Vivienne Medrano | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Born | Frederick, Maryland, U.S. | October 28, 1992||||||||||||
Other names | VivziePop | ||||||||||||
Alma mater | School of Visual Arts (BFA) | ||||||||||||
Occupations |
| ||||||||||||
Years active | 2011–present | ||||||||||||
Notable work | |||||||||||||
YouTube information | |||||||||||||
Channels | |||||||||||||
Genres | |||||||||||||
Subscribers | 10.5 million [1] | ||||||||||||
Total views | 1.5 billion [1] | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Last updated: December 2, 2024 |
Vivienne Medrano (born October 28, 1992), [3] also known by her online alias VivziePop, is an American YouTuber, animator, writer, director, producer, and voice actress. She is best known as the creator of the musical television series Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss . She also created the webcomic ZooPhobia . [4] [5] [6]
Prior to joining YouTube, Medrano did assistant work on a thesis horror comedy film by Zach Bellissimo titled Blenderstein, in 2011. [7]
Before launching her current channel "VivziePop", Medrano launched her first channel, "xZoOPhobiAx", which features animatics for ZooPhobia .
Medrano launched her YouTube channel under the screen name "VivziePop" in 2012, building a dedicated online audience, who enjoyed her fanwork and original creations. [8] [9] Also in 2012, she started a webcomic titled ZooPhobia , which ran until 2016, ending so that she could find more time to develop Hazbin Hotel. [10] [11] [12] Medrano directed her first short animated film, titled "The Son of 666" in 2013. [11] Medrano released her fourth year thesis film entitled "Timber" in 2014, for which she won a Dusty Award in "Outstanding Achievement in Character Animation". [13] [14] Medrano named the film after the song of the same name by Pitbull and Kesha, and its score contained homages to the song as well. [15] In October 2014, she released an animated music video for the song "Die Young" by Kesha, which accumulated over 50 million views by October 2019. [12] As a result, she became "relatively well-known" online for her animation and artwork, some of which she shared on her channel. [16]
Medrano received a Bachelor in Fine Arts and graduated from School of Visual Arts in August 2014. [8] [9] She worked as a freelance animator for two years. [8] She continued to work on her webcomic ZooPhobia until 2016 when she ended it to focus her attention on Hazbin Hotel. Hazbin Hotel would be crowdfunded through Patreon. [8] [17] [18]
Medrano founded the animation studio SpindleHorse Toons, under which the pilot for Hazbin Hotel, the pilot and first season for Helluva Boss, and several animated shorts would be released. [19] Medrano serves as the director, writer and character designer for SpindleHorse Toons. [20] In an interview with Cartoon Brew, she said that much of the Hazbin Hotel pilot was funded by money from her Patreon, rather than income from YouTube's algorithm. [8] The company Horseless Cowboy assisted Medrano with voice casting during the first season of Helluva Boss, with Richard Steven Horvitz serving as the voice director. [21] Cartoon Brew described her as a "paragon of indie success in animation". [22]
In October 2019, the pilot episode of Hazbin Hotel was released on Medrano's YouTube channel. [23] In November 2019, the pilot of Helluva Boss was released on her YouTube channel as well. [24] In July 2020, Medrano released an animated music video for Hazbin Hotel called "Addict", featuring the Silva Hound song of the same name. [25] [26] In August 2020, Hazbin Hotel was picked up for a full series by A24. [27] [28] Animation Magazine said that A24 was taking a "bold step" by picking up the series. [29] In 2023, scholar Ben Mitchell described Medrano's Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss as series which were "sensationally popular" and an effective use of Patreon to subsidize the show's art "through monthly tiered payments". [30]
On September 30, 2020, Medrano released an animated short film titled "Bad Luck Jack", based on ZooPhobia. [31] The short was nominated and won for a Ursa Major Award in the "Best Dramatic Short Work" category. [32] [33] The short was also listed as a "Recommended Anthropomorphic Dramatic Short Work" on the Ursa Major Award website. [34]
From 2017 to 2019, she worked as an animator on Nico Colaleo's DreamWorksTV series, Too Loud. [11] She called her experience on the series "a delight." [35] She also worked as a character designer on the series. [36] In March 2021, it was reported that she was a partner of Redefine Entertainment, a management company formed by Jairo Alvarado, Tony Gil, and Max Goldfarb. [37] [38]
Medrano was born in Frederick, Maryland and is a Salvadoran-American. [11] She became interested in animation as a child when she watched the film Bambi . [9] She began using art programs such as MS Paint in third grade. [9] [5] Her early art was heavily influenced by Invader Zim. Medrano moved to New York City and began attending School of Visual Arts in September 2010 and would later graduate in 2014. [9] [5] She is bisexual. [39] She grew up Presbyterian, and says she remembers going to church and questioning a lot of stories in the Bible — Adam and Eve and Lucifer, in particular. [40]
