Feb 18, 2021

Lion Forge Animation Announces Hiring of 7 Creative and Executive Teams

Lion Forge Animation is expanding its leadership, fast. The St. Louis, Missouri studio has announced seven hires to its executive and creative teams.

They are Saxton Moore (executive creative director), Ariel Yamus (senior creative director), Patricio Yamus (studio head and executive producer, Lion Forge Animation Argentina), along with four executive producers: Jimmy Thomas, Lina Foti, Ray Brown, and Deena Boykin. See below for more information about them.

Launched in 2019 by David Steward II (image at top), Lion Forge is one of the rare animation studios owned by an African American - and the only one of those that has an Oscar, which it won last year for co-producing the short Hair Love. It is currently expanding the film into a series for HBO Max called Young Love.

Meanwhile, Lion Forge is developing projects based on its existing IP, including titles from its comics publishing unit, as part of a first-look deal with Imagine Kids+Family. It is also financing and producing projects as part of a partnership with China's Starlight Media. In Steward's words, the studio aims to tell “unrepresented stories.”

Here are the details of the new hires:

Lion Forge has also hired four executive producers to support production, creative, and marketing efforts across the company: