Lion Forge signs first-look deal with BBCS alum Ed Barnieh’s start-up Oware

Children’s content company Lion Forge Entertainment in the US has signed a first-look deal with Ed Barnieh and his newly launched London-based company Oware.

Ed Barnieh

The pair will identify and develop kids’, family and young-adult content for global audiences and partner on a slate of projects to develop, finance and sell globally, starting at Mipcom this October.

Barnieh launched Oware last year, as reported by C21, after leaving BBC Studios Kids & Family where he was VP of development for two years. Prior to that, he worked at Netflix, Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) and Nickelodeon.

Oware develops TV and film content originating from Asia, Africa and Latin America, regions that represent 85% of the world’s population.

Founded in 2019 by David Stewart II, Lion Forge is one of the few black-owned entertainment studios of scale in North America and aims to amplify authentic, diverse voices in animated and live-action content. Its projects include Oscar-winning short film Hair Love and animated series Iyanu (WBD’s Max and Cartoon Network).

Barnieh said: “At Oware, creativity drives everything we do, and our mission will always be to amplify global majority voices. Partnering with Lion Forge – whose values and vision align so closely with ours – feels like a natural evolution. This first-look deal opens exciting new doors for bold, resonant storytelling that reflects the richness and complexity of our world, across all platforms.”