Pay Gap Opening in Japan's Anime Industry, Festival Adviser Says
Japan's anime industry is in better shape overall, but a gap in pay and working conditions is opening up, according to Fujitsu Ryota. He is programming advisor for the Animation section of the Tokyo International Film Festival. Speaking to Variety, he said the divide runs largely between studios prepared to put their own money on the line and those that are not.
The timing is set by the festival calendar. The 39th Tokyo International Film Festival opens today, October 26, and runs until November 4. Fujitsu unveiled the films in the Animation section ahead of the event. The wider lineup includes a 15-film competition selection, according to Screen Daily.
On pay, Fujitsu said that given how creative animation professionals are, their compensation is still not where it should be. He argued that companies able to pay production staff properly, and to attract the right people, are better placed to produce hits. Those same companies, he said, are better placed to build a global presence as demand for Japanese animation grows overseas.
He also called on studios to commit more of their own capital and to take on bigger business risks. Closing the gap, he told Variety, depends on how individual companies run their businesses.
Fujitsu is an animation critic who began writing about the form in 2000. Before that he worked as a newspaper reporter and as a weekly magazine editor. He was born in 1968 in Shizuoka Prefecture.
In plain terms, the argument is about who pays for risk. A studio that funds a project from its own money can keep more of the upside, but it also carries more of the chance that a film or series does not pay back. Fujitsu's view is that the studios willing to take that chance are the ones pulling ahead on pay and conditions, while the rest of the industry is left to catch up.
The festival runs for just under two weeks, so the Animation section will give a clear picture of the films on offer. The pay question sits outside the screen, in the offices and deals that decide who gets paid, and how well.
