Ira has had the privilege of working on or helping create some of the most successful and culturally impactful Kids and Family brands in the world.

Ira started his career in the feature film business as a Creative Executive at Warner Bros. Pictures and Miramax Films. He followed that with a nine-year run at Mattel where he helped launch the Monster High franchise and was selected to join the cross-functional team that created its spin-off, Ever After High. He was a Producer on the Gemini Award-winning and Emmy-nominated series, Hot Wheels: Battle Force 5 (Cartoon Network). Ira helped conceive the original story pitch and led all story development for DC Super Hero Girls.

After Mattel, Ira was Vice President of Development and Production at Universal Kids and Family Productions, leading the group’s preschool slate. He acquired the rights to the Dojo Daycare book property, which was the basis for Netflix and DreamWorks' Team Zenko Go animated series.

Ira led development for Spin Master Entertainment, supervising projects across all genres and demos, including Mighty Express (Netflix). Prior to running development, Ira supervised production on Spin Master's behalf for Amazon Studios’ Super Dinosaur created by Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead) and Bakugan: Battle Planet.

As Head of Development for six and a half years at Cyber Groups Studios USA, Ira was charged with building and leading a slate of animated projects across all age targets and genres. He collaborated closely with the development and production teams in the Paris studio to ensure all projects have universal appeal, quality storytelling and world-class production value. He supervised the production of Press Start, a CG-animated series launching on Peacock in November 2024 and based on the best-selling Scholastic book series.

Ira now operates as a consultant and independent producer, having launched Hero Complex Entertainment in August 2024. He works with a diverse range of clients on IP development, creative strategy, and franchise-building.

In addition to his work in animation and kids and family development, Ira is the creator, producer and author of the indie children’s stories podcast series Best Whatever Ever! which is available on all podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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