{"rewrite":{"id":"r_0f3b4f11ed2fb8f86cc71a6b","clusterId":"c_a98edea1a165e2cb1a394af8","slug":"n-lite-adds-jay-francis-and-three-industry-veterans-to-its-board","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"N LITE Adds Jay Francis And Three Industry Veterans To Its Board","summary":"N LITE, a media company and anime studio based in the U.S. and Tokyo, has appointed four industry veterans to its board of directors, including former Disney Television Animation vice president Jay Francis. The appointments come as the studio expands across feature films, TV, consumer products and publishing, led by its flagship original fantasy epic MFINDA, made with partners including GKIDS, JuVee Productions, Miniature Geant and Jaden Smith.","whyItMatters":"The board is being assembled around the problem N LITE says defines its business: making international anime co-productions work across Western and Japanese production styles, which is why it sought a former Disney TV Animation executive and four years of Tokyo relationships rather than a slate announcement.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eThe other three board members are Ricky Joshi, Elizabeth Nelson and Carlos Dos Santos. Francis spent more than two decades in animation, with leadership roles at The Disney Channel and Level 13.net, and worked on series including Phineas and Ferb, Big City Greens and The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUnder MFINDA, N LITE has a Kodansha manga prequel and a making-of documentary, MFINDA: Spirits of the Congo, planned alongside the feature. Its slate also includes a Jungle Emperor Leo film adaptation with Tezuka Productions for that studio\u0026#39;s 100th anniversary, the Southern gothic horror anime WEBE: Spirit Detective with Willow Smith and Peter Ramsey executive producing, and IFE: Secret of the Star Child with Ramsey and Gary Trousdale.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"N LITE has added four industry veterans to its board, among them former Disney Television Animation vp Jay Francis. The studio behind MFINDA says its first task is building relationships with Hollywood streamers and studios.","twitterPost":"N LITE has appointed four board members, including former Disney Television Animation vp Jay Francis. The studio, behind the feature MFINDA with GKIDS and JuVee Productions, says the board's first task is building ties with Hollywood streamers and studios.","threadsPost":null,"newsletterBlurb":"N LITE has appointed four industry veterans to its board of directors, including former Disney Television Animation vice president Jay Francis. The studio behind the original fantasy epic MFINDA says one of the board's first tasks is establishing relationships with streamers and studios in Hollywood. N LITE points to differing production styles and cultural norms between Western and Japanese animation teams as the difficulty facing international anime co-productions.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"The Hollywood Reporter Anime\",\"url\":\"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/anime-studio-n-lite-board-of-directors-1236728950/\",\"title\":\"Anime Studio N LITE Taps Former Disney TV Animation Exec, Industry Veterans for Board of Directors (Exclusive)\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4631,"outputTokens":657,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1791996731,"createdAt":"2026-10-14T16:48:01.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-10-14T16:51:06.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-14T16:51:06.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_a98edea1a165e2cb1a394af8","canonicalTitle":"Anime Studio N LITE Taps Former Disney TV Animation Exec, Industry Veterans for Board of Directors (Exclusive)","representativeArticleId":"a_2e99d14473df729854dd23a3","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[],\"studios\":[\"N LITE\",\"Disney Television Animation\"],\"people\":[\"Jay Francis\"],\"type\":\"business\",\"domain\":\"industry\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"business","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-10-14T16:00:00.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-10-14T16:00:00.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-14T16:51:06.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"The Hollywood Reporter Anime","url":"https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/anime-studio-n-lite-board-of-directors-1236728950/","title":"Anime Studio N LITE Taps Former Disney TV Animation Exec, Industry Veterans for Board of Directors (Exclusive)"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":[],"studios":["N LITE","Disney Television Animation"],"people":["Jay Francis"],"type":"business","domain":"industry","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}