---
name: "Ian Jones-Quartey"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/ian-jones-quartey"
fi1m_id: "ian-jones-quartey"
imdb_id: "nm1866268"
tmdb_id: 1292298
wikidata_id: "Q16730419"
roles: ["Producer","Director"]
born: "18 June 1984"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "producer"
average_over: 0
updated: "2026-09-24T01:43:50.085854+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Ian Jones-Quartey

## Identity

Ian Jones-Quartey

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/ian-jones-quartey
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** ian-jones-quartey
- **IMDb ID:** nm1866268
- **TMDB ID:** 1292298
- **Wikidata ID:** Q16730419
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Jones-Quartey, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16730419, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1866268/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1292298

Producer and director. Born 18 June 1984 in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Producer, Director
- **Born:** 18 June 1984, Hatfield, Pennsylvania, USA
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Jones-Quartey, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16730419, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1866268/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1292298

## Streaming the US now

- **Disney+:** [*Steven Universe*](https://film.one/tv/steven-universe.md) (83)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Ian Jones-Quartey

> An animator who would rather a drawing moved than matched. On *Steven Universe* he helped make eleven-minute fights you can read from the silhouettes; his own *OK K.O. Let's Be Heroes* let the lines go loose on purpose.

Watch a fight in the early *Steven Universe* and notice how little work you have to do. Garnet is a block, Pearl a line, Amethyst a scribble, and when they move fast the shapes still tell you who is where. Ian Jones-Quartey was one of three directors on those episodes, with Joseph D. Johnston and Kat Morris, and the fights are quick, clear and over in seconds, which is the size an eleven-minute slot can hold. We had braced for cartoon combat to be noise and were surprised at how easily we could follow it; the credit belongs to the shapes, and to directors who trusted them.

He came to it by the technical route. He drew webcomics in the early 2000s, inked and art-directed on *The Venture Bros.* from 2006, then spent 2010 to 2013 on the *Adventure Time* storyboard desk. On *Steven Universe* (2013) he was supervising director and co-developer alongside Rebecca Sugar, credited on dozens of episodes through the middle of 2015. Then he left to make his own show, *OK K.O. Let's Be Heroes* (2017–2019), grown from a 2013 pilot called *Lakewood Plaza Turbo*, and has since drifted back towards Sugar: the 2019 *Steven Universe* film, a 2025 special called *The Elephant*, and an announced series, *Steven Universe: Lars of the Stars*.

What he believes is plain enough. He dislikes cartoons that stay on-model and go stiff; convincing people a drawing has come to life is, he has said, "one of the oldest magic tricks out there". So *OK K.O.* runs on storyboards, slapstick and faces that stretch past what the design sheet allows, drawn in a rough pencil line that looks like something done in the back of an exercise book. The premise, in his own summary, is three friends who punch robots until the robots explode. The influences are Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera, 1970s anime and video games, and the tone is cheerful and unembarrassed about it.

We have not reviewed *OK K.O.*, so we will not pronounce on it, only name the gamble. A line that is allowed to change from episode to episode and artist to artist keeps a show alive, and it also removes the safety net; a loose drawing that is not funny just looks unfinished. The work we can vouch for is the work where the looseness sits on top of firm shapes, which is what *Steven Universe* did. That show grew, eleven minutes at a time, into a story about grief, and a director who keeps the action legible is part of the reason the quiet episodes could afford to be quiet.

Where he goes next looks like where he came from. *Lars of the Stars* puts him back beside Sugar, on a world he helped build. We would rather see him on a blank page, but a man who taught these characters to be read from their outlines is a reasonable person to hand them back to.

## Biography

Ian Jones-Quartey is an American writer, director, storyboard artist, animator and voice actor. He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City. His early television work included art direction on *The Venture Bros.* (2006–2010) and storyboard supervision on *Adventure Time* (2010–2013).

