Jeff Rowe

Actor / Writer / Director

Birthplace – Jeff Rowe

Jeff Rowe (birthname: Jeffrey Rowe) is a rising filmmaker in the animation field, building a reputation for fresh and antic animated movements in his movies. After graduating from CalArts, Rowe worked at Bento Box Entertainment, Rubicon Group, and Film Roman, mainly as a storyboard artist, Rowe acted with the Disney Channel as a writer on the animated series, Gravity Falls (2014-2016).

Rowe was also a writer on the staff of the Netflix animated series, Disenchantment (2018-2019). Rowe’s animation feature debut as director-writer was the highly acclaimed The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021), with co-director/writer Mike Rianda and produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller with Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Animation and released theatrically and streaming by Netflix; Rowe’s voice cast included Danny McBride, Abbi Jacobson, Maya Rudolph, Olivia Colman, and Eric André; the film swept all categories in the prestigious Annie Awards and was Oscar-nominated for Best Animated Feature.

With collaborator Seth Rogen (who co-wrote the script and story and co-produced), Rowe was director-writer of Nickelodeon Movies/Paramount’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023), the reboot of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series and the seventh theatrical entry in the franchise; Rowe’s voice cast included Michah Abbey, Shamon Brown Jr., Rose Byrne, Nicolas Cantu, Brady Noon, Ayo Edebiri, Rudolph, John Cena, Rogen, Giancarlo Esposito, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube, Hannibal Buress, and Paul Rudd.

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Personal Details

Jeff Rowe was born in Chicago and raised in the Chicagoland suburb of Hometown, Illinois. After graduating from high school in Hometown, Rowe attended and graduated in 2011 from California Institute of the Arts, where he studied animation.

Filmography

The Mitchells vs. the Machines

(2021)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

(2023)

Some Facts About Jeff Rowe

Unorthodox Animator: Jeff Rowe has explained in interviews that he conceived of the look of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem as if it were “made by teenager.” 

 

Awards

Two-time Winner, Best Writing—Animated Feature/Best Director—Animated Feature, Annie Awards (2022); Winner, Truly Moving Picture Award, Heartland Film Festival (2023); Winner, Best Screenplay, Hollywood Critics Association Awards (2021).