‘Hair Love’ Producer Lion Forge Animation Ups Saxton Moore To VP Of Production, Hires Neely Shamam As VP Of Development
16.03.2022 - 20:35
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: David Steward II’s Lion Forge Animation studio, known for its Academy Award winning short Hair Love from director Matthew A. Cherry, has expanded its leadership team while continuing to scale production and development activity in its third year, promoting two-time Emmy-winning animation director Saxton Moore to Vice President of Production, and hiring Neely Shamam to serve as Vice President of Development.
Moore most recently served as Executive Creative Director at Lion Forge and brings more than 20 years of experience to his new role. He’s previously worked with such notable animation and entertainment companies as Netflix, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Sesame Street, FUSEtv and A+E. Shamam is an experienced creative executive who has spent more than 15 years developing, producing, and programming quality content for an array of platforms and networks, previously serving in creative leadership roles at Disney and Maker Studios, Zone TV and Ficto.
“Our incredible growth trajectory can be attributed, in large part, to the best-in-class team executing our distinct vision. Saxton is an instinctive leader with tremendous creative acumen and a powerful ability to deliver,” said Steward II. “Equally, Neely is an executive producer with a penchant for unique storytelling and a strategic eye for talent and material that translates to great TV series, movies, and digital properties.”
Also announced today by the studio, known for championing diversity, authenticity, and underrepresented communities, was a shift which will see Chief Creative Officer Carl Reed reframe his focus to provide executive producer services on several key Lion Forge projects.
Lion Forge Animation is a leading Black-owned, full-service animation