N LITE Adds Jay Francis And Three Industry Veterans To Its Board
The board is being assembled around the problem N LITE says defines its business: making international anime co-productions work across Western and Japanese production styles, which is why it sought a former Disney TV Animation executive and four years of Tokyo relationships rather than a slate announcement.
Reporting from 1 source: The Hollywood Reporter Anime.
N LITE, a media company and anime studio based in the U.S. and Tokyo, has appointed four industry veterans to its board of directors, including former Disney Television Animation vice president Jay Francis. The appointments come as the studio expands across feature films, TV, consumer products and publishing, led by its flagship original fantasy epic MFINDA, made with partners including GKIDS, JuVee Productions, Miniature Geant and Jaden Smith.
The other three board members are Ricky Joshi, Elizabeth Nelson and Carlos Dos Santos. Francis spent more than two decades in animation, with leadership roles at The Disney Channel and Level 13.net, and worked on series including Phineas and Ferb, Big City Greens and The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.
Under MFINDA, N LITE has a Kodansha manga prequel and a making-of documentary, MFINDA: Spirits of the Congo, planned alongside the feature. Its slate also includes a Jungle Emperor Leo film adaptation with Tezuka Productions for that studio's 100th anniversary, the Southern gothic horror anime WEBE: Spirit Detective with Willow Smith and Peter Ramsey executive producing, and IFE: Secret of the Star Child with Ramsey and Gary Trousdale.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.
Sources
- The Hollywood Reporter Anime Anime Studio N LITE Taps Former Disney TV Animation Exec, Industry Veterans for Board of Directors (Exclusive)