Cartoon Network , Baltimore-Based Outlook Company Launch Incubator For Underrepresented Communities

Cartoon Network Studios is teaming with Outlook Company on Neru Projects, a new content development initiative to discover emerging artists and storytellers in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Here is a short breakdown of how the program will work, and the company backing it up:

• Outlook Company was established in 2006 by NFL veteran Trevor Pryce. It specializes in owning and producing technology-driven, youth IP, and pop culture animated and live-action content. OVFX is Outlook’s bespoke 2D/3D animation studio, located in Baltimore, Maryland.
• Outlook recently established an animation project incubator called Neru Projects, dedicated to shining a light on underrepresented communities. Through Neru, six participants will be matched with creative executives at Cartoon Network Studios to foster their original ideas from concept to pitch through the development of a series bible.
• At a minimum, one of the six projects will be selected for formal development at Cartoon Network Studios and Outlook Company.

Finalists were selected with an emphasis on diversity of race, gender, and age to shine a light on communities previously underrepresented in the world of animation. The participants are:

• Jared Allen, an animator, artist, and recent graduate from The Savannah College of Art and Design.
• Rebecca Stern, a high functioning autism spectrum artist.
• Chiêu Anh Urban, a veteran children’s book author born in Saigon, Vietnam.
• Marina Khatin, a young animator currently working at Outlook OVFX.
• Stephen Church, a 16-year-old high schooler based in Baltimore.
• Briana Bolden, a young storyteller from Delaware.

Outlook’s Pryce said in a statement, “This is a great way for Baltimore artists to have their work seen, considered, and given professional animated content feedback. It is an invaluable experience, as there are now six more professional, credited animation show creators in this part of the world.”

Added Sam Register, president of Cartoon Network Studios and Warner Bros. Animation, “Elevating original and diverse creative voices is one of our top priorities at Cartoon Network Studios. Outlook Company’s mission to work with artists from underrepresented communities make them a perfect partner and I look forward to the work ahead with Trevor and the amazing group of creators he has assembled.”