He served as supervising director and co-developer on the Cartoon Network series *Steven Universe* (2013), for which he is also credited as a writer. Jones-Quartey created the series *OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes* (2017–2019), which originated from his 2013 pilot short *Lakewood Plaza Turbo*. He has voiced characters including Wallow in *Bravest Warriors* and provided additional contributions to *Steven Universe: The Movie* (2019).

Jones-Quartey is married to *Steven Universe* creator Rebecca Sugar.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, steven-universe.fandom.com, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Steven Universe* (2013), Fi1m 83, as Mr. Queasy (voice) — [page](https://film.one/tv/steven-universe.md)

## Complete filmography (14)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Adult Swim's The Elephant* (2025), Director, Story, Executive Producer
- *AJ Goes to the Dog Park* (2025), as SapperFlash45 (voice) · Creative Consultant
- *Steven Universe Future* (2019), series, as Snowflake Obsidian (voice)
- *Steven Universe: The Movie* (2019), Co-Executive Producer, Writer
- *OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes* (2017), series, as Rad (voice), Darrell (voice) · Creator
- *Welcome to My Life* (2017), as Ian (voice)
- *Adventure Time Forever* (2015), Actor
- *Steven Universe* (2013), series, as Mr. Queasy (voice), Actor (voice), Cat Fingers (voice) · Writer, Director, Storyboard Artist, Co-Executive Producer — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/steven-universe.md)
- *Lakewood Plaza Turbo* (2013), as Radicles / Real Magical Skeleton / Darrell (voice) · Writer, Creator, Storyboard, Director
- *Bravest Warriors* (2012), series, as Wallow (voice), Computer (voice)
- *Secret Mountain Fort Awesome* (2011), series, Writer, Storyboard Artist
- *Singles* (2009), as Guy (voice)
- *One Piece* (1999), series, Key Animation
- *Steven Universe: Lars of the Stars*, series, Executive Producer, Creator

## Gallery

- ![Ian Jones-Quartey](https://film.one/media/person/1632769/gallery-61ee5c4a3144.jpg) Ian Jones-Quartey — Sue Lukenbaugh from Sacramento, USA, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Ian_Jones-Quartey_Cartoon_Network_New_Comedies_Panel.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![San Diego Comic Con 2013](https://film.one/media/person/1632769/gallery-a08907e6290a.jpg) San Diego Comic Con 2013 — Sue Lukenbaugh from Sacramento, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Cartoon_Network_New_Comedies_Panel_%2812279711145%29.jpg/1280px-Cartoon_Network_New_Comedies_Panel_%2812279711145%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![San Diego Comic Con 2013](https://film.one/media/person/1632769/gallery-dc0a724f8be1.jpg) San Diego Comic Con 2013 — Sue Lukenbaugh from Sacramento, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Cartoon_Network_New_Comedies_Panel_%2812279732485%29.jpg/1280px-Cartoon_Network_New_Comedies_Panel_%2812279732485%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![San Diego Comic Con 2013](https://film.one/media/person/1632769/gallery-c47b2cf7c13d.jpg) San Diego Comic Con 2013 — Sue Lukenbaugh from Sacramento, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Cartoon_Network_New_Comedies_Panel_%2812279869873%29.jpg/1280px-Cartoon_Network_New_Comedies_Panel_%2812279869873%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![San Diego Comic Con 2013](https://film.one/media/person/1632769/gallery-53ec05d7ac3e.jpg) San Diego Comic Con 2013 — Sue Lukenbaugh from Sacramento, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Cartoon_Network_New_Comedies_Panel_%2812279882693%29.jpg/1280px-Cartoon_Network_New_Comedies_Panel_%2812279882693%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![San Diego Comic Con 2013](https://film.one/media/person/1632769/gallery-d3a6dd893874.jpg) San Diego Comic Con 2013 — Sue Lukenbaugh from Sacramento, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Cartoon_Network_New_Comedies_Panel_%2812279901973%29.jpg/1280px-Cartoon_Network_New_Comedies_Panel_%2812279901973%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/ian-jones-quartey