ST. LOUIS — Lion Forge Entertainment of St. Louis and Nickelodeon Animation are roaring with news they will team up on a “first-look” deal that includes animated series and features.

David Steward II, Lion Forge Entertainment’s founder, will proceed his dedication to creating content material with numerous voices is paramount to the settlement.

“Lion Forge Entertainment is on the vanguard of so many exciting and new stories being told in animation, and we are so incredibly happy to be entering into this deal to create new content together for our global audience,” mentioned Ramsey Naito, Paramount Animation and Nickelodeon Animation president.

Steward, who was lately named to The Hollywood Reporter listing of The 75 Most Powerful People in Kids Entertainment, mentioned he’s thrilled to work with Ramsey and her world-class groups at Nickelodeon Animation.

“Nickelodeon has always been a creative north star, and the opportunity to partner in creating new content that features diverse characters and builds a path for diverse talent in the animation industry is incredibly exciting,” he mentioned. 

Nickelodeon Animation may have a primary have a look at all Lion Forge Entertainment youngsters and household IP throughout animated collection, options, short-form, and digital content material. The firm additionally might carry choose Nickelodeon and Paramount IP to Lion Forge to develop and produce.

Stephanie Sperber, Lion Forge Entertainment president and chief content material officer, mentioned “we have a fantastic opportunity to impact kids and families around the world by showing diversity on screen as well as creating a pipeline for young diverse talent within the animation industry.

“Plus, Nickelodeon is one of the best franchise-builders in the business and will be an amazing partner as we together launch into other extensions.”

Lion Forge Entertainment, lately rebranded from the previous Lion Forge Animation, employed Sperber for her new position in March. 

“Stephanie’s unparalleled experience, creative instincts, industry relationships, business acumen and work ethos will be a driving force for Lion Forge and pave the way for us to enter exciting new frontiers,” Steward mentioned when Sperber got here on board.

“The Lion Forge brand has stood for diversity and representation in animation for the past four years, and I’m thrilled to take that brand and that mission into the live action series and feature space.

“We believe that it’s important for kids and teens to see themselves and their experiences reflected in the content, and we look forward to showcasing stories across race, identity and gender for the kids, [young adults,] and family audiences.”

Deadline.com reviews that future tasks might embody Born Driven, a narrative primarily based on the lifetime of Wendell Scott, the primary Black NASCAR driver.

World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR), Confluence Music Festival, The Wendell Scott Foundation and Neiman Marcus St. Louis partnered for Runway to Raceway, kicking off the Enjoy Illinois 300 weekend in June.

Designer Warrick Scott Sr., Wendell Scott’s grandson, helped stage the present and was in attendance. His spouse Chinique Scott serves as the inspiration’s government director and was additionally a mannequin within the present.

Other potential Line Forge Animation/Nickelodeon tasks included Iron Dragon, a comedy journey primarily based on an unique IP created by Jay Kim at Mostapes studio in South Korea and Lion Forge, and Marley and the Family Band, an animated collection primarily based on Cedella Marley’s image guide, co-produced by Polygram Entertainment.

Lion Forge Entertainment can also be engaged on an adaptation of the graphic novel collection Iyanu: Child of Wonder. It is being crafted right into a kids’s animated collection for HBO Max.

Nigerian creator Roye Okupe calls Iyanu: Child of Wonder “an epic superhero tale steeped in Nigeria’s rich culture, music and mythology.”

Steward and Lion Forge Entertainment are can also be working with Nine PBS, native comedian guide creator and illustrator David Gorden, and author Ike Reed on the comedian guide adaptation of the PBS TV present “Drawn In.”

“Drawn In” is a collection of comedian journey tales following the adventures of 4 Midwest youngsters who unabashedly love comedian books. In every episode, their real-world collides with the comedian world when colourful heroes, villains, robots, and different fanciful creatures escape from the comedian guide’s pages. The crew should analyze methods to save their metropolis from cartoon mayhem.