With an Academy Award under his belt, David Steward II is committed to showcasing all the talent that St. Louis has to offer. David started out in 2011 creating the company “The Lion Forge LLC” in St. Louis.
The company published comics and graphic novels. When asked what made him create this company David stated “It started with my growing interest in comics after Ipads and tablets were being made. It was more access to comic books so I kind of fell down the rabbit hole and fell in love with something I was engaged with as a kid.” He went on to start his company Polarity to house his publishing companies and his Lion Forge animation company.
I asked David how he felt about winning an Oscar for the short film Hair Love. “It was a surreal night. When they called out our name, it was exciting.” David partnered with Wendell Scott Ventures to introduce the legacy of Wendell Scott, the first African American race car driver and also worked with Bron Studios on an animated TV series Heiress a Hair Love Spin off series for HBO Max.
When asked what has been his greatest challenge in the industry, David stated “My greatest challenge whether entering the comic or animation industry is how little representation we have in both and how tough it is being an African American trying to break into these industries.
For me, it’s about how we can really focus on giving opportunities to people of color to be able to ascend them up the ladder on the writing side or on the animation side so we can have more black directors and producers.”Â
David is currently the Lay Vice Chair of America’s Public Television Stations.
When it’s all said and done and you are long gone from this world. What is it that you want the people to know about David Steward II? “That I made a positive difference in the world and in people’s lives.
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