney TVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is an American animation production company that serves as the television a ...
to storyboard on ''
Teacher's Pet'', the series (and its theatrical release), as well as
direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...
s for ''
Lilo & Stitch
''Lilo & Stitch'' () is a 2002 American animated Science fiction film, science fiction comedy-drama film, comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. It was written and directed by Chris Sanders and De ...
'', ''
Kim Possible
''Kim Possible'' is an American animated Action comedy TV series, action comedy television series created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle for Disney Channel. The Kim Possible (character), title character is a teenage girl tasked with saving ...
'', and the network's newest show, ''
Brandy and Mr. Whiskers''.
Moncrief then went on as a Director on the Fox animated series ''
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 ...
'' working on some of
Seth MacFarlane
Seth Woodbury MacFarlane (; born October 26, 1973) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, comedian, and singer. He is best known as the creator and star of the television series ''Family Guy'' (since 1999) and ''The Orvill ...
's favorite episodes, such as "
The Griffin Family History" and "
Barely Legal".
He then followed fellow ''Family Guy'' director
Dan Povenmire back to Disney again to help direct over 50+ episodes of the hit Disney television series ''
Phineas and Ferb
''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated series, animated Musical film, musical-television comedy, comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series originally aired on t ...
''.
After his long run at Disney, he spent three years working at
Bento Box as the Supervising Director on
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...
's hit show ''
Brickleberry
''Brickleberry'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated sitcom created by Waco O'Guin and Roger Black (actor), Roger Black for the basic cable network Comedy Central, which aired from September 25, 2012 to April 14, 2015. Executive produc ...
'', while also helping to develop shows at Nickelodeon.
In December 2013, he joined
Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation Inc. (abbreviated as WBA) is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Group, a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery and serves as the animation divis ...
to produce and revamp the twelfth series in the ''
Scooby-Doo
''Scooby-Doo'' is an American media franchise owned by Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Entertainment and created in 1969 by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears through their animated series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'', for Hanna-Barbera (which wa ...
'' franchise, titled ''
Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!'', which debuted in the fall of 2015.
After producing close to 52 episodes and almost 2 seasons for Warner Bros., he then went back to Nickelodeon as a Supervising Producer in the fall of 2017 to help oversee and launch a cartoon series based on the hit
Dan Schneider television show ''
Henry Danger
''Henry Danger'' is an American comedy television series created by Dan Schneider and Dana Olsen that aired on Nickelodeon from July 26, 2014 to March 21, 2020. The series stars Jace Norman, Cooper Barnes, Riele Downs, Sean Ryan Fox, Ella ...
''. This new animated series, titled ''
The Adventures of Kid Danger'', debuted on January 15, 2018, as a sneak peek, before its official premiere on January 19. The shows' ratings stayed consistently in the top 25, and on its final premiere episodes during the week of June 11–17, 2018, it was the #1 program for K6–11 (it received at 2.91 for boys aged 2–5 and a 3.15 for boys aged 6–11). The show is currently not slated for more episodes.
Moncrief then went on to be the Artistic Lead/Showrunner on the television adaption of the popular
Lego
Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...
augmented reality game app ''Hidden Side'', with the title of Supervising Director. While working with Pure Imagination Studios, Moncrief created 19 different shorts for Lego, and launched off a 44-minute movie as a way to introduce its newest IP. The series premiered on YouTube to record numbers earning it a slot airing on Cartoon Network.
Moncrief is currently working with
Sanjay Patel
Sanjay Patel is an American animator, illustrator and author who has worked in the animation department of various projects, most of them animated films released by Pixar.
Background
Born in London, United Kingdom to Gujarati Indian paren ...
as co-executive producer on
Ghee Happy.
Highlights
* Phineas and Ferb (2D - Kids and Family) • Director, writer and board artist on over 60+ episodes
* LEGO: HIDDEN SIDE (3D - Kids and Family) • Creative lead directing artists and voice talent taking 20 episodes from script through post delivery
* Be Cool, Scooby- Doo! (2D - Kids and Family) • Creative lead in the reimagining of legacy characters producing 52 episodes
* Brickleberry (2D- Adult) • Artistic lead to 1st time animation show creators for the first 2 seasons
* GHEE HAPPY (3D - Pre-School) • Co-Ep involved in story, writing, song writing, and directing
[Website: www.Zacmoncrief.com]
''Phineas and Ferb''
In 2007, Moncrief returned to Disney to work as a director and writer for ''
Phineas and Ferb
''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated series, animated Musical film, musical-television comedy, comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series originally aired on t ...
''. As of December 2012, he had directed over 50 episodes in the series and been credited on over 90+ different credits.
''Family Guy''
In 2005, Moncrief left Disney to become a
director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
on the
Fox television series ''
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 ...
'' for
Fox Animation Studios
Fox Animation Studios was an American animation studio owned by 20th Century Fox and located in Phoenix, Arizona. It was a subsidiary of 20th Century Fox Animation and was established by animators Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. It operated for six ...
