Erik Wiese is an Emmy and Annie-nominated Director, Writer, and Producer who works in both feature and television animation. He recently directed the critically acclaimed Peanuts special, Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical for AppleTV+, which became a number one hit movie on its opening weekend in August 2025. Immediately prior, Erik was a Director and Executive Producer on Netflix’s number one kids’ animated hit series, Sonic Prime. Previously, he was a Director at Illumination Entertainment, directing several Minions shorts and commercials.
Erik began his career as a Supervising Animator on the video for Björk’s “I Miss You.” He then collaborated with Stephen Hillenburg on character development for the SpongeBob SquarePants pilot. He remained with the show for several seasons, working as a Storyboard Artist and Writer. He was then the Head of Story on The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. He also worked on the upcoming The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse , and Shrek 5. Erik’s other TV work includes co-creating, directing, and executive producing two seasons of Nickelodeon’s The Mighty B!, a cartoon starring Amy Poehler.
Erik attended the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He holds American, Colombian, and German citizenship. He’s dyslexic but bilingual, so it all works out.
