Paul Tibbitt

Paul Harrison Tibbitt IV is an American animator, writer, and voice actor primarily recognized for his role on SpongeBob SquarePants. Following the 2004 departures of creator Stephen Hillenburg and creative director Derek Drymon, Tibbitt became the showrunner and supervising producer for seasons four through nine. He also voiced Potty the Parrot, a character previously performed by Hillenburg. Tibbitt directed his first feature film, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.

He is a graduate of the Character Animation program at the California Institute of the Arts. In 2015, he left his roles as supervising producer and showrunner, and it was announced he would exit the series after season nine to work on The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run. That film was handled by a separate crew with minimal input from the show’s team, and Tibbitt was ultimately fired, with Tim Hill taking over his directing and writing duties.