George Donald Mancini (born January 25, 1963)[2] is an American screenwriter, director, and producer.

Having been a horror fan since his childhood, Mancini's inspiration for Child's Play were films like Trilogy of Terror and The Twilight Zone episode "Living Doll"; aware of the "killer doll" as a horror trope, Mancini realized that the concept had never been executed as a feature-length film with animatronic effects work.

Mancini's father had worked in the advertising industry all his life, and he knew how effective marketing could result in consumer bedlam.

Based on this, Mancini wanted to write a dark satire about how marketing affected children, with his first effort being as the co-writer of Child's Play (1988).

[10][11][12] He has described consciously incorporating queer elements into the Child's Play films;[11] his experiences as a gay man, including receiving bullying and abuse from his father because of it, informed Mancini's creative direction on the Chucky TV series, which features a gay protagonist.