Savino was born and raised in Royal Oak, Michigan, where he attended Dondero High School.[2] He is the ninth of ten children, having five sisters and four brothers.[3] 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.[4]
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 stripFor Brothers.[10]
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".[11][12] 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.[11][13] On October 19, a Nickelodeon spokesperson confirmed that they severed ties with Savino, and that The Loud House would continue production without him, replacing him with story editor Michael Rubiner as executive producer and showrunner.[13][14]
On October 23, Savino spoke for the first time since the allegations first appeared, saying he was "deeply sorry" for his actions.[15] 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.[16]
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.[17]
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