Draft:Radford Sechrist

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Radford Sechrist is an American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and educator. He is best known as the creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the critically acclaimed animated series Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (2020–2021) for DreamWorks Animation Television and Netflix.

Radford Sechrist
Born (1990-01-09) January 9, 1990 (age 35)
CitizenshipUnited States Of America
EducationUniversity of California, Santa Barbara (BS)
Occupations
  • Animator
  • director
  • producer
  • storyboard artist
  • educator
Years active2006–present
Known forKipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts
SpouseMaggie Kang
Children1

Early life and education

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Sechrist attended the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering.[1] During college, he began drawing comics for fun, initially unaware that animation could be a viable career path. Sechrist would later say he had started drawing comics before he started animation and later continued "doing them on the side or at night."[2]

In 2025, the third volume of Flight, a comics anthology, was re-issued, for which Sechrist had drawn for in June 2006.[3][4][5]

Career

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Early career and feature animation

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Sechrist who begin his professional animation career by working at DreamWorks Animation in 2006 as a storyboarder. He began as a story trainee on Bee Movie.[6] He subsequently worked as a story artist and additional storyboard artist on numerous animated feature films. This started with serving as a story artist on Megamind in 2010.[7] He would later be a story artist on Kung Fu Panda 2 in 2011[7][8] and additional story artist on Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted in 2012[citation needed] and on Turbo in 2013.[citation needed]

In 2014, he was a story artist on How to Train Your Dragon 2. The same year, he was a story artist on Penguins of Madagascar.[7][8] He would come up with the idea for Kipo, beginning it as a webcomic, while working as a story artist on How to Train Your Dragon 2 and note his inspiration from The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones.[9]

In 2021, he served as Head of Story for the Sony Pictures Animation film Wish Dragon.[8]

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

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Sechrist created the animated series Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, which premiered on Netflix in January 2020. The series originated from his webcomic Kipo, which he self-published online in 2015.[2][10][11] He developed the pitch as "The Walking Dead, but everything that's trying to kill you is adorable," aiming to blend post-apocalyptic stakes with vibrant, optimistic storytelling.[12][13] When the series was pitched, Sechrist, and Bill Wolkoff, knew that the series would feature a gay character, with Sechrist saying the romance between Benson and Troy was the result of our the show's entire crew.[14][15][10]

As showrunner and executive producer, Sechrist oversaw all three seasons of the series, which concluded in October 2021. The show received widespread critical praise for its innovative animation style, diverse cast, complex worldbuilding, and themes of empathy and community.[16] It was particularly noted for its positive LGBTQ+ representation, featuring an openly gay main character, Benson, which earned the series a GLAAD Media Award nomination in 2021.[17] The series was also nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Animated Series.[18][19] Sechrist later stated that Netflix was clear the series would only have 30 episodes and there was no opportunity for more episodes in a fourth season and she said that he would like to do a story of Wolf when she is age 15.[20][15] He also expressed interest in possible films to continue the story.[21][22]

Teaching and entrepreneurship

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Parallel to his production work, Sechrist has maintained a career as an educator. He has taught storyboarding and animation at several institutions, including the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Academy of Art University, George Washington University, SCAD, and the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art[23][1][6] While at CalArts he taught a class entitled Life Drawing for Animators which applied "life drawing techniques to animation."[24]

In 2021, he co-founded Project City with animators Ethan Becker, Chase Conley, and Coran Kizer Stone. Described as an "animation incubator," the venture focuses on developing independent animated projects and providing educational resources for artists.[25] He also ran online platform named Rad How-To School, offering instructional content on drawing and storyboarding.[26][23] He would later present about Project City, with Ethan Becker and Chase Conley, at Anime Expo in June 2022.[27]

Other work

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Sechrist also ran a skateboard company named Plastic Walrus, where he met Andra Gunter, in 2014 or 2015, with Gunter working on Kipo as as a music composer and vocal contributor, and known as Oz the Originator in the show.[28]

In 2020, Sechrist said he was in "development at DreamWorks features" in a non-Kipo related project.[2]

Sechrist designed the character Derpy Tiger in the 2025 film, KPop Demon Hunters which his wife, Maggie Kang, directed. He served as a story artist for the film,[29][30] and talked about it on social media, noting why he felt that the film had been such a hit compared to The Bad Guys 2 and Elio.[31] According to Kang, she and Sechrist thought up the concept for KPop Demon Hunters together, with the film bought a week after it was pitched over lunch in 2018.[32]

Personal life

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Sechrist is married to animation director and story artist Maggie Kang. He gave her the idea for merging Korean mythology and K-pop, which became the film K-Pop Demon Hunters. The film's protagonist, Rumi, is named after their daughter, with their daughter voicing the character's younger version, while Sechrist designed the character Derpy Tiger in the film, basing it upon minhwa and his cat named Yumyan.[29][30] Prior to this, in 2020, Sechrist stated that a standout part of the third season of Kipo were the K-pop narwhals, adding that since Kang would take him to BTS concerts, the genre was close to his heart.[21]

Filmography

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Feature films

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Year Title Role Notes
2010 Megamind Story Artist
2011 Kung Fu Panda 2 Story Artist
2012 Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted Additional Story Artist
2013 Turbo Additional Story Artist
2014 Mr. Peabody & Sherman Additional Story Artist
2014 How to Train Your Dragon 2 Story Artist
2014 Penguins of Madagascar Story Artist
2017 The Lego Ninjago Movie Additional Storyboard Artist
2021 Wish Dragon Head of Story
2025 KPop Demon Hunters Story Artist

