London-based Moonbug Entertainment is strengthening its creative and production ranks with a recent round of hires and promotions.

L-R: Kathy Power and Carlos Stevens (Credit: Moonbug)

The company has just brought in writer-director Carlos Stevens (Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) to serve as its new head of creative development. With experience directing projects at LAIKA and WB Animation, Stevens will head up development strategy and provide a strong foundation for all nascent projects at Moonbug.

On the production side, former Jellyfish Pictures exec Will Newis (Dog Man) has been hired as senior director of production and brand partnerships. Well-versed in leading VFX and animation work for clients like Disney and Netflix, he will be managing production for all strategic content partnerships with brands. 

Two team members have also been promoted recently. CoComelon director of production Jay Woolley was upped to senior director of animation production—with oversight of production across all core and original series, including top Netflix performer CoComelon Lane. And EP Lizzy Easterday is now steering the Blippi franchise as senior director of creative for the brand. She will manage alternative formats and short-form content, harnessing four years of creative experience working on a variety of Moonbug brands.

These moves build on the momentum of other key appointments announced at Moonbug this summer, including Cartoon Network veteran Nicole Rivera (The Powerpuff Girls) joining as a senior creative executive on CoComelon, and EP of growth brands Kathy Power (Little Angel) moving up into a new head of creative role.

Chief creative officer Richard Hickey sets Moonbug’s creative strategy, while VP of production Kirstie Brockett oversees all content-making activity. Upgrading the rest of the team is designed to support a busy slate of more ambitious projects—such as a CoComelon feature due out in 2027 and a co-branded series featuring Sanrio’s Hello Kitty.