Loren Bouchard
Loren Bouchard | |
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Born | Loren Hal Bouchard October 10, 1969 New York City, U.S. |
Occupation |
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Years active | 1995–present |
Spouse(s) | Holly Kretschmar (m. 2006) |
Loren Hal Bouchard (born October 10, 1969) is an American animator, writer, producer, director, and composer. He is the creator of several animated TV shows such as Bob's Burgers, Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil, and Central Park. He is also the co-creator of Home Movies with Brendon Small as well as the executive producer of The Great North.
Early life
Bouchard was born in New York City to a Jewish mother and Catholic father. He grew up in Medford, Massachusetts.
Career
A high school dropout, Bouchard was working as a bartender in 1993 when he bumped into a former grade school teacher of his, Tom Snyder, who asked if Bouchard was still drawing, and offered Bouchard a chance to work on a few animated short films Snyder was making. The shorts developed into Bouchard's first series, Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, which he produced. He credits Jonathan Katz, H. Jon Benjamin, and Snyder as major influences. Dr. Katz ran for six seasons, from 1995 to 2000. He also produced one season of Science Court, another animated show made by Soup2Nuts.
Towards the end of Dr. Katz, Bouchard and Brendon Small teamed up to create Home Movies. The show was picked up initially by UPN, which dropped it after five episodes; the remaining eight episodes from season one, and the subsequent three seasons, were shown on Adult Swim. The show was not renewed after the conclusion of the fourth season in 2004.
After Home Movies concluded and another Bouchard pilot, Saddle Rash, was not picked up, Bouchard created Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil. The show's pilot was created on October 30, 2005, but it was not until September 2007 that the show debuted as a weekly feature on Adult Swim. He was a consulting producer on HBO's The Ricky Gervais Show.
In 2009, Bouchard got together with King of the Hill writer and producer Jim Dauterive and developed Bob's Burgers, an animated series about a family working at a hamburger restaurant. Bouchard grew up in a working-class family full of "blue collar creatives" and created Bob's Burgers because he didn't see that kind of life represented on TV. In 2010, Fox placed the series on the primetime slate for the 2010–11 television season. A special preview aired on Thanksgiving on November 25, 2010. When the series premiered, it received mixed reviews with a Metacritic score of 54 out of 100. However, as the first season progressed and concluded and the second began, critics began giving the series praise. The show has generally been viewed as a spiritual successor to King of the Hill, which carried less emphasis on shock comedy and focused more on character-driven humor. A film adaptation based on the animated TV series is scheduled for a May 27, 2022 release and will serve as Bouchard's feature directorial debut.
Personal life
Bouchard lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Holly Kretschmar. The couple married on September 3, 2006.
Filmography
Year | Series / Film | Creator / Showrunner | Involvement (episodes) | Role |
---|---|---|---|---|
1995–1999 | Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist | No | Writer, producer, editor (47 episodes) | — |
1997 | Science Court | No | Producer and director (12 episodes) | — |
1999–2004 | Home Movies | Yes (52 episodes) | Writer, executive producer, director, co-theme music composer | Josie Small (voice) |
2002 | Mr. Bean | No | Voice actor (episode: "Cat-Sitting/The Bottle") | Rondo (voice) |
2005–2007 | Lucy, the Daughter of the Devil | Yes (11 episodes) | Writer, executive producer, director, composer | Classmate (voice) |
2007 | My Gym Partner's a Monkey | No | Voice actor (episode: "Flesh Fur Fantasy/Substitute Sweetheart") | Teddy (voice) |
2010 | The Ricky Gervais Show | No | Consulting producer (season 1) | — |
2011–present | Bob's Burgers | Yes | Writer, co-developer, executive producer, main theme composer | Mickey (voice) (since 2021, replaced Bill Hader) |
2020–present | Central Park | Yes | Writer, executive producer, main theme composer | — |
2021–present | The Great North | No | Executive producer | – |
2022 | The Bob's Burgers Movie | Yes | Director, writer and producer | — |
Awards and honors
- American animated film directors
- American animated film producers
- 1969 births
- Living people
- Animators from New York (state)
- Animators from Massachusetts
- American audio engineers
- American male screenwriters
- American male voice actors
- American television writers
- American television composers
- American television directors
- Jewish American television composers
- Jewish American writers
- Male actors from Massachusetts
- Male actors from New York City
- American male television writers
- Male television composers
- People from Medford, Massachusetts
- Television producers from New York City
- Composers from New York City
- Writers from New York City
- 20th-century American artists
- 21st-century American artists
- 20th-century American writers
- 21st-century American writers
- 20th-century American male writers
- 20th-century American pianists
- Showrunners
- Film directors from New York City
- Film directors from Massachusetts
- Screenwriters from New York (state)
- Screenwriters from Massachusetts
- Engineers from New York City
- American male pianists
- 21st-century American pianists
- 20th-century American male musicians
- 21st-century American male musicians
- 21st-century American Jews