Matt Braly

Matt Braly
Braly in 2019
Born
Matthew Benjakarn Braly

(1988-11-08) November 8, 1988
Sacramento, California, U.S.
Alma materCalifornia Institute of the Arts
Occupations
  • Animator
  • storyboard artist
  • director
  • producer
  • writer
Years active2010–present
Employers
Known forAmphibia
Spouse
Katherine Bedrosian
​
(m. 2018)​
Children1
MotherOn Braly

Matthew Benjakarn Braly[1] (born November 8, 1988) is an American animator, storyboard artist, writer, and director. He is best known as the creator and executive producer of the Disney Channel animated series Amphibia.[2] He also worked as a director on Gravity Falls and Big City Greens.

Early life

Braly was born in Sacramento on November 8, 1988, and raised in Davis, while spending his summers, as a child, with his mother's family in Bangkok, Thailand.[3] He also grew up in a bilingual household.[4] As a child, Braly used to watch films such as Mortal Kombat (1995) because they were filmed in Thailand, as there was no Thai representation on television.[5] He would later draw characters from franchises like Mortal Kombat and Sonic the Hedgehog.[6]

At age 18, in 2006, he graduated from Christian Brothers High School, a private, Catholic, college-preparatory high school in the Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento.[1] Prior to graduating, Braly was inspired to pursue a career in animation after a "career day" at high school, where a Pixar animator drew an image of Lumiere from Disney's Beauty and the Beast while talking about working on animation for a living.[6] He started his career studying at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts); he graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.[7]

Career

After graduating from California Institute of the Arts, he joined DreamWorks Animation, where he worked as a storyboard artist for Turbo (2013).[8] While working on Turbo, Braly and several other DreamWorks Animation storyboard artists went to visit Alex Hirsch, who was working on a show titled Gravity Falls (2012–16) for Disney Television Animation.[8] Hirsch also went to CalArts and, while they never studied together, Braly liked his student films.[8] During the visit, Hirsch pitched Gravity Falls to Braly.[8]

Fascinated by the concept and how Hirsch wanted it to be a serialized program, Braly did a test to work on the show, after which he was hired, serving as a storyboard artist and director for the series.[8] Braly credited Hirsch as the one who "taught [him] so much about storytelling, about developing characters and developing a world", as well as the one who inspired him to create his own show.[8] The series premiered on June 15, 2012, and ended on February 15, 2016.[9] In 2016, Braly won an Annie Award for directing the Gravity Falls episode "Northwest Mansion Mystery".[10] Braly also served as an in-house key animator for the closing scene for the episode "Not What He Seems".[11]

After directing on Big City Greens,[8][12] Braly developed a series titled Amphibia for Disney Channel.[13] The series centers on the adventures of a Thai-American girl named Anne Boonchuy in the titular amphibian-populated world.[13] The series was inspired by Braly's childhood trips to Bangkok, Thailand, where he felt like an outsider but ultimately ended up not wanting to leave.[14] He also drew inspiration from video games such as The Legend of Zelda and Chrono Trigger.[15] Braly, who is Thai-American himself, made the choice of making the lead character Thai-American due to a wish to creating a Thai character, as there were few Thai lead characters in television series when he was a kid.[5] The series aired for three seasons consisting of 58 episodes from June 17, 2019, to May 14, 2022. He considers the series finale "The Hardest Thing" to be his favorite episode.[16]

After Amphibia ended production in May 2022, Braly left Disney Television Animation. In August 2023, he wrote a Sonic the Hedgehog online comic strip as a part of the Sonic Fast Friends Forever campaign.[17] Braly mentioned that he was currently working on multiple feature films,[18] including a fantasy-adventure film for Sony Pictures Animation he was set to direct and co-write with longtime collaborator Rebecca Sugar.[19][20] In February 2026, Braly announced on social media that the film, about a teenage boy traveling to a world filled with Thai spirits before he undergoes an important life-altering medical operation, and inspired by his own life story and background, was scrapped at Sony Pictures Animation in early 2025, with the studio determining that the film was not "commercial enough" to produce.[21][22]

Braly also developed a graphic novel,[20] which was announced in August 2024 as Family Force V. Skybound Comet published the graphic novel in May 2025.[23] Braly is also supervising development on a series of shorts exploring social issues.[20] In November 2024, Braly responded to the reported shelving of an episode of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, focusing on a transgender character, by Disney, calling it "absolute cowardice" when content like the episode is needed more now than ever, and said it was a "total breakdown" of the process.[24][25]

