Lion Forge Entertainment is expanding the studio’s management team, announcing the addition of three key executives.
The executives include former Hello Sunshine exec and executive producer Kirsten Newlands who joins as production and content partnerships executive vice president; children’s media creative Koyalee Chanda who will serve as animation senior vice president and seasoned kids distribution and sales executive Jonathan Abraham who joins as distribution director. The team will serve under Lion Forge Entertainment president and chief content officer Stephanie Sperber.
With the arrival of Newlands and Abraham, Lion Forge is launching a Global Media Sales division to handle international sales and distribution for the company’s financed and owned IP. The newly minted sales and distribution group will make its debut at Mipcom / MipJr next month where the company will be taking out the highly anticipated Nigerian anime-inspired series Iyanu based on Roye Okupe’s acclaimed graphic novel, and the new animated kid series BugTron. Abraham will lead the Global Media Sales division and report directly to Newlands.
Newlands, a Canadian Screen Award winner with multiple Emmy nominations under her belt, is overseeing all physical production, studio alliances, financing, co-productions and sales at Lion Forge Entertainment. She has executive produced more than 800 half hours of animated children’s television, including popular hits such as My Little Pony, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Carmen Sandiego, The Deep and Pikwik Pack.
Prior to joining Lion Forge, Newlands served as Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine kids animation production VP. For more than a decade, she led all animation production endeavours for WildBrain (DHX Media) as animation production SVP. Newlands oversaw the robust slate of both wholly owned series, as well as the work-for-hire initiatives. Her contributions were instrumental in establishing the studio as a significant global player in the creation of kids’ content. Newlands has consulted for both Guru Studio (True & the Rainbow Kingdom, Paw Patrol) and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Pretzel & The Puppies). A former co-chair of WIA’s (Women In Animation) Vancouver branch, she has been an advisor to CineCity to help emerging visible minority and aboriginal filmmakers produce short, dramatic films in the province of British Columbia.
“Producing engaging kids’ content is a lifelong passion of mine,” said Newlands. “I am thrilled to join Lion Forge Entertainment and work alongside David and Stephanie to create global financing partnerships and best-in-class animation production capabilities to increase diversity in front of and behind the camera to shape the future of children’s entertainment.”
Abraham is a kids distribution sales veteran with extensive knowledge in maximising exhibition windows and launching successful merchandising and licensing programs. Before joining Lion Forge, he built the international sales and consumer products division of Guru Studio, known for producing hits like Netflix’s True and the Rainbow Kingdom and Disney Jr.’s Pikwik Pack among others. He oversaw the design, manufacturing and global distribution of toys and various consumer products, both through international retailers and major distribution partners. Abraham also served as Portfolio Entertainment Global Sales and Acquisitions head at Zuru Toys where he handled direct sales for the entire southern hemisphere aiding in the company’s growth trajectory.
With over 25 years of experience, Chanda will lead Lion Forge’s animation department as senior vice president of animation. A seven-time Emmy nominated children’s producer, director and writer, Chanda started her career on the breakthrough preschool series Blue’s Clues. Most recently, she served as Hello Sunshine kids and animation VP. Previously, she worked as a production and development VP for Chris Nee’s single Laughing Wild at Netflix Animation where she did early development for Higher Ground’s Emmy-award winning series Ada Twist and We the People. She was one of the first hires at Apple TV+ children’s division and has previously worked with HBO Kids and Family, Universal Kids, PBS Kids as well as Nickelodeon on the channel’s hit series Wallykazam!
Lion Forge Entertainment founder and CEO David Steward II and CCO Stephanie Sperber said jointly, “We’re incredibly excited to welcome Kirsten, Koyalee and Jonathan to the Lion Forge family. Their impressive track records, wealth of experience and dedication to creating outstanding children’s content will play a pivotal role in our continued growth and success. With the launch of our Global Media Sales division, we are reaffirming our commitment to delivering exceptional kids and family content to audiences worldwide and are poised to take our beloved IPs like Iyanu and BugTron to new heights internationally.”
Lion Forge Entertainment focuses on diverse storytellers and helps amplify under-represented voices by creating content that is both authentic and appealing to a broad audience. Having recently expanded its production slate to include live action as well as animation, the company develops and produces animated and live action content targeting the kids and family and YA audiences, building on the success of earlier projects including the Oscar-winning Hair Love and the upcoming Iyanu animated series for Cartoon Network and Max.
The executive hirings follow a busy summer for Lion Forge Entertainment, which closed a first-look deal with Nickelodeon Animation, set a strategic global content partnership with advertising giant Dentsu, and inked a multi-title development deal with Penguin Young Readers for slate of children’s film and TV projects.
Through the deal with Nickelodeon Animation, which covers animated series and features, Nickelodeon has a first look at all Lion Forge kids and family IP across series, features, short-form and digital content, while bringing select Nickelodeon and Paramount IP to Lion Forge to develop and produce. The Dentsu partnership aligns Dentsu’s brand clients and network of agencies with Lion Forge, which serves as a specialised entertainment resource to create brand-friendly content. Meanwhile, the alliance with Penguin Young Readers will see the companies partner to develop Wannabe Farm (Penguin Workshop, ages eight-12), North Pole Ninjas (Penguin Workshop, ages three-seven), Monster Juice (Grosset & Dunlap, ages eight-12), and The Pathfinder Society (Viking, ages eight-12) to start.