Michael Dante DiMartino is an American
animation director born on 18 July 1974 best known as the co-creator, executive producer, and
story editor of the animated TV series and
The Legend of Korra, both on
Nickelodeon. He was born in
Shelburne, Vermont. He studied at the
Rhode Island School of Design with
Bryan Konietzko, with whom he created
Avatar. Before
Avatar, Mike worked for twelve years at
Film Roman, helping to direct
King of the Hill,
Family Guy, and
Mission Hill in addition to his own animated short,
Atomic Love, which was screened at a number of high-profile film festivals. The dedication to his father's memory can be seen in the last episode of
Avatar: The Last Airbender. In a 2010 interview the president of Nickelodeon,
Cyma Zarghami, confirmed that Michael Dante DiMartino and co-creator
Bryan Konietzko were developing a new series for the network, called
The Legend of Korra. The series premiered on April 14, 2012, running 12 episodes for the first book "Air" and 14 for the second book "Spirits", which premiered on September 13, 2013 to 2.60 million viewers in the U.S., then the third book "Change" and the fourth and final book "Balance" of 13-episodes each.