“Marley and the Family Band” the series of Lion Forge, Tuff Gong and Polygram

David Steward II's Lion Forge animation studio (Academy Award winner Hair love) entered into an agreement with the Tuff Gong Collective, a joint venture between Universal Music Group (UMG) and New York Times Cedella Marley, bestselling author, to develop and produce an animated series based on Marley's new picture book Marley and the Family Band, with Tracey Baptiste and illustrated by Tiffany Rose, which she published on February 1 (Random House Children's Books).

Polygram Entertainment, a film and television production and development division of UMG, is co-producing the series with Lion Forge Animation and Tuff Gong Collective.

“Tuff Gong Collective was formed to be a creative platform to introduce my father's art and music to new generations and we are thrilled to be working with Lion Forge and Polygram to bring Marley and the Family Band (Marley and the family gang) to life through this new animated series, ”Marley said. "This series is meant to reach and inspire creativity and the community and I couldn't be more excited to share it with the world."

Lion Forge Animation founder Steward said, “It is a real pleasure to work with Cedella and the Polygram team to build such a beautiful storytelling and reimagine it as an animated series. Cedella's stories are about everything we strive to bring to life in our productions and the iconic stature of the Marley name and legacy carries weight that translates into global reach. "

Marley and the Family Band is an illustrated book that celebrates music, love and family. A poetic story about a young girl who moves to a new country and learns to make friends, inspired by a childhood growing up with musician Bob Marley as a father:

When Marley and her family move from Jamaica to Delaware, she knows life is about to change in a big way. And she has the perfect plan to help her and her siblings make friends: an outdoor concert for the whole neighborhood! But when time ruins their plans, she discovers help in the most unlikely places as her new neighbors quickly become very nice friends.

In this joyful and lively picture book inspired by her childhood and her iconic father, Cedella Marley assures children that nothing can stop music as long as they have a community.

The animated series will be directed by Lion Forge Animation's Executive Creative Director and two-time Emmy nominee Saxton Moore. David Steward II and Jimmy Thomas serve as executive producers on the studio.

Lion Forge Animation is a recognized leader in bringing authentic content focused on underrepresented groups to audiences around the world. The studio was behind the Academy Award-winning and culturally resonant short film  Hair love, directed by Matthew A. Cherry. Lion Forge Animation is one of the only black-owned animation studios in the world and is unmatched in size and dimension. It is the only black-owned animation studio with an Oscar. The studio is represented by Activist Artist Management.

lionforgeanimation. com