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Dimitri Kostic is an illustrator and storyboard artist with more than three decades of experience across children's animation, editorial illustration, and publishing.

 

His animation credits include Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, The Magic School Bus Rides Again, Franklin the Turtle, and Lucas the Spider. As an illustrator he has worked with Scholastic, Rubicon, and Kids Can Press, with picture book credits including Franklin Goes to School and Franklin and the Tooth Fairy.

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His drawings are expressive and character-driven, rich with movement and warmth, blending strong design with playful, human detail.​

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Annellie Samuel is a veteran animation picture editor, writer and storyteller with more than three decades of experience in children's television and feature animation.

 

Her credits include Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, The Magic School Bus Rides Again, Franklin the Turtle, Little Bear, Rolie Polie Olie, Lucas the Spider, He-Man: Masters of the Universe, and Pretzel and His Puppies, among many others.

 

Her work is grounded in story structure, pacing, and emotional clarity, shaped through collaboration and care.

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About the Studio

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The Happy Makers is a Toronto-based creative studio founded by Annellie Samuel and Dimitri Kostic. We develop original graphic novel series for middle-grade readers, with a focus on character, visual storytelling, and stories built to grow.

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Our background is in children's animation — across editing, storyboarding, and illustration — and we bring that understanding of pacing, performance, and narrative structure directly into our graphic novel work. Living and working together, ideas move fluidly from conversation to sketchbook to finished page.

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Together, Annie and Di work in close creative dialogue, their collaboration rooted in years of shared creative ground, having each contributed independently to some of the most beloved series in children's animation. Story and image evolve together, each strengthening the other through shared trust and a long-standing partnership.

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Get in Touch

If you're a publisher, agent, or collaborator interested in learning more about our work, we'd be happy to hear from you. Please use the form below for professional enquiries, rights questions, or requests for additional materials.