In a January 2024 interview following the release of Hazbin Hotel on Amazon Prime Video, she described herself as a "queer woman on the internet who made something popular", and related herself to her character Charlie Morningstar, saying that both she and Charlie are in a "position of fighting uphill battles to just have our dreams exist." [41] Previously, Medrano had described herself, on social media, as a "proud 'fiery' latina," and said that Vaggie was the character she related to most, saying that Vaggie and Charlie "feel like sides of [her]self." [42]
Title | Year | Credited as | Notes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Director | Writer | Producer | Animation/Art | Other | |||
Blenderstein! | 2011 | No | No | No | No | Yes | Assistant [7] [43] |
The Son of 666 | 2013 | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Creator [11] |
Timber | 2014 | Yes | No | No | No | No | Creator [5] |
Hand-Drawn: 2D Documentary | 2019 | No | No | No | No | Yes | As herself [17] [44] |
That's Entertainment | 2019 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Hazbin Hotel pilot [45] |
Bad Luck Jack | 2020 | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | ZooPhobia short [31] |
Title | Year | Credited as | Notes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Director | Writer | Producer | Animation/Art | Other | |||
Hazbin Hotel | 2024–present | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Creator [45] |
Title | Year | Credited as | Voice role | Notes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Writer | Executive Producer | Director | Animation/Art | Actress | ||||
Too Loud | 2017–2019 | No | No | No | Yes | No | Sarah | Animator [11] and character designer [36] |
Helluva Boss | 2019–present | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Keenie, Deerie, Various characters | Creator [46] |
Ollie & Scoops | 2019–present | No | No | No | No | Yes | Poopsie St. Pierre | [47] |
Eddsworld | 2021 | No | No | No | No | Yes | Face Painter | Episode: "The Beaster Bunny" |
Normal British Series | 2021–22 | No | No | No | No | Yes | Buttmunch | Episode: "Being British" |
Title | Year | Credited as | Voice role | Notes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Writer | Executive Producer | Director | Animation/Art | Actress | ||||
Haunted Sex Toys | 2021 | No | No | No | No | Yes | N/A | Episode: "Being British" as Café customer |
Helluva Boss Wins! | 2023 | No | No | No | No | Yes | N/A | Herself |
Year | Title | Artist |
---|---|---|
2024 | "Polkamania!" ("Vampire" segment) | "Weird Al" Yankovic |
The term independent animation refers to animated shorts, web series, and feature films produced outside a major national animation industry.
Adam Maxwell Burton, known professionally as Maxwell Atoms, is an American animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is the creator of the Cartoon Network series Grim & Evil and its subsequent spin-offs, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Evil Con Carne.
Rick Zieff is an American actor and voice-over coach.
Parry Pillsbury Gripp is an American songwriter, singer and musician. He has been the lead vocalist and guitarist for the pop-punk band Nerf Herder since its formation in 1994. Gripp writes novelty songs for children, and has been featured on Disney television shows.
Urbana High School is a secondary public school in Ijamsville, Maryland, United States. It serves grades 9-12 and is a part of the Frederick County Public Schools.
TVPaint Animation is a 2D paint and digital animation software package developed by TVPaint Developpement SARL based in Lorraine, France. Originally released for Amiga in 1991, version 3.0 (1994) introduced support for other platforms. In 1999, the last Amiga version 3.59 was released as free download. TVPaint Animation currently runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, and Android operating systems.
Krystina Helena Alabado is an American actress, singer, and voice actor. She is also known for her acting on Broadway. Krystina made her broadway debut February 28, 2011 playing a replacement ensemble role in American Idiot. She originated the role of Vanden in the 2016 Broadway production of American Psycho and starred as Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls on Broadway from March 2019 until the show's final performance on March 11, 2020. Since 2024, she has voiced Cherri Bomb in the adult animated musical series Hazbin Hotel.
Helluva Boss is an American adult animated musical comedy web series created by Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano. It revolves around the misadventures of the employees of I.M.P., a company in Hell that offers hitman services in the realm of the living. The pilot was released on November 25, 2019, while the first episode of the first season was released on October 31, 2020. Set in the same fictional universe as Hazbin Hotel, the show is produced by SpindleHorse Toons. The first season was released exclusively on Medrano's YouTube channel, as she has done for other animations. The second season premiered on July 30, 2022. On March 27, 2023, the show was confirmed to be renewed for a third season, in active production. On April 26, 2024, a spin-off short series of Helluva Boss titled Helluva Shorts was announced at LVLUP Expo, with the first short being released on the same day.
