Cartoon Network and Max announced the all-Nigerian cast for Cartoon Network and Max production, Iyanu. The series is slated for release in the US on Cartoon Network and Max in 2025.
As a Lion Forge Entertainment production, Iyanu is an adaptation of Dark Horse Comics/YouNeek Studios’ graphic novel series Iyanu: Child of Wonder by award-winning Nigerian creator and producer Roye Okupe.
Iyanu’s voice cast includes Serah Johnson (Moji) Okey Jude, Samuel Kugbiyi, Adesua Etomi-Wellington, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Stella Damasus (Gone), and Shaffy Bello.
Iyanu is a superhero tale set in the magical kingdom of Yorubaland, which draws from Nigerian culture, music and mythology. Drawing deeply from the Yoruba people, the animated series follows a teenage orphan girl, Iyanu, who spends her days studying history and ancient arts but yearns for a normal life.
As a Lion Forge Entertainment production, Iyanu is an adaptation of Dark Horse Comics/YouNeek Studios’ graphic novel series Iyanu: Child of Wonder by award-winning Nigerian creator and producer Roye Okupe.
Iyanu’s voice cast includes Serah Johnson (Moji) Okey Jude, Samuel Kugbiyi, Adesua Etomi-Wellington, Blossom Chukwujekwu, Stella Damasus (Gone), and Shaffy Bello.
Iyanu is a superhero tale set in the magical kingdom of Yorubaland, which draws from Nigerian culture, music and mythology. Drawing deeply from the Yoruba people, the animated series follows a teenage orphan girl, Iyanu, who spends her days studying history and ancient arts but yearns for a normal life.
- 5/20/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
A North Korean animator works on a television series. (Still frame via Korea Central Television)
Researchers have unearthed a trove of documents that show animators in North Korea contributed to shows that were distributed by Amazon and Warner Bros Discovery’s (Wbd) media outlets.
The documents, discovered on a misconfigured server tied to a North Korean network, showed animators worked on programs like the Prime Video cartoon “Invincible” and the Cartoon Network show “Iyanu: Child of Wonder.”
Researchers who spoke with the tech publication Wired said it was unlikely the production companies at the center of the shows — Skybound Entertainment and YouNeek Studios — and the American media companies that distributed the programs were aware that animators from North Korea helped contribute to them.
Instead, the researchers proffer that the involvement of North Korean animators proved the country was able to successfully circumvent economic sanctions imposed by the United States to generate its own income.
Researchers have unearthed a trove of documents that show animators in North Korea contributed to shows that were distributed by Amazon and Warner Bros Discovery’s (Wbd) media outlets.
The documents, discovered on a misconfigured server tied to a North Korean network, showed animators worked on programs like the Prime Video cartoon “Invincible” and the Cartoon Network show “Iyanu: Child of Wonder.”
Researchers who spoke with the tech publication Wired said it was unlikely the production companies at the center of the shows — Skybound Entertainment and YouNeek Studios — and the American media companies that distributed the programs were aware that animators from North Korea helped contribute to them.
Instead, the researchers proffer that the involvement of North Korean animators proved the country was able to successfully circumvent economic sanctions imposed by the United States to generate its own income.
- 4/22/2024
- by Matthew Keys
- The Desk
Exclusive: Lion Forge Animation, the company behind the Oscar-winning Hair Love, has been rebranded as Lion Forge Entertainment as it is expanding its slate to include live-action in addition to animation. It has named veteran family entertainment executive Stephanie Sperber its President and chief Content Officer.
Sperber is joining Lion Forge after recently leaving Imagine, where she was president of Imagine Kids+Family, a division she helped launch. She will report to CEO David Steward II, who founded Lion Forge Animation in 2019, and COO Edward Hamati.
“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 said. “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.
Sperber is joining Lion Forge after recently leaving Imagine, where she was president of Imagine Kids+Family, a division she helped launch. She will report to CEO David Steward II, who founded Lion Forge Animation in 2019, and COO Edward Hamati.
“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 said. “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.
- 3/22/2023
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
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