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 Stevenson or Indy Stevenson, is an American cartoonist and producer of animated shows. He is famous for creating the animated TV series She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, which aired from 2018 to 2020. He also created the graphic novel Nimona and helped write the comic series Lumberjanes.

Stevenson's work has won several important awards, including Eisner Awards, a Daytime Emmy Award, and a GLAAD Media Award. ND Stevenson identifies as non-binary, meaning he doesn't feel like he fits into just "boy" or "girl" categories. He uses he/him pronouns.

Early Life and Creative Beginnings

ND Stevenson was born Noelle Diana Stevenson on December 31, 1991, in Columbia, South Carolina. He grew up as the third of five children.

Stevenson was taught at home before going to A.C. Flora High School. In his last year of high school, he made picture books and won an award for them. He has said that movies like Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin and The Prince of Egypt, along with The Lord of the Rings films, inspired him when he was younger.

He later attended the Maryland Institute College of Art and graduated in 2013. While in college, Stevenson became well-known online as a "fan artist" for his unique drawings of characters from The Lord of the Rings.

Career Highlights

Creating Nimona and Early Success

During his third year of college, Stevenson created the character Nimona for a class project. In 2012, he started a webcomic about Nimona, which quickly became popular. A literary agent discovered his webcomic and helped him get a deal with HarperCollins to publish Nimona as a graphic novel. This graphic novel also served as his final project for college in 2012.

Nimona won the 2012 Cartoonist Studio Prize for Best Web Comic of the Year and the 2016 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album. It was also a finalist for the 2015 National Book Award. Stevenson has said that creating Nimona helped him get a job writing for animated shows.

While still in school, Stevenson worked as an illustrator for different publishers. In 2012, he interned at BOOM! Studios, a comic book company. He also created the cover art for Rainbow Rowell's novel Fangirl (2013) and worked on Ryan North's choose-your-own-adventure book To Be or Not to Be (2013), which was based on Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Lumberjanes and She-Ra

Stevenson in 2015

After graduating in 2013, Stevenson returned to BOOM! Studios to help create and write Lumberjanes. This comic series won Eisner Awards for Best New Series and Best Publication for Teens in 2015. As of 2023, Stevenson is still involved in developing an animated series based on Lumberjanes for HBO Max.

In 2015, Stevenson wrote for Marvel Comics on Thor Annual and Runaways. He also worked on the writing team for Disney's animated series Wander Over Yonder starting in 2015.

Stevenson was the creator and main producer for DreamWorks Animation's new She-Ra and the Princesses of Power animated TV series on Netflix. The show ran for five seasons from 2018 to 2020. She-Ra was highly praised, especially for its diverse characters and the deep friendship between She-Ra and her former best friend, Catra. The show won a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids & Family Programming in 2021. Stevenson has mentioned that playing Dungeons & Dragons helped inspire some of the characters and powers in She-Ra.

In March 2020, Stevenson published The Fire Never Goes Out, a collection of his drawings and journal entries. This book shares his personal journey, including how he found his identity and dealt with mental health challenges.

Recent Projects and Future Work

Since October 2021, Stevenson has been writing a newsletter called "I'm Fine I'm Fine Just Understand." In this newsletter, he talks about topics like mental health and gender identity. The newsletter was nominated for a Digital Book of the Year Harvey Award in August 2022.

In February 2022, Stevenson shared a fan comic he made about The Book of Boba Fett on Twitter, which was very well received. He has a special interest in shapeshifting characters, which started with Zam Wesell from Star Wars. He even made Double Trouble in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power as a tribute to Zam Wesell.

Stevenson also worked on the animated film Nimona, released in 2023. He made sure that Nimona was shown as the main character and enjoyed working with the film's directors.

In November 2023, Out magazine recognized Stevenson as someone who has made the world better for LGBTQ+ people. He hopes to see more epic love stories and adventures with queer themes in the future.

As of June 2023, Stevenson is working on a two-book series of novels. These stories are based on ideas he had when he was a teenager, around 12 years old. The first book, an illustrated novel for middle-grade readers called Scarlet Morning, is planned to be published in September 2025.

Personal Life

ND 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. She was very influential on the show, even coming up with a major plot twist in one of the later seasons.

In July 2020, Stevenson shared that he identifies as non-binary. In March 2021, he stated that he identifies as transmasculine and bigender. In August 2021, he changed his first name to ND professionally, and in June 2022, he announced he had chosen the name Nate for private use. He uses he/him pronouns and accepts "Indy" as a nickname.

Stevenson has also openly discussed his experiences with bipolar disorder and ADHD.

Film and Television Work

Film

Television

Awards and Recognition

Images for kids

• 

  Stevenson in 2015

See also

In Spanish: ND Stevenson para niños