Producer of Oscar-winning animated short ‘Hair Love’ opens new shingle with 2 animated features and an animated series; content creation to highlight minority and underrepresented communities.
Academy Award-winning short Hair Love producer Carl Reed has launched a new animation studio, Composition Media, that will focus on animated film and TV content for the global market that highlights minority and underrepresented communities.
The St. Louis-based studio is kicking off its slate with two animated features and an animated kids’ TV series:
The 2D animated adult-comedy Bad Grandmas follows a close-knit group of unfiltered older ladies as they attempt to stay relevant as they age. They party, get Brazilian Butt Lifts, go to nightclubs, and show how 65 is now the new 25 while celebrating the idea that it’s never too late to have fun and be young at heart. Created by Brandon Lee Anderson (represented by Joseph Adeife of Adeife & Rabii APC), the film is executive produced by Reed, Harvey, and Brandon R. Williams.
Sky & Luna is the first movie in an eight-picture partnership with Labid Aziz’s PoC Studios. The story follows a lonely 11-year-old named Sky, who finally finds a new best friend who is out of this world… literally. Luna is a shapeshifting alien sent to Earth to explore the planet. Instead, she is hunted by a top-secret government organization tasked with eradicating extraterrestrial threats - an organization run by Sky’s own mother! Based on a story by Creation Station and Man of Action, the film will be directed by Duncan Rouleau, with Patricia Villetto writing the screenplay. Reed is producing alongside Man of Action, Creation Station, and PoC Studios Chief Creative Officer Andy Cosby.
Composition is also adapting the popular board game Catapult Feud as an animated television series of the same title. The kids’ series is about two feuding families, the Cunningfields and the Chauforts, who compete with catapults and conspiracies to conquer each other and rule the Kingdom. However, while the adults just can’t seem to get along, it's not the end of the world (yet) because the next generation of Cunningfields and Chauforts has a plan to bring the peace.
“I am incredibly excited to finally unveil our animation studio and showcase the incredible work our team has been pouring their hearts and souls into,” stated Reed. “Our aim is to break the mold and elevate the art of animation by producing content that truly represents our audiences. But more than that, we want to push the boundaries of what animation can be. It's time to move past the limitations of animation as just a genre and explore the limitless possibilities of this medium."
Reed co-founded Lion Forge Comics in 2011 and later co-founded Lion Forge Animation in 2018, serving as its President and Chief Creative Officer. At Lion Forge, Reed produced Matthew Cherry’s Academy Award-winning Hair Love, Rise Up, Sing Out, an Annie Award and NAACP Image Award-nominated animated musical series featuring music by The Roots for Disney Junior/Disney+, and the Emmy-nominated animated musical series Rhymes Through Times created by Nick Jr./Noggin featuring music performed by Christopher Jackson (Hamilton).
Source: Composition Media
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