On February 11, 2026, Braly announced that he founded his own animation studio, Fantasy Project. Its first project would be Clara and the Below, a gothic horror adaptation of The Nutcracker, with a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.[26][27][28]

Personal life

Braly is of Thai descent. His mother, On Braly, provided the voice of Mrs. Boonchuy on Amphibia, in her first-ever voice acting role.[4] Braly married Katherine "Katie" Bedrosian, a software engineer, on April 21, 2018 at the Sacramento Zoo.[29][30] Prior to this he attended the same high school, Christian Brothers High School, with her, with both graduating the same year.[29][31] They had their first child, on January 31, 2025.[32] Braly and Bedrosian also have a cat named Domino.[3]

Braly is a fan of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, and was inspired by the opening sequence in the first episode of the anime Sonic X for the climax of the Amphibia episode "True Colors".[6] Similarly, he was inspired by several horror films for the episode "The Shut-In" due to being a horror fan.[6] He is also a fan of the Disney series Gargoyles and the film The Princess and the Frog; cast members from both productions have appeared through Amphibia.[33] Both Braly and his wife are fans of RuPaul's Drag Race; RuPaul himself had a recurring role in season 3 of Amphibia.[34]

Braly has suffered from short bowel syndrome since childhood.[35]

Filmography

Films

Year Title Storyboard
artist		 Others Notes
2012 Adam and Dog No Yes Assistant animator
Short film
2013 Turbo Yes No
2021 The Mitchells vs. the Machines[36] Yes No Uncredited

Television

Year Title Creator Executive
producer		 Writer Storyboard
artist		 Director Actor Others Role Notes
2012–16 Gravity Falls No No No Yes Yes No Yes 8 episodes
Key animator[a]
2014 Steven Universe No No Yes Yes No No No Episode: "Lars and the Cool Kids"
2017 Billy Dilley's Super-Duper Subterranean Summer No No No Yes No No No Storyboard revisionist
Episodes: "Lab Friends... Forever?" and "Surviving Billy"
DuckTales No No No No No No Yes Additional character designer
Episode: "Woo-oo!"
2018 Big City Greens No No Yes Yes Yes No No 7 episodes
2019–22 Amphibia Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No Chuck
Newtopian gatekeeper[37]
The Seamstress[37]
Additional voices		 Executive producer
2023 The Owl House No No No No No No Yes Special Thanks
Episode: "Watching and Dreaming"

Web

Year Title Creator Executive
producer		 Writer Storyboard
artist		 Director Actor Others Role Notes
2025 Knights of Guinevere No No No No No No Yes Special Thanks
2026 Clara and the Below Yes Yes TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA Indie animated series

Bibliography

Year Title Original publisher Notes
2022 Amphibia: Marcy's Journal - A Guide to Amphibia Disney Press
TOKYOPOP 		Co-author with Adam Colas[38]
2025 The Art of Amphibia Co-author with Drew Taylor[39]
Family Force V Skybound Comet Co-author with Ainsworth Lin[40]
TBA Amphibia: Strange Voyage Disney Press
TOKYOPOP 		Co-author with Beatrice Bovo[41]

Nominations and awards

Year Award Category Nominee Result Ref
2016 43rd Annie Awards Outstanding Achievement, Directing in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production Gravity Falls (for "Northwest Mansion Mystery") Won [10]
2021 Daytime Emmys Outstanding Children's Animated Series Amphibia Nominated [42]
2022 Annie Awards Best TV/Media – Children "True Colors" Nominated [43]
33rd GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding Kids and Family Programming Amphibia Nominated [44]
Children's and Family Emmys Outstanding Writing for an Animated Program Amphibia Nominated [45]
2023 34th GLAAD Media Awards Outstanding Kids and Family Programming Amphibia Nominated [46]