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2012 Ultimate Spider-Man Storyboard Artist 1 episode
2016 Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll Storyboard Artist Television special
2020–2021 Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts Creator, Showrunner, Executive Producer 30 episodes

References

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  1. ^ a b Fraley, Jason (May 21, 2020). "DreamWorks creator of 'Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts' hosts virtual GW event". WTOP. Archived from the original on August 7, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025. Now, it's time for him to share his own experience with students at GW, just one of his regular mentoring gigs, including the California Institute of the Arts, Academy of Art University, Concept Design Academy and the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art.
  2. ^ a b c Trumbore, Dave (January 16, 2020). "Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts Season 2 Teased by Creators". Collider. Archived from the original on June 1, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  3. ^ Parker, Charley (November 22, 2005). "Rad Sechrist". Lines and Colors. Archived from the original on November 11, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  4. ^ Parker, Charley (June 29, 2006). "Flight 3". Lines and Colors. Archived from the original on February 13, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  5. ^ "Flight Volume Three". Penguin Random House. 2025. Archived from the original on April 16, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Radford Sechrist". SCAD. Archived from the original on December 19, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c "Radford Sechrist". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Archived from the original on December 23, 2025. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  8. ^ a b c Zahed, Ramin (January 15, 2020). "It's the End of the World and She's Just Fine!: 'Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts'". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on February 8, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  9. ^ Hofferman, Jon (January 14, 2020). "'Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts' Shows the Bright Side of a Post-Apocalyptic World". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on January 20, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  10. ^ a b "#Kipo Showrunners on Openly Gay Characters in Healthy Relationships". Collider. June 20, 2020. Archived from the original on January 19, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  11. ^ Fowler, Matt (January 14, 2020). "Meet the Futuristic Creatures from Netflix's 'Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts'". Fandom. Archived from the original on November 8, 2024. Retrieved December 21, 2020.
  12. ^ Trumbore, Dave (June 9, 2020). "'Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts' Season 2 Interview: Creators Talk New Threats & the "Mega" World". Collider. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  13. ^ Dudok de Wit, Alex (June 28, 2020). "Blue Pigs And Mutant Mandrills: Designing The Post-Apocalypse In 'Kipo And The Age Of Wonderbeasts'". Cartoon Brew. Archived from the original on April 24, 2025.
  14. ^ White, Abbey; Chik, Kalai (August 31, 2021). "LGBTQ characters of color are making animation history — but creatives of color can't escape the industry's discriminatory past". Business Insider. Archived from the original on September 16, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  15. ^ a b Miller, Shannon (October 15, 2020). "Kipo creator Rad Sechrist and showrunner Bill Wolkoff on loss, redemption, and K-pop narwhals". A.V. Club. Archived from the original on October 5, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  16. ^ Saraiya, Sonia (June 9, 2020). "Kipo And The Age Of Wonderbeasts is still one of TV's most imaginative adventure stories". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on August 14, 2025. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  17. ^ "GLAAD Media Awards Nominees". GLAAD. January 28, 2021. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  18. ^ "The 48th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards Nominations". National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  19. ^ "CalArtian-Created Shows Earn 2021 Daytime Emmy Awards Nominations". CalArts. June 29, 2021. Archived from the original on June 24, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025. Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts (Netflix), created by former School of Film/Video faculty Rad Sechrist
  20. ^ Trumbore, Dave (October 15, 2020). "Kipo Season 4 Cancellation Explained by Netflix Series Showrunners". Collider. Archived from the original on February 18, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  21. ^ a b Bishop, Rollin (October 20, 2020). "Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: Rad Sechrist and Bill Wolkoff Talk Season 3, Jamack, and Prom at the End of the World". Comic Book. Archived from the original on May 6, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  22. ^ Kelley, Shamus (July 9, 2020). "Kipo Creator Wants To Make "100 Films" In The Kipo Universe". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on September 5, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  23. ^ a b "Learn Storyboarding and Figure Invention for Animation with Rad Sechrist". Concept Art Empire. June 21, 2016. Archived from the original on February 10, 2025. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  24. ^ "CalArts' Animation Programs Announce New Faculty Members". CalArts. September 19, 2011. Archived from the original on February 11, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  25. ^ James, Tito W. (November 29, 2021). "'Kipo' Creator Radford Sechrist Announces New Animated Venture 'Project City'". Comicon.com. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2025.
  26. ^ "Rad How-To School". Rad How-To School. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  27. ^ "AX 2022 Portfolio Review Participants to Include VIZ Originals and Project City". Anime Expo. June 13, 2022. Archived from the original on February 15, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  28. ^ Kelley, Shamus (July 30, 2020). "Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts: Oz the Originator Steps Into the Spotlight". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on January 25, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
  29. ^ a b Sarkar, Ishani (November 7, 2025). "Who created Netflix's KPop Demon Hunters? Meet Maggie Kang". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on December 19, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  30. ^ a b Shepard, Kenneth (August 29, 2025). "Here's Why One KPop Demon Hunters Artist Thinks The Movie Is Succeeding Where Pixar Has Failed". Kotaku. Archived from the original on September 23, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  31. ^ Colombo, Charlotte (September 4, 2025). "Producer explains how YouTube and 20-year-olds are a key part to the "KPop Demon Hunters" success". The Daily Dot. Archived from the original on August 31, 2025. Retrieved December 19, 2025.
  32. ^ Kirichanskaya, Michele (July 16, 2025). "Interview with Maggie Kang, Creator of KPop Demon Hunters". Geeks Out. Archived from the original on August 8, 2025. Retrieved December 21, 2025.
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