David Levine Exiting Candle Media’s Moonbug Entertainment After Spell As Head Of Studio At ‘CoComelon’ Company

Jesse Whittock
·2 min read

EXCLUSIVE: Former Disney exec David Levine is exiting kids entertainment powerhouse Moonbug Entertainment, Deadline has learned. The well-liked exec has been Head of Studios since December 2020.

London- and LA-based Moonbug launched in 2018 and quickly made a name for itself after its Little Baby Bum series became a YouTube sensation, with Levine hired two years later to expand its brands. These also include YouTube and Netflix hit CoComelon and Blippi.

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Moonbug confirmed his exit in a statement to Deadline: “We thank David for his dedication and hard work leading Moonbug Studios through a period of significant growth.”

According to a LinkedIn post, Levine is now exiting to “explore new areas” and was “looking forward to new adventures.”

Levine is best known for a 16-year spell at Disney as Vice President of Media Networks and Content in Europe and Africa, during which time he oversaw local children’s channels, commissioned and developed the Emmy-nominated Evermoor, plus First Class Chefs, The Lodge and 101 Dalmatian Street.

In a LinkedIn post, Levine said: “It’s been a great experience leading the Moonbug Studio team, producing 25+ digital-first series; original CoComelon, Blippi and Little Baby Bum series for top streamers like Netflix and Amazon Kids+; scores of albums, podcasts for Spotify and more; bringing content to kids worldwide in over 25 languages; and expanding representation in our content,” added Levine.

Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer’s Candle Media acquired Moonbug for a deal that could be worth $3BN in November 2021. Its programming appears in 27 languages on more than 100 platforms around the world, carried by the likes of Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, HBO, Amazon and Sky. The CoComelon nursery rhymes channel is the most popular English-language channel on YouTube, with approximately 136 million global subscribers.

Today’s news comes after Moonbug last week acquired Singaporean producer One Animation, the firm behind kids cartoon Oddbods.

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