. He directed six episodes over a two-year span. Those six episodes were:
* "
Peter's Got Woods", first aired on September 11, 2005
* "
Brian Sings and Swings", first aired on January 8, 2006
* "
Untitled Griffin Family History", first aired on May 14, 2006
* "
Barely Legal", first aired on December 17, 2006
* "
It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married One", first aired on May 13, 2007
* "
Peter's Daughter", first aired on November 25, 2007
* "
Blind Ambition", first aired on May 15, 2005 (assistant director)
During this period, he also returned to
CalArts as a teacher.
Credits
''Note'': Also credited as Zachary Moncrief.
Below is a detailed list of his credits:
Turner Feature Animation:
* ''
The Pagemaster'' (1994) - Coordinator and animation intern
* ''
Cats Don't Dance
''Cats Don't Dance'' is a 1997 American animated musical comedy film directed by Mark Dindal. The film features the voices of Scott Bakula, Jasmine Guy, Matthew Herried, Ashley Peldon, John Rhys-Davies, Kathy Najimy, Don Knotts, Hal Holbrook, ...
'' (1997) - Assistant animator
Hanna-Barbera:
* ''
What a Cartoon!'': ''Godfrey and Zeek'' short (also misspelled "Zeke") (1996) - Co-creator, co-writer, storyboard artist, and director
* ''What a Cartoon!'': "Jungle Boy" (short from ''Johnny Bravo'') (1996) - Character layout and additional models
* ''
Johnny Bravo
''Johnny Bravo'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network. The second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, it aired from July 14, 1997, to August 27, 2004. The titular Johnny Bravo (voiced by ...
'' (1996–1997) - Development and storyboard artist
* ''Johnny Bravo'': "Bearly Enough Time" (1997) - Storyboard artist
* ''Johnny Bravo'': "Cookie Crisis" (1997) - Storyboard artist
* ''Johnny Bravo'': "Blarney Buddies" (1997) - Storyboard artist
Nickelodeon's ''Oh Yeah! Cartoons'':
* ''Kitty the Hapless Cat'' - Creator, director, designer, storyboard artist, writer
* ''Baxter and Bananas'' - Creator, director, designer, storyboard artist, writer
* ''
The Fairly OddParents
''The Fairly OddParents'' is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows the adventures of Timmy Turner, a 10-year-old boy with two Fairy godmother, fairy godparents named List of The Fai ...
'': Story & Storyboard artist for two episodes
* ''
Mina and the Count'': "Playing a Hunch" (1999) - Storyboard artist
* ''Max and His Special Problem'' - Animator
* ''Max and the Pigeon Incident'' - Storyboard clean-up and character model assistance
* ''Tales from the Goose Lady'' - Storyboard clean-up and character model assistance
Nickelodeon:
* ''
Dora the Explorer'': Season 1 (2000–2001) - Storyboard artist
* ''
The Fairly OddParents
''The Fairly OddParents'' is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows the adventures of Timmy Turner, a 10-year-old boy with two Fairy godmother, fairy godparents named List of The Fai ...
'': Seasons 2 and 3 - Storyboard revisionist
* ''
My Life as a Teenage Robot'' - Storyboard Revisions and additional model designer
* ''Woodstump'' - Supervising director, storyboard artist, co-writer
* ''
The Adventures of Kid Danger'' (2017–2018) - Director and supervising producer
Disney Television Animation:
* ''
Teacher's Pet'' - Storyboard artist
* ''
Kim Possible
''Kim Possible'' is an American animated Action comedy TV series, action comedy television series created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle for Disney Channel. The Kim Possible (character), title character is a teenage girl tasked with saving ...
'': Season 1 - Storyboard revisionist
* ''
Lilo & Stitch: The Series'' - additional storyboard artist and Storyboard revisionist
* ''
Kim Possible
''Kim Possible'' is an American animated Action comedy TV series, action comedy television series created by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle for Disney Channel. The Kim Possible (character), title character is a teenage girl tasked with saving ...
'': Season 2 - Storyboard artist
* ''
Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch'' - Storyboard artist
* ''
Brandy & Mr. Whiskers'' - storyboard artist
* ''
Phineas and Ferb
''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated series, animated Musical film, musical-television comedy, comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series originally aired on t ...
'' - Director, storyboard supervisor, writer, storyboard artist
Other Credits:
* Fox Television Animation:
**''
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 ...
'' (2005–2007) - Director
**''
American Dad!
''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker (producer), Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on February 6, 2005, following Super Bowl XXXIX, with the r ...
'' (2014-present) - Producer and supervising director
* Comedy Central: ''
Brickleberry
''Brickleberry'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated sitcom created by Waco O'Guin and Roger Black (actor), Roger Black for the basic cable network Comedy Central, which aired from September 25, 2012 to April 14, 2015. Executive produc ...
'' - Director and supervising director
* Warner Bros. Animation: ''
Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!'' (2015–2018) - Producer
References
External links
Zac Moncrief Website*
Zac Moncrief on Blogspot
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moncrief, Zac
American animated film directors
American animated film producers
Living people
1971 births
California Institute of the Arts alumni
American storyboard artists
Pascack Hills High School alumni
People from Montvale, New Jersey
People from Spring Valley, New York
American people of Scottish descent