# Chris Savino

Christopher Mason Savino (born October 2, 1971) is an American writer, comic book artist and former animator. He is well-known as the creator of the animated series The Loud House. Savino has also worked on The Ren & Stimpy Show, 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 and Johnny Test.
Savino has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Annie Awards, and a Daytime Emmy Award. In May 2018, The Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839 gave him a one year suspension due to sexual harassment allegations from Nickelodeon (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

Savino was born and raised in Royal Oak, Michigan, 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 Studios, Hanna-Barbera, 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 Mickey Mouse. In June 2014, his short for Nickelodeon, 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 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 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 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

| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Animator | Notes |
| 1991–1996 | The Ren & Stimpy Show | No | No | No | Yes | layout artist |
| 1993–1996 | Rocko's Modern Life | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard clean-up/prop designer/character designer |
| 1995 | The Baby Huey Show | No | No | No | Yes | layout artist/character prop designer (Season 2) |
| 1995 | Hate | No | No | No | Yes | layout artist |
| 1996 | The Mouse and the Monster | No | No | No | Yes | character designer |
| 1996–1997 | Hey Arnold! | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard director/prop designer/character designer |
| 1997–2001 | The Angry Beavers | Yes | No | No | No | character designer 5 episodes only |
| 1997 | Space Goofs | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard artist Episode: "Time for a Change" |
| 1997 | Duckman | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard artist |
| 1997–2003 | Dexter's Laboratory | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | storyboard artist/animation director |
| 1998 | Cow and Chicken | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard artist Episode: "Cow Fly" |
| 1998 | I Am Weasel | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard artist Episodes: "I.R. in Wrong Cartoon" and "Unsinkable I.R." |
| 1998–2005 | The Powerpuff Girls | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | storyboard artist |
| 2000 | The Cartoon Cartoon Show | No | No | Yes | Yes | creator/storyboard director/model designer/animation layout "Foe Paws" animation layout "Jeffrey Cat: Claw and Odor" |
| 2002–2003 | Samurai Jack | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 2002 | Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? | No | No | No | Yes | Character and Prop models |
| 2003 | The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard artist Episode: "To Eris Human" |
| 2004–2007 | Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends | Yes | No | Yes | No | animation director |
| 2005–2006 | Johnny Test | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | storyboard artist; season 1 |
| 2005–2008 | My Life as a Teenage Robot | Yes | No | No | No | |
| 2007–2008 | My Gym Partner's a Monkey | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard artist/sheet timer |
| 2008 | Ni Hao, Kai-Lan | No | No | No | Yes | storyboard artist/storybook artist |
| 2010–2012 | Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | executive producer |
| 2010–2011 | My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic | No | No | Yes | No | writer Episodes: "Boast Busters" and "Stare Master" |
| 2013 | Mickey Mouse | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | storyboard artist Episode: "Bad Ear Day" |
| 2015 | Get Blake! | No | No | Yes | No | writer Episodes: "Get Snatched" and "Get Western" |
| 2016–2018 | The Loud House | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | creator/executive producer/storyboard artist |
| 2016 | All in with Cam Newton | No | No | No | No | Himself Episode: "All In with Josh" |

### Film

| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Writer | Animator | Notes |
| 1999 | Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip | No | No | Story | Yes | storyboard artist |
| 2001 | The Flintstones: On the Rocks | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | storyboard artist/art director |

### Internet

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2016 | Cartoons VS Cancer | Episode 9: "The One with Chris Savino" | Podcast |
| 2016–2017 | Nickelodeon Animation Podcast | Episodes (2 & 40): "Chris Savino", "Inside the Loud House Writers' Room" | Podcast |

## Awards and nominations

| Date | Award | Category | Work | Shared with | Result |
| 2000 | Annie Awards | Outstanding Individual Achievement for Writing in an Animated Television Production | The Powerpuff Girls (for "Dream Scheme") | — | Nominated |
| 2004 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or More) | The Powerpuff Girls: 'Twas the Fight Before Christmas | Craig McCracken, Brian A. Miller, Lauren Faust, Craig Lewis, Amy Keating Rogers, Robert Alvarez, John McIntyre, Randy Myers, James T. Walker, and Juli Murphy | Nominated |
| 2006 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or More) | My Life as A Teenage Robot: Escape from Cluster Prime | Rob Renzetti, Fred Seibert, Scott D. Peterson, Alex Kirwan, Brandon Kruse, Heather Martinez, Chris Reccardi, Bryan Andrews, and Robert Alvarez | Nominated |
| 2010 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Short-Format Animated Program | Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil | Sandro Corsaro and Janelle Momary | Nominated |
| 2011 | Daytime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program | Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil | Sherm Cohen | Nominated |
| 2012 | Annie Awards | Directing in a Television Production | Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil | Clayton Morrow | Nominated |