Notes

  1. ^ Episode "Not What He Seems" only

References

  1. ^ a b "Alumni News & Notes" (PDF). Christian Brothers Connection. Sacramento, California: Christian Brothers High School. Spring 2020. p. 64. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 13, 2026. Retrieved February 13, 2026. Matthew Benjakarn Braly '06 is a director at Walt Disney Television Animation whose show, "Amphibia", recently premiered on the Disney Channel
  2. ^ Radulovic, Petrana (August 14, 2020). "The Disney channel series inspired by Zelda finally gets a retro-game reimagining". Polygon. Archived from the original on May 2, 2025. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
  3. ^ a b "Matt Braly". Disney Branded Television. Disney Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 13, 2026. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
  4. ^ a b Braly, Matt [@Radrappy] (July 11, 2019). "My mother, On Braly, voiced Anne's mother in a flashback during today's episode - Family Fishing Trip. You can hear her yelling in Thai off screen, which if you come from a bilingual household should sound pretty familiar. She's never voice acted before but was a TOTAL PRO" (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 9, 2021 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ a b Brown, Tracy (June 14, 2019). "'Amphibia' creator wants kids to feel seen with his Thai American heroine". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 12, 2025. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d Braly, Matt (June 1, 2021). "Sit Down and Think With Amphibia Creator Matt Braly" (Interview). Sit Down and Think. Archived from the original on February 9, 2026. Retrieved January 1, 2024 – via YouTube.
  7. ^ Zoormandan, Taya (March 27, 2019). "CalArtians Selected as Animation Magazine's Rising Stars". 24700. CalArts. Archived from the original on October 13, 2025. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Frye, Brendan (July 4, 2019). "Wonders of Animation: Talking to Matt Braly of Amphibia". CGM Backlot. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020.
  9. ^ Hughes, William (November 20, 2015). "Gravity Falls is ending". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on April 12, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  10. ^ a b "43RD ANNUAL ANNIE AWARDS". Annie Awards. Archived from the original on April 22, 2019. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
  11. ^ Terrace, Dana (March 12, 2015). "Animation I did from the last scene of Not What He Seems. Keys by Matt Braly. Woo". Dana's Sketchbook. Archived from the original on July 27, 2025 – via Tumblr.
  12. ^ Braly, Matt (July 14, 2020). "AMPHIBIA Q&A with Matt Braly" (Interview). Interviewed by Gladstone, Frank. ASIFA Hollywood. Archived from the original on November 14, 2025. Retrieved February 12, 2026 – via YouTube.
  13. ^ a b Pedersen, Erik. "Disney Channel Launching Toon Series 'Amphibia' and 'The Owl House', Renews 'Star vs. the Forces of Evil' for Season 4". Deadline. Archived from the original on November 13, 2025. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  14. ^ Sgherza, Mariana (July 25, 2019). "Matt Braly, creador de Amphibia y Gravity Falls: "Siempre quise crear mi propia fantasía"" [Matt Braly, creator of Amphibia and Gravity Falls: "I always wanted to create my own fantasy"]. Cultura Geek (in Spanish). Archived from the original on November 12, 2025.
  15. ^ Radulovic, Petrana (August 14, 2020). "The Disney channel series inspired by Zelda finally gets a retro-game reimagining". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 12, 2025.
  16. ^ Braly, Matt [@Radrappy] (May 12, 2022). "Really though, everyone who has touched the show up until this point has contributed to this final story. It's honestly my favorite episode of the show - full stop. See you on the other side!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 20, 2022 – via Twitter.
  17. ^ @sonic_hedgehog (August 16, 2023). "Have you ever wanted to fly? Well, you're not the only one! Check out @Radrappy 's comic in our Fast Friends Forever series" (Tweet). Retrieved August 17, 2023 – via X (formerly Twitter).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  18. ^ Staff, Beat (March 11, 2025). "Interview: Catching up with Matt Braly on THE ART OF AMPHIBIA". Comics Beat. Archived from the original on November 26, 2025. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  19. ^ Grobar, Matt (December 14, 2023). "Sony Pictures Animation Developing Thai Fantasy-Adventure Pic From Matt Braly". Deadline. Archived from the original on February 10, 2026. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  20. ^ a b c @sonic_hedgehog (August 16, 2023). "Learn more about lifelong Sonic fan Matt Braly!" (Tweet). Archived from the original on August 17, 2023. Retrieved August 17, 2023 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  21. ^ Rubin, Rebecca (February 10, 2026). "Sony Scraps Thai-Inspired Animated Movie After Two Years of Development: Director Says It Was 'Judged as Not Commercial Enough to Produce'". Variety. Archived from the original on February 10, 2026. Retrieved February 10, 2026.
  22. ^ "Matt Braly's Thai Mythology-Infused Animated Feature Shelved at Sony". Animation Magazine. February 10, 2026. Archived from the original on February 11, 2026. Retrieved February 10, 2026.
