The series, from the creator of ‘Final Space,’ follows a young woman and her sidekick bot, Bowie, as they navigate the desolate landscape and abandoned homes of their crumbling world; the studio’s inaugural project premieres December 15 on YouTube.
The creator and executive producer of the animated series Final Space, Olan Rogers, has teamed up with Academy Award-nominated executive producer Rosa Tran (Anomalisa, Robot Chicken) and director Ben Bjelajac (Final Space) to create Lightfold, a creator-first studio focused on producing unique stories using alternative funding sources.
The studio’s first project, made possible through a successful Kickstarter and private investments, is a sci-fi epic animated series called Godspeed. Its 24-minute premiere debuts December 15 on YouTube. Watch the trailer below.
The new series follows the journey of Iris, a young woman, and her adorable karaoke-bot sidekick Bowie as they navigate the desolate landscape and abandoned homes of their crumbling world. Her path takes an unexpected turn when they stumble upon a mysterious broadcast that holds the key to their escape. To follow the message, she must survive a planet-ending storm.
The series’ voice cast includes Troy Baker (The Last of Us), Claudia Black (Farscape, The Nevers), Bryce Charles (Big Nate), Coty Galloway (Final Space), and Rogers.
Watch the Godspeed Official Trailer:
"Animation is an art form I've completely fallen in love with, and to see this industry over the past few years get almost completely gutted is heartbreaking,” commented Rogers. "These are our stories being thrown away. I get it, it's a business, but to all of us, to me, it's personal. There has to be a different way to do all of this, and instead of sitting around talking about it, we decided to do something. Lightfold's mission is to take creatives to new levels they only ever have dreamt of while also protecting them and their stories."
To develop the brand identity and shape the marketing strategy of Godspeed, Rogers tapped Atlanta-based creative agency Headword! CEO Forrester Kane and president Jez de Wolff as additional studio co-founders.
"We first formed Lightfold as an experiment in radically creator-favored entertainment business models,” commented Kane. “Olan, Ben, and Rosa have been completely in the creative driver’s seat, and the experiment is yielding inspired results.”
Godspeed’s 2D animation is created in Harmony and composited in Adobe After Effects.
The series will premiere on Olan Rogers’ YouTube Channel on December 15 at 11 am ET. Follow @godspeedseries for updates and lightfold.tv for studio information. The studio actively seeks creatives and investors to join the fold and produce more stories that challenge the traditional industry process.
Source: Lightfold
Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.
