Lighthouse Studios has announced that managing director Claire Finn has been appointed to the Board of Directors. 

As the managing director for Lighthouse Studios, Finn is responsible for growing the studio’s development commitments and expanding production projects, focusing on high-quality children’s and family animated content as well as increasing the studios’ global production services clients. Finn joins Clint Eland, Gerry Shirren and Nicole St.Pierre on the Board.

“Claire has applied her wealth of experience in content development, production, design and the management of artists to growing Lighthouse Studios and its content pipeline,” says Eland. “It’s Claire’s acumen for strategic planning that has ­­led to our growth and she has implemented hiring policies that draws talent with diverse backgrounds from all over the world that make the studio a center of excellence.”

Since joining the studio in September 2018, Finn has grown the company from 75 employees to 200 with a mandate to employ people from around the world of all nationalities, class, color, gender and ability.  Currently the studio is 54 percent female.

Under Finn’s leadership, the studio has also begun to develop its own intellectual property with one new and as yet unannounced series, based on a book written by a Maurice Sendak Fellowship Award Winner.

“Since joining Lighthouse Studio in September 2018, I’ve truly enjoyed getting to understand the art and artistry behind animation and am impressed by the creativity and dedication of our team of artists,” says Finn. “We seem to be in a platinum age of animation right now and despite the hurdles in 2020, with a global pandemic and a national lockdown, work is continuing on all of our projects as   our team has come together to find new ways of working that are both productive while retaining the culture we have developed within the studio. I’m honored to join the Board at Lighthouse as we continue to grow the company and further develop its own unique identity.”

Finn brought nearly two decades of media experience to Lighthouse including four years as head of content and executive producer of branded entertainment for London-based Firecracker Films. They also previously served as head of content production for Channel 4’s agency 4Creative.