ST. LOUIS — Just four years after launching his St. Louis-based animation studio, David Steward II now holds ranking among the Hollywood elite.
The founder and CEO of Lion Forge Animation on Thursday was named by the Hollywood Reporter newspaper as one of the "75 Most Powerful People in Kids' Entertainment."
Steward II, the son of World Wide Technology Chairman and Co-founder David Steward, launched Lion Forge Animation in May 2019, as an expansion of his Lion Forge comic book publishing imprint, with both built to create content produced by and featuring diverse stories.
Within a few months of launching Lion Forge Animation, the studio signed on as co-producer of the animated short film "Hair Love," a story of a Black father's strugglers to do his daughter's hair for the first time, which went on to win an Oscar in February 2020.