ND Stevenson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids ND Stevenson
Stevenson at the 2023 Annecy International Animation Film Festival
Born	Noelle Diana Stevenson (1991-12-31) December 31, 1991 (age 33) Columbia, South Carolina, U.S.
Other names	Nate Diana Stevenson Indy Stevenson
Alma mater	Maryland Institute College of Art
Occupation	Cartoonist
Known for	Nimona (creator) Lumberjanes (co-writer) She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (creator, showrunner, and executive producer)
Spouse(s)	Molly Knox Ostertag ​ (m. 2019)​

ND Stevenson (born December 31, 1991), also known as Nate Diana or "Indy" Stevenson, is an American artist. He creates cartoons and produces animated shows. He is famous for creating the animated TV series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. This show ran from 2018 to 2020.

Stevenson is also known for his graphic novel Nimona. He helped write the comic series Lumberjanes. His book The Fire Never Goes Out shares his own life story through drawings and journals. Stevenson has won several awards for his work, including Eisner Awards and a Daytime Emmy Award. He is non-binary and transmasculine.

Early Life and Creative Beginnings

ND Stevenson was born on December 31, 1991, in Columbia, South Carolina. He grew up with four siblings. He was taught at home before going to A.C. Flora High School. In his last year of high school, he made picture books. He even won a local award for them.

Stevenson has shared what inspired him when he was younger. Some of these influences include movies like The Prince of Egypt and The Lord of the Rings. He also enjoyed the TV show Project Runway.

Career Highlights

How Nimona Started

Stevenson created his popular character Nimona for a class project in college. In 2012, he started a webcomic about Nimona. Soon, a literary agent discovered his webcomic online. This agent helped him get a deal with HarperCollins to publish Nimona as a graphic novel.

Nimona also became Stevenson's senior project in college. For this work, he won the 2012 Cartoonist Studio Prize. He also received an Eisner Award in 2016 for the graphic novel. Nimona was even a finalist for a National Book Award in 2015. Stevenson says that creating Nimona helped him get a job writing for animation.

While in college, Stevenson also worked as a freelance artist. He drew for different publishers. In 2012, he interned at Boom! Studios, a comic book company. He designed the cover for Rainbow Rowell's novel Fangirl in 2013. He also worked on a choose-your-own-adventure book based on Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Lumberjanes and She-Ra Success

Stevenson in 2015

After graduating in 2013, Stevenson returned to BOOM! Studios. He helped create and write the comic series Lumberjanes. Lumberjanes won Eisner Awards for Best New Series and Best Publication for Teens in 2015. There are plans for an animated Lumberjanes series on HBO Max. Stevenson is involved as an executive producer and writer.

In 2015, Stevenson wrote for Marvel Comics. He worked on comics like Thor Annual and Runaways. He also drew cover art for novels. From 2015, he was part of the writing team for Disney's animated series Wander Over Yonder. He also appeared in some episodes of Critical Role, a popular online show where people play Dungeons & Dragons.

Stevenson created and was the executive producer for DreamWorks Animation's She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. This animated series was on Netflix from 2018 to 2020. She-Ra was highly praised, especially for its diverse characters. People loved the deep friendship between She-Ra and her enemy, Catra. The show was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award and a Daytime Emmy Award. In 2021, it won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming.

Stevenson said that She-Ra was the most intense job he ever had. He also mentioned that playing Dungeons & Dragons inspired some parts of the show. For example, the character Glimmer's teleportation powers came from his own D&D character.

In March 2020, Stevenson published The Fire Never Goes Out. This book is a collection of his personal drawings and journal entries.

Recent Projects and New Stories

In October 2021, Stevenson started a newsletter called "I'm Fine I'm Fine Just Understand." In this newsletter, he talks about topics like mental health and gender identity. He also shares personal comics with his paid subscribers. This newsletter was nominated for a Harvey Award in 2022.

In 2022, Stevenson shared a fan comic he made about The Book of Boba Fett. It was called "This Place Was Home" and was very popular. The comic focused on Boba Fett's childhood. Stevenson has a special interest in shapeshifters. He said that the character Zam Wesell from Star Wars inspired him. He even made the character Double Trouble in She-Ra as a tribute to Wesell.

In 2023, Stevenson talked about the animated film. He worked to make sure Nimona was shown correctly in the movie. He also mentioned working on a new "two book series of novels." These stories were originally written when he was a teenager. He said they are about "queer pirates."

In November 2023, Out magazine recognized Stevenson for making the world better for LGBTQ+ people. Stevenson said he is entering a "new creative phase" in his life. He believes that "the world is so much bigger and weirder than we know."

Personal Life

Stevenson married fellow cartoonist Molly Knox Ostertag in September 2019. He started working on She-Ra and the Princesses of Power around the same time he began dating Ostertag. He said she influenced the show a lot. She even came up with a big plot twist in one of the show's seasons.

On June 30, 2022, Stevenson shared that he had chosen the name Nate. He had been using this name privately since 2021. Professionally, he is still known as "ND Stevenson." He uses he/him pronouns and accepts "Indy" as a nickname.

Film and Television Work

Films

Television Shows

Awards and Recognitions

See also

In Spanish: ND Stevenson para niños