Steven A. MacLeod is an American storyboard artist at DreamWorks Animation. He served as the head of story for Glen Keane's 2020 Netflix film Over the Moon and the 2026 DreamWorks film Forgotten Island.
Education MacLeod studied at the California Institute of the Arts. After his first year, he took a three-year break from CalArts in the early 2000s to become a missionary in Brazil, and eventually graduated from CalArts in 2007.
Career After graduation, MacLeod was immediately accepted by DreamWorks Animation in 2007 for its story training program as ran by animator Jeff Snow. After spending three months in the program, MacLeod began work as a storyboard artist for Chris Sanders' then-upcoming film The Croods as his first project, wherein he was placed in charge of character creation. MacLeod also served as a story artist for How to Train Your Dragon (2010) for 11 months when Sanders became its director, and afterwards returned to storyboarding for The Croods until as late as October 2012. After The Croods premiered in February 2013, MacLeod began storyboarding for Me and My Shadow, a project conceptualized by filmmaker Edgar Wright, but the film did not come to fruition.
In the late 2010s, MacLeod served as the head of story for the Netflix animated film Over the Moon, directed by former Disney animator Glen Keane, and by 2024, became head of story for the DreamWorks project Forgotten Island (2026).
Personal life MacLeod's first child, a daughter, was born in 2007. MacLeod is partially of Filipino ethnicity from his mother Luisa.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Studio Note(s) Ref. 2005 My Little Obsessive Compulsive Friend Director, animator short film 2010 How to Train Your Dragon Story artist DreamWorks Animation 2013 The Croods Story artist 2014 Rocky & Bullwinkle Story artist Short film 2016 Trolls Additional story artist 2017 The Boss Baby Story artist 2019 The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part Additional story artist Warner Bros. Animation 2020 Over the Moon Head of story Netflix Animation StudiosPearl StudioGlen Keane Productions The Croods: A New Age Additional story artist DreamWorks Animation 2021 Back to the Outback Story artist Netflix Animation StudiosReel FX AnimationWeed Road Pictures 2022 Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Story artist DreamWorks Animation 2024 Thelma the Unicorn Story artist Netflix Animation StudiosScholastic Entertainment The Wild Robot Story artist DreamWorks Animation 2025 A Minecraft Movie Illustrator Warner Bros. Pictures 2026 Forgotten Island Head of story DreamWorks Animation
Television Year Title Role Note(s) Ref. 2014 Over the Garden Wall Writer Episode: "Songs of the Dark Lantern" 2017 Trolls Holiday Story artist Television special
Accolades Year Award-giving body Category Work Result Ref. 2014 41st Annie Awards Outstanding Achievement, Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production The Croods
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