Bryan Konietzko

Konietzko has worked as a character designer at Film Roman for Family Guy and as assistant director for Mission Hill and King of the Hill. He was hired as a storyboard artist and art director for the Nickelodeon animated series Invader Zim in 2000. When Invader Zim concluded in 2002, Konietzko and his friend, Michael Dante DiMartino, were recruited by Eric Coleman to pitch their own series to Nickelodeon, which resulted in the creation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.^[1]

Between 2002 and 2014, Konietzko, together with DiMartino, were mainly occupied with writing and producing the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender and its sequel The Legend of Korra for Nickelodeon. Konietzko's and DiMartino's long-standing creative partnership is collectively referred to as "Bryke" by fans, in reference to "shipping" naming conventions.^[2]

In 2007, DiMartino and Konietzko became interested in developing a live action film adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender, choosing to develop the film over a fourth season, even when the film's director, M. Night Shyamalan insisted they work on a fourth season instead.^[3] After the critical and commercial failure of the film, the pair would later claim they never wanted the live action film to be made in the first place.^[4][5]

As of 2015, Konietzko was working on writing and illustrating a sci-fi graphic novel series, Threadworlds, that is to be published by First Second Books, but there is no release date.^[6]

In September 2018, Netflix announced that Konietzko and DiMartino would serve as executive producers and showrunners for the live-action series based on Avatar: The Last Airbender, which released in 2024.^[7] On August 12, 2020, Konietzko and DiMartino revealed on social media that they had both departed the show, due to creative differences with the Netflix team.^[8]

In February 2021, ViacomCBS announced the formation of Avatar Studios, a division of Nickelodeon centered on developing newer animated series and movies set in the same universe as Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, with both DiMartino and Konietzko helming the studio as co-chief creative officers.^[9] The studio's first film, Avatar: Aang, The Last Airbender was expected to release on October 10, 2025, then was delayed to January 30, 2026, and then was delayed again to its current release date of October 9, 2026.^[10][11][12]

Konietzko was born in 1976 in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio.^[1] Konietzko graduated from Roswell High School in Roswell, Georgia, a suburb north of Atlanta. In 1994, he went back to Ohio and did his foundation year at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. He transferred to the Rhode Island School of Design where he met his friend and future collaborator, Michael Dante DiMartino. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Illustration in 1998.^[13][14] He joined DiMartino in Los Angeles, California, where the latter helped the former get his foot in the door of the TV animation industry.^[1] He lived in Waterbury, Vermont in 2023.^[15] Konietzko is married to professional dancer Elisabeth "Lisa" Wahlander (born 1981). Wahlander is a former employee of his, whom he met during the production of Avatar: The Last Airbender, where she worked as a martial arts coordinator and videographer.^[16][17]

Konietzko is also active in photography and has a band, Ginormous,^[18] with which he has released several albums. These include Our Ancestors' Intense Love Affair and At Night, Under Artificial Light. In 2017, he founded a heavy metal band named Eonothem.^[15]