Vivienne Medrano (born October 28, 1992),[3] also known by her online aliasVivziePop, is an AmericanYouTuber, animator, writer, director, producer, and voice actress. She is best known as the creator of themusical television seriesHazbin Hotel andHelluva Boss. She also created thewebcomicZooPhobia.[4][5][6]
Prior to joiningYouTube, Medrano did assistant work on athesishorror comedy film by Zach Bellissimo titledBlenderstein, in 2011.[7]
Before launching her current channel "VivziePop", Medrano launched her first channel, "xZoOPhobiAx", which features animatics forZooPhobia.
Medrano launched her YouTube channel under the screen name "VivziePop" in 2012, building a dedicated online audience, who enjoyed herfanwork and original creations.[8][9] Also in 2012, she started a webcomic titledZooPhobia, which ran until 2016, ending so that she could find more time to developHazbin Hotel.[10][11][12] Medrano directed her first shortanimated 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 thesong of the same name byPitbull andKesha, 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 founded theanimation studioSpindleHorse Toons, under which thepilot forHazbin Hotel, thepilot and first season forHelluva 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 withCartoon Brew, she said that much of theHazbin Hotel pilot was funded by money from her Patreon, rather than income from YouTube's algorithm.[8] The companyHorseless Cowboy assisted Medrano with voice casting during the first season ofHelluva Boss, withRichard 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 ofHazbin Hotel was released on Medrano's YouTube channel.[23] In November 2019, thepilot ofHelluva Boss was released on her YouTube channel as well.[24] In July 2020, Medrano released an animated music video forHazbin 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 byA24.[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'sHazbin Hotel andHelluva 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 releasedan animated short film titled "Bad Luck Jack", based onZooPhobia.[31] The short was nominated and won for aUrsa 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'sDreamWorksTV 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]
In a January 2024 interview following the release ofHazbin Hotel onAmazon Prime Video, she described herself as a "queer woman on the internet who made something popular", and related herself to her characterCharlie 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 thatVaggie was the character she related to most, saying that Vaggie and Charlie "feel like sides of [her]self."[42]
^"Dusty Festival: Winners List".SVA BFA Film.School of Visual Arts.Archived from the original on February 2, 2021. RetrievedApril 25, 2021. See the list of winners in 2011 which list "Blanderstein" and "Destiny for the Birds", and 2014, which lists "Timber".
^abCubilas, Sean (November 26, 2020)."Hazbin Hotel: 10 Funniest Lines in the Show, Ranked".Screen Rant.Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. RetrievedApril 24, 2021.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.
^Baron, Reuben (December 2, 2019)."Adult Animation Is Better Than Ever - So Why Does It Draw Ridicule?".CBR.Archived from the original on December 2, 2019. RetrievedApril 25, 2021.Independent animator Vivziepop has lit up YouTube with her pilotsHazbin Hotel andHelluva Boss, which have earned some warranted criticism for their immature, edgy humor but are at least clear labors of love from an animation standpoint.
