Bryan Konietzko is an American animation director, best known as the co-creator and executive producer of the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. He is also, together with Michael Dante DiMartino, the co-chief creative officer of Avatar Studios, a production company that will work on future upcoming projects in the Avatar franchise.
Avatar: The Last Airbender credits[]
Art director[]
Character designer[]
Executive producer[]
Title designer[]
Writer[]
- 100. Unaired pilot
- 101. "The Boy in the Iceberg"
- 102. "The Avatar Returns"
- 113. "The Blue Spirit"
- 213. "The Drill"
- 219. "The Guru"
- 320. "Sozin's Comet, Part 3: Into the Inferno"
- 321. "Sozin's Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang"
- "Swamp Skiin' Throwdown" (short)
Foaming mouth guy[]
- Character information: Foaming mouth guy
- 104. "The Warriors of Kyoshi" (uncredited)
- 205. "Avatar Day"
Pirate barker[]
- Character information: Oh
- 109. "The Waterbending Scroll"
- 118. "The Waterbending Master"
Storyboard artist[]
- 109. "The Waterbending Scroll"
- 113. "The Blue Spirit"
- 206. "The Blind Bandit"
- 305. "The Beach"
Additional voices[]
- 100. Unaired pilot (uncredited)[1]
- 205. "Avatar Day"
- 320. "Sozin's Comet, Part 3: Into the Inferno" (uncredited)[2]
Author[]
- Avatar: The Last Airbender—The Art of the Animated Series
- Beasts of the Four Nations: Creatures From Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra
Cover artist[]
- The Lost Adventures and Team Avatar Tales Library Edition
- Avatar: The Last Airbender—The Art of the Animated Series
The Legend of Korra credits[]
Art director[]
Color supervisor[]
Executive producer[]
Main character designer[]
Main title developer[]
Writer[]
- 101. "Welcome to Republic City"
- 102. "A Leaf in the Wind"
- 103. "The Revelation"
- 104. "The Voice in the Night"
- 105. "The Spirit of Competition"
- 106. "And the Winner Is..."
- 107. "The Aftermath"
- 108. "When Extremes Meet"
- 109. "Out of the Past"
- 110. "Turning the Tides"
- 111. "Skeletons in the Closet"
- 112. "Endgame"
Storyboard artist[]
- 104. "The Voice in the Night"
Character designer[]
- 214. "Light in the Dark"
- 301. "A Breath of Fresh Air"
- 302. "Rebirth"
- 303. "The Earth Queen"
- 304. "In Harm's Way"
- 305. "The Metal Clan"
- 306. "Old Wounds"
- 307. "Original Airbenders"
- 308. "The Terror Within"
- 309. "The Stakeout"
- 310. "Long Live the Queen"
- 311. "The Ultimatum"
- 312. "Enter the Void"
- 313. "Venom of the Red Lotus"
- 401. "After All These Years"
- 402. "Korra Alone"
- 403. "The Coronation"
- 404. "The Calling"
Background design[]
- 302. "Rebirth"
- 303. "The Earth Queen"
- 304. "In Harm's Way"
- 305. "The Metal Clan"
- 306. "Old Wounds"
- 307. "Original Airbenders"
- 308. "The Terror Within"
- 309. "The Stakeout"
- 310. "Long Live the Queen"
- 311. "The Ultimatum"
- 312. "Enter the Void"
- 313. "Venom of the Red Lotus"
- 401. "After All These Years"
- 402. "Korra Alone"
Background colorist[]
- 403. "The Coronation"
Prop designer[]
- 411. "Kuvira's Gambit"
- 413. "The Last Stand"
Additional voices[]
- 109. "Out of the Past" (uncredited)[3]
Author[]
- The Legend of Korra—The Art of the Animated Series, Book One: Air
- The Legend of Korra—The Art of the Animated Series, Book Two: Spirits
- The Legend of Korra—The Art of the Animated Series, Book Three: Change
- The Legend of Korra—The Art of the Animated Series, Book Four: Balance
Avatar: Braving the Elements credits[]
Guest[]
- 2. "Origin Stories with Mike DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko Pt. 1"
- 3. "Origin Stories with Mike DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko Pt. 2"
- 13. "Martial Arts Deep Dive with Sifu Kisu and Bryan Konietzko"
- 47. "Book Two: Earth!"