Hazbin Hotel is an American adult animated musical comedy television series created by Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano. The series revolves around Charlie Morningstar, princess of Hell, on her quest to find a way for sinners to be "rehabilitated" and allowed into Heaven, via her "Hazbin Hotel", as an alternative to Heaven's annual "Extermination" of souls due to Hell's overpopulation. The series is produced by SpindleHorse Toons in collaboration with A24, Amazon Studios, and the animation studio Bento Box Entertainment.
Brandon George Rogers is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and YouTuber. He plays many characters in his eponymous YouTube channel and is a writer on the adult animated web series Helluva Boss, in which he primarily voices the main character Blitzo, as well as voicing reporter Katie Killjoy in Hazbin Hotel.
Ollie & Scoops is an American comedy animated web series created by animator Nico Colaleo. Colaleo is also known for creating the animated web series Too Loud for DreamWorksTV and has been working in the medium since 2011, having previously worked at studios such as Titmouse, Inc., Nickelodeon Animation Studio, Disney Television Animation, and Netflix Animation. Colaleo is also an art gallery curator; he's hosted art shows and events around the Los Angeles area since 2013.
SpindleHorse, commonly referred to as SpindleHorse Toons, is an American animation production company founded by Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano in 2018, based in Burbank, California. It is responsible for the Hellaverse shared universe animated series, whose main series Hazbin Hotel is co-animated with Bento Box Entertainment and co-produced with A24. It is the sole animation studio of its spin-off series, Helluva Boss.
ZooPhobia is an American webcomic originally published in 2012 by Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano, from which she later loosely adapted characters and plotlines for her animated musical television series Hazbin Hotel. It follows a young woman named Cameron, who travels to an interspecies sanctuary named Safe Haven. Two ZooPhobia short films, "The Son of 666" and "Bad Luck Jack", were released in 2013 and 2020, respectively.
The pilot episode of the American animated musical television series Hazbin Hotel, entitled "That's Entertainment", premiered to YouTube on October 28, 2019. Written and directed by Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano, it was independently financed and animated over the course of three years by Medrano's independent animation group, SpindleHorse Toons.
"Overture" is the first episode of the first season of Hazbin Hotel. It premiered on Amazon Prime Video on January 19, 2024, and was written and directed by series creator Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano.
Alastor "the Radio Demon" is a fictional character created by Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano who primarily appears in the musical adult animated series Hazbin Hotel as one of the overlords of Hell. He was voiced by Edward Bosco and Gabriel C. Brown in the pilot and a series of music videos from 2019 to 2024, and by Amir Talai in the animated series since 2024. A constantly-smiling sinner, Alastor returns after a seven-year absence to run a hotel known as the Hazbin Hotel with Charlie Morningstar, princess of Hell, whom Alastor seeks to guide and control, while also wanting to free his own soul from the service of an unknown being. He is often accompanied by the hotel's bartender Husk and housekeeper Niffty, and he is considered a rival by fellow overlord Vox and Charlie's father, Lucifer.
Princess Charlie Morningstar is a fictional character created by Vivienne "VivziePop" Medrano who appears as the protagonist of the musical adult animated series Hazbin Hotel as the princess of Hell. She is primarily voiced by Erika Henningsen. Charlie runs the titular Hazbin Hotel, where she hopes to redeem the souls of those in Hell and help them earn a place in Heaven. She is the daughter of Lilith and Lucifer Morningstar and is also dating Vaggie.
Hazbin Hotel (Original Soundtrack) is an extended play soundtrack album released in three parts from the adult animated streaming television musical series Hazbin Hotel. The first part was released on January 19, 2024, the second on January 26, and the third on February 1. The music was composed and written by Andrew Underberg and Sam Haft.
Join Creator Vivienne Medrano (a.k.a. VivziePop) for an intimate conversation about creating her Youtube hit series, Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss .
From Vivienne Medrano, the talented artist behind the drawings and animations on the YouTube channel, Vivziepop, Hazbin Hotel portrays all of the quirky, ambitious, and dark humor that Vivienne has become synonymous with.
Independent animator Vivziepop has lit up YouTube with her pilots Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss, which have earned some warranted criticism for their immature, edgy humor but are at least clear labors of love from an animation standpoint.