Joe Bennett | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 4, 1986 |
| Occupation | Writer, Director, Animator |
| Alma mater | School of Visual Arts |
| Notable works | Scavengers Reign, Common Side Effects |
| Notable awards | 2024 Emmy for Scavenger's Reign |
| Website | |
| josephbennett | |
Joe Bennett (born February 4, 1986) is an American writer, director, animator, and entrepreneur. He is the co-creator of the 2025 Emmy-nominated [1] Common Side Effects , [2] and of the 2024 Emmy Award-winning Scavengers Reign . [3] [4] Bennett is the co-founder of Green Street Pictures. [5] He has illustrated "A Bathroom Book for People Not Pooping or Peeing but Using the Bathroom as an Escape," written by Joe Pera [6] and 2021's "I Will Not Die Alone" written by Dera White. [7] In 2022, Bennett was named as Variety's "10 Animators to Watch." [8]
Bennett was born in East Point, Georgia and raised in Fairburn, Georgia. He has one older sister, Dera White. [9] Bennett went to School of Visual Arts in New York, majoring in fine arts, with a focus on painting. While in his junior year, SVA opened a digital lab which Bennett became interested, in particular the ability to tell stories through animation. [10] Bennett graduated SVA in 2008.
Once Bennett graduated from SVA, he worked in post-production houses and advertising agencies such as J. Walter Thompson and Leroy & Clarkson, while animating shorts in his free time. In 2014, his shorts Odin's Afterbirth 1,2 & 3 and Bedtime Stories began appearing in episodes of MTV’s Liquid Television reboot. That same year, Bennett created bumpers for Adult Swim, which he wrote, directed, and animated.
In 2019, the animated and live-action short film showcase series Cake on FX unveiled the "Joe Bennett Collection," which featured eighteen animated shorts directed and animated by Bennett. [11] Some of the shorts include Jay which starred Ted Travelstead and Claudia O'Doherty; [12] Derecho, starring Kate Berlant, John Early, Ted Travelstead, and Felipe Di Poi; [13] Birds starring Joe Pera; [14] Yoo Wana Nowat lyee Didd starring Rory Scovel; [15] Radio starring Conner O'Malley. [16]
ln 2020, Bennett created a short series called Iggy and Friends, which starred Martha Kelly and Caleb Hearon. Will Ferrell voiced episode 4. It was commissioned by AOK Originals.
In 2020, Bennett co-founded Green Street Pictures with Sean Buckelew, James Merrill and Benjy Brooke. [17] [18]
Scavenger's Reign, co-created by Bennett and Charles Huettner, took eight years to bring to fruition. [19] [20] It originally aired as an eight-minute short in 2016 on Adult Swim, called Scavengers, about several human survivors on a hostile alien world. By the time it went to series with a twelve episode order on from MAX in 2023, its world-building expanded. [21] Scavengers Reign is a co-production between Titmouse and Green Street Pictures [22] and co-stars Sunita Mani, Wunmi Mosaku, Alia Shawkat, Bob Stephenson and Ted Travelstead. It won the 2024 Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for the "The Dream" episode and was nominated for Outstanding Animated Program. [4]
In 2025, Joe Bennett and Steve Hely created the 2025 Emmy-nominated Common Side Effects, which aired on Adult Swim. [23] [24] It co-starred Dave King, Emily Pendergast, Martha Kelly, Joseph Lee Anderson and Mike Judge. It followed former high school lab mates Marshall and Frances as they unravelled a conspiracy involving big pharma and the government to suppress knowledge of a rare fungus secret that may have contained the solution to cure all world's diseases. [25] [26] Adult Swim renewed Common Side Effects for a second season in March 2025. [27]
Bennett lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.
| YEAR | TITLE | VOICED BY | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Music video for the band Animal | Animal | The music video is for the song, "Impossible Chicken." |
| 2013 | Spiral | Kate Berlant | A collaboration with Kate Berlant. |
| Bliss | Kate Berlant, Joe Pera | ||
| 2014 | Odin's Afterbirth | Cory Blische | 3 episodes aired in Liquid Television. |
| Bedtime Stories | Cory Blische | Aired in episode 1 of Liquid Television. | |
| Adult Swim Bumpers | Rory Scovel, Cory Blische | Produced by Titmouse. | |
| 2015 | Cody's Positive Animations | Cory Blische, Brandon Blische | |
| First Date | Aiyana Udesen, Matt Furie | First Date was a collab with Matt Furie. | |
| 2016 | Scavengers | Written and produced by Joe Bennett and Charles Huettner, aired on Adult Swim. | |
| 2019 | "Joe Bennett Collection" | Various voiceovers | A series of eighteen shorts that aired on FXX's Cake, now streaming on Hulu. Titles include: Slot, Balloons, Park, Ice Cream,Jay,Derecho, Drive Thru,Yoo Wana Nowat lyee Didd, Fishing, Therapy, Puppet. |
| FX Bumpers | Joe Bennett | Written, directed and animated by Joe Bennett. | |
| Birds | Joe Pera | Commissioned by FX Productions. | |
| 2020 | Iggy and Friends | Martha Kelly, Joe Bennett, Caleb Hearon, Will Ferrell | A series of shorts commissioned by AOK. Episode two is co-written with Martha Kelly. |
| 2021 | Mitch | Thomas Middleditch | A collaboration with Thomas Middleditch. |
| Football | Martin Starr | A collaboration with Martin Starr. | |
| 2022 | Bomb Squad | Emmy Blotnick | Co-written with Emmy Blotnick. |
| 2023 | Scavengers Reign | Sunita Mani, Wunmi Mosaku, Alia Shawkat, Bob Stephenson and Ted Travelstead | Winner of 2024 Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for the episode called "The Dream" and nominated for Outstanding Animated Program. |
| 2025 | Common Side Effects | Dave King, Emily Pendergast, Martha Kelly, Joseph Lee Anderson and Mike Judge | Nominated for Emmy Award for 2025 Best Animated Series. |
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