Final Space creator and executive producer Olan Rogers, Academy Award-nominated executive producer Rosa Tran (Anomalisa, Robot Chicken), and director Ben Bjelajac (Final Space) through their newly launched studios Lightfold have unveiled the trailer for the outfit’s first project: a 24-minute sci-fi epic animated series called Godspeed. The high-staked adventure premieres December 15 on YouTube.
Synopsis: Godspeed follows the journey of Iris, a young woman, and her adorable karaoke-bot sidekick named 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 cast includes the voices of Troy Baker (The Last of Us), Claudia Black (Farscape, The Nevers), Bryce Charles (Big Nate), Coty Galloway (Final Space) and the show’s creator, Rogers.
With the animation business buffeted by layoffs, the uncertain future of AI’s impact and other issues, Final Space was one of the toon casualties canceled with an abrupt cliffhanger and removed from streaming platforms. This spurred Rogers and his co-founders to establish a creator-first studio with the goal of producing unique stories using alternative funding avenues. Godspeed is the product of a successful Kickstarter campaign, private investments and the talents of at the time out-of-work animation creatives.
Lightfold says it is actively seeking creatives and investors to join the fold and produce more stories that challenge the traditional industry process.
“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,” said Rogers. “These are our stories being thrown away. I get it, it’s 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 enlisted Atlanta-based creative agency Headword!, led by CEO Forrester Kane and President Jez de Wolff, formerly of Adult Swim and TBS. Kane and de Wolff join Lightfold as fourth and fifth founders.
“We first formed Lightfold as an experiment in radically creator-favored entertainment business models. Olan, Ben and Rosa have been completely in the creative driver’s seat, and the experiment is yielding inspired results,” says Kane.
Godspeed will premiere on Olan Rogers’ YouTube Channel on December 15 at 11 a.m. ET. Follow @godspeedseries for updates and lightfold.tv for studio information.
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