YouNeek Studios

YouNeek Studios is an award-winning multiplatform entertainment company founded in 2015 by Roye Okupe, a Nigerian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and author born in Lagos, Nigeria. YouNeek focuses on telling superhero and fantasy stories inspired by African history, culture, and mythology — with the goal of empowering African creatives and storytelling globally. The publisher hires African artists to bring its work to life and all books are written by Okupe. In 2021, YouNeek secured a landmark 10-book deal with Dark Horse Comics — one of the largest ever for an African indie publisher — retaining 100% of intellectual property rights in an arrangement Okupe compares to Robert Kirkman's Skybound deal with Image Comics. YouNeek Studios' series Iyanu: Child of Wonder was adapted as an animated series, premiering on Cartoon Network and Max in April 2025, ranking #1 on Cartoon Network at launch and debuting as the #1 kids' series on Showmax across Africa. Two Iyanu animated features have been greenlit. Lion Forge Entertainment inked a first-look deal with Okupe in 2023 for adaptation of the YouNeek YouNiverse. Notable titles: E.X.O. – The Legend of Wale Williams (CNN, Forbes, Washington Post), Malika: Warrior Queen (Glyph Award 2017, 40,000+ copies of FCBD chapter one), WindMaker, Iyanu: Child of Wonder. Press coverage includes CNN, Forbes, BBC, NPR, New York Times, Washington Post, and ABC7.