- 60. "Creating an Icon: TOPH! with Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko"
- 78. ""City of Walls and Secrets" with Bryan Konietzko"
- 81. "Holiday Special: "Book Two: Earth" with Mike DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko"
- 86. "Beautiful Design with Elsa Garagarza, Bryan Konietzko, & Angela Song Mueller"
- 90. "Remembering Mako with Michael DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, & Andrea Romano"
- 95. "The Origins of Toph Beifong with Mike DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko"
- 101. "Book Three: Fire"
- 101.5. "Secrets from the Vault: Zuko's Scar & Darker Themes from the Avatarverse"
- 106.5. "Secrets from the Vault: What about Book 4?"
- 121. "Bringing Characters to Life with Bryan Konietzko"
- 133.5. "Secrets from the Vault: How To Create Iconic Characters"
- 136. "'Sozin's Comet: Part 3' with Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko"
- 138. "Sozin's Comet: Part 4 with Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko"
- 140. "Saying Goodbye and Hello"
Avatar Studios credits[]
Producer[]
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix) credits[]
Writer[]
Selected other credits[]
Television work[]
- Dota: Dragon's Blood (special thanks)
- Invader ZIM (storyboard artist)
- Mission Hill (assistant director and storyboard artist)
Filmography[]
- The Last Airbender (2010 - executive producer)
Biographical information[]
Konietzko graduated from Roswell High School in Roswell, Georgia, and later went on to graduate with honors from the Illustration Department of the Rhode Island School of Design in 1998.
His friend and fellow RISD alumnus, Michael Dante DiMartino, helped him get his foot in the door in the television animation industry. Konietzko worked alongside DiMartino at Film Roman Studios on Family Guy, Mission Hill, and King of the Hill. In 2000, he joined Nickelodeon to work on Invader Zim as a storyboard artist. He spent time in South Korea training the overseas animation crews and became the art director on the second season. Konietzko was later recruited by Nickelodeon to create an original series; he once again partnered with DiMartino, and together they created the animated martial arts saga Avatar: The Last Airbender, which told a continuous storyline through a trilogy of seasons.
In addition to sharing executive producer duties with DiMartino on Avatar, Konietzko also served as the art director on the award-winning series, designing the main characters and drawing from his experience as a landscape painter for their fantasy world's epic scope. For their new series The Legend of Korra, Konietzko and DiMartino co-wrote all the scripts for the first season.
Konietzko keeps an online photo journal, which he updates regularly. He also has a band with which he has released several albums, including Our Ancestor's Intense Love Affair and At Night, Under Artificial Light. Konietzko is an electronic recording artist, under the name Ginormous, and an avid nature photographer, showing his work on his website.
He lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife, Lisa, and his dog, Gunther. He has a nephew named Rohan, after whom the second son of Tenzin and Pema is named.
Trivia[]
- During his childhood, Konietzko loved watching anime, but he steadily lost interest due to the increasing misogyny and violence that he saw in some anime, while also feeling disenchanted with American animation after only being able to work on animated sitcoms. However, while working on Invader Zim, Dave Filoni reintroduced him to anime, particularly those created by Hayao Miyazaki such as Princess Mononoke, and he regained his interest in the medium.[4][5]
- According to Bryan, he was the first Korrasami shipper, having done so before Book One: Air of The Legend of Korra even aired. He has been debating with Avatar fans over who shipped them first to this day.[4]
- The first ever pieces of Avatar fanart were drawn by Konietzko's then 7 year old nephew, Alexander Kennedy, around 2002 before the series had even been animated. The fanart of Aang, Sokka, and Katara (at the time still known as Kya) were later included in the series bible.[6]
References[]
- ↑ DiMartino, Michael Dante & Konietzko, Bryan (September 19, 2006). Unaired pilot commentary. Book 1: Water, Volume 5 DVD.
- ↑ DiMartino, Michael Dante & Konietzko, Bryan (July 29, 2008). "Sozin's Comet, Part 3: Into the Inferno" commentary. Book 3: Fire, Volume 4 DVD.
- ↑ DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan; Varney, Janet & Gabriel, Seychelle (July 9, 2013). "Out of the Past" commentary. Book One: Air Blu-ray.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Basco, Dante (host), Varney, Janet (host), DiMartino, Michael Dante (guest), Konietzko, Bryan (guest). (June 29, 2021). "Origin Stories with Mike DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko Pt. 2". Avatar: Braving the Elements. Episode 3. iHeartRadio.
- ↑ DiMartino, Michael Dante; Konietzko, Bryan; Varney, Janet & Higgins, John Michael (March 10, 2015). "Enemy at the Gates" commentary. Book Four: Balance Blu-ray.
- ↑ Konietzko, Bryan (March 14, 2018). These are the very first pieces of fanart. Tumblr. Retrieved on January 9, 2022.