Amazon MGM Studios Japan Doubles Its Investment to Reach Global Audiences
Amazon MGM Studios Japan is doubling its investment, its head said on Wednesday, 28 October. The aim is to lift the studio's Japanese films, series and anime to global standards.
Buddy Marini made the announcement at the Tokyo International Film Festival, speaking at a market session on the global potential of Japanese intellectual property, or IP. In film and television, IP means the stories and characters, often first published as manga or novels, that studios turn into screen projects. Variety reported the remarks.
The session was organised by the Motion Picture Association and UniJapan. It also featured Matsuhashi Shinzo, chief executive of Credeus, and Steven Maeda, executive producer of Netflix's live-action "One Piece" series. Nakayama Atsuo moderated.
Marini said the strategy for Japan, and for Amazon's studio as a whole, is to expand into the global market. He did not give a dollar figure for the increased investment.
Marini took over the Japanese operation in March. His appointment took effect on 6 March, according to Variety, and he is based in Tokyo. Deadline also reported the hire. He leads homegrown film, series and anime productions.
His background is in Japanese streaming and entertainment. He was managing director of Warner Bros. Discovery Japan and chief executive of Hulu Japan. He also founded Mangamo.
Several projects were named in the Variety report. "The Apothecary Diaries" is a live-action adaptation of a bestselling historical mystery franchise. "Bless" adapts a hit manga about an aspiring makeup artist. Both are on the studio's upcoming list.
Another title is already streaming. "The Silent Service" on Amazon Prime is a Japanese-language live-action series about a rogue Japanese submarine captain who hijacks a U.S. submarine. It is based on a long-running manga that also produced a hit anime series.
For readers, the thread is simple. Japanese comics and anime have long travelled well overseas, and the studio is betting that more of them can be built into big productions for audiences in many countries. How much of the doubled budget goes to which projects has not been announced.
