Thanks to Nicholas Rucka for posting an article by Mark Schilling which delivers both good news and bad news about the current state of the Japanese film industry.
First the good news: Schilling reports that Japanese films have been faring better at the domestic box office with 29 Japanese produced films reaching or exceeding the $10 million mark in ticket sales in 2007 while only 18 imported Hollywood films could boast the same.
Now for the bad news: while these major motion pictures may be doing a healthy business and there have been some real success stories of smaller films like San-il Lee’s “Hula Girls”, a film that was originally turned down by production companies but ended up bringing in $14 million at the box office in 2006 mid-sized and indie productions are still fighting tooth and nail to stay alive. Last year 70 films were released that simply couldn’t find a place in Japanese theatres.
This grim picture is mirrored in a another report filed today by Schilling at Variety Asia Online about how PIA, the Japanese ticket agency, publisher, production company is slashing its staff by a third in an effort to stave off further financial losses that started with the implementation of a new ticket sales system. The question is how will this impact independent film in Japan as the company is a major backer of the annual PIA Film Festival which its over 30 year history has introduced the world to filmmakers like Sogo Ishii, Yoshimitsu Morita and Akihiko Shiota.
Read all the details at Maboroshii Productions: http://mab-pro.blogspot.com/2008/05/indies-fight-major-logjam-from-variety.html
And at Variety Asia Online: http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/6114/1/
First the good news: Schilling reports that Japanese films have been faring better at the domestic box office with 29 Japanese produced films reaching or exceeding the $10 million mark in ticket sales in 2007 while only 18 imported Hollywood films could boast the same.
Now for the bad news: while these major motion pictures may be doing a healthy business and there have been some real success stories of smaller films like San-il Lee’s “Hula Girls”, a film that was originally turned down by production companies but ended up bringing in $14 million at the box office in 2006 mid-sized and indie productions are still fighting tooth and nail to stay alive. Last year 70 films were released that simply couldn’t find a place in Japanese theatres.
This grim picture is mirrored in a another report filed today by Schilling at Variety Asia Online about how PIA, the Japanese ticket agency, publisher, production company is slashing its staff by a third in an effort to stave off further financial losses that started with the implementation of a new ticket sales system. The question is how will this impact independent film in Japan as the company is a major backer of the annual PIA Film Festival which its over 30 year history has introduced the world to filmmakers like Sogo Ishii, Yoshimitsu Morita and Akihiko Shiota.
Read all the details at Maboroshii Productions: http://mab-pro.blogspot.com/2008/05/indies-fight-major-logjam-from-variety.html
And at Variety Asia Online: http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/content/view/6114/1/
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