  23. ^ Fang, Sam (August 23, 2024). "Finale of a Walking Dead Series and More Announced by Skybound". CBR. Archived from the original on November 12, 2025. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  24. ^ Braly, Matt [@Radrappy] (November 15, 2024). "the action being preemptive makes it so much worse to me. The absolute cowardice and second guessing when actually this is when this content is needed most" (Tweet). Retweeted by no. Archived from the original on November 15, 2024. Retrieved November 15, 2024 – via X (formerly Twitter).
  25. ^ Mulliax, Hope (November 15, 2024). "Marvel's 'Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur' Episode Allegedly Removed by Disney for Sensitive LGBT+ Plot Leaks Online [Update]". Collider. Retrieved November 15, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  26. ^ Braly, Matt (February 11, 2026). "I am starting a studio! We are small and scrappy and have no money. Why am I doing this? Because the only ones who can protect art are the ones who value it. Disney using AI? Yuck. Netflix buying WB? Also yuck. In 10 years what is even going to be left". Bluesky. Archived from the original on February 12, 2026. Retrieved February 12, 2026.
  27. ^ Braly, Matt (February 11, 2026). "This will be an 100% independent production that relies on crowdfunding for its budget. Please give us a follow at our pre-launch page here to receive updates leading to our March 13th launch". Bluesky. Retrieved February 12, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  28. ^ Valentine, Evan (February 12, 2026). "Amphibia Creator Announces Show's Spiritual Successor, Creates New Studio". ComicBook. Archived from the original on February 13, 2026. Retrieved February 13, 2026.
  29. ^ a b "Alumni News & Notes". Connection. Sacramento, California: Christian Brothers High School. Spring 2018. p. 42. Archived from the original on February 26, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  30. ^ Braly, Matt [@Radrappy] (April 22, 2018). "Fun fact: last night I married the love of my life, Katie, at the Sacramento zoo" (Tweet). Archived from the original on May 4, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2023 – via Twitter.
  31. ^ "I'm Matt Braly, creator and executive producer of Amphibia - Ask me anything!!!". Reddit. August 22, 2020. Archived from the original on September 9, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2024. She's a software engineer and is 10x smarter than me
  32. ^ Matt Braly [@radrappy]; (March 6, 2025). "Katie and I welcomed a little baby boy into our family a few weeks ago!!! Baby Alex is such a cute little bean and we're so happy 😭". Retrieved March 10, 2025 – via Instagram.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  33. ^ Cap, Damon (June 11, 2019). "Talking Amphibia On Disney Channel With Matt Braly – Exclusive". BSCkids. Archived from the original on December 9, 2025. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  34. ^ Bishop, Rollin (May 3, 2022). "Amphibia's Matt Braly Talks Fandom, Season 3, and the End of the Show". ComicBook. Archived from the original on August 3, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  35. ^ Taylor, Drew (March 13, 2026). "After His Movie Was Scrapped, 'Amphibia' Creator Matt Braly Is Forging a New Path in Independent Animation | Exclusive". TheWrap. Retrieved March 14, 2026.
  36. ^ Rianda, Michael [@michaelrianda] (March 31, 2021). "Fun fact: I paid genius storyboard artists and showrunners Dana Terrace and @Radrappy out of my own pocket. (I paid @radrappy with a PS4!) to help sell the movie and this is one of Dana's shots that made it into the final movie! Jenny Li and Patrick Mueller animated this shot" (Tweet). Archived from the original on March 31, 2021 – via Twitter.
  37. ^ a b Braly, Matt [@Radrappy] (October 18, 2020). "characters I have voiced on #amphibia thus far" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  38. ^ King, Jade (November 11, 2022). "Marcy's Journal - A Guide To Amphibia Review". TheGamer. Retrieved March 7, 2026.
  39. ^ "Received an almost final printing of Art of #Amphibia and am sitting here vibrating with excitement just look at this stuff".
  40. ^ King, Jade (August 11, 2025). "Matt Braly And Ainsworth Lin On Family Force V And The Future Of Amphibia". TheGamer. Retrieved March 7, 2026.
  41. ^ Reif, Alex (July 28, 2025). "Explore Amphibia with Matt Braly: A Belated Comic-Con Farewell and an Exciting New Voyage". LaughingPlace.com. Retrieved March 7, 2026.
  42. ^ "Daytime Emmy Awards" (PDF). Deadline. June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  43. ^ Giardina, Carolyn (December 21, 2021). "'Raya and the Last Dragon' Leads 2022 Annie Awards Feature Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  44. ^ Tapp, Tom (January 19, 2022). "GLAAD Media Awards Nominations: HBO/HBO Max Leads With 19; Netflix Close Behind". Deadline. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  45. ^ Schneider, Michael (November 1, 2022). "Netflix Leads Nomination Tally for First-Ever Children's & Family Emmys". Variety. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  46. ^ "The Nominees for the 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards - GLAAD". GLAAD. January 27, 2023. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
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