Well, I have been thinking of creating a Japanese Animation Company. With a purpose of making Anime out of game properties and turning them into epic action and adventure animated epics. So my best was to first hire staff and buy a office building, write a contract out to an animation publisher. Then after that silently start putting together animation reels of what we want to "Re-do in Anime" and after that we send these reels to the original companies and hopefully license said property and start making an animated series or feature-film based on their original work. DIC did this alot with old games like Mario and Zelda, so I thought it would be successful and my future company would be able to produce 3 Animes for our first line-up.

Quote: Original post by BrioCyrain
Well, I have been thinking of creating a Japanese Animation Company. With a purpose of making Anime out of game properties and turning them into epic action and adventure animated epics. So my best was to first hire staff and buy a office building, write a contract out to an animation publisher.

Then after that silently start putting together animation reels of what we want to "Re-do in Anime" and after that we send these reels to the original companies and hopefully license said property and start making an animated series or feature-film based on their original work.

That's sounds cool and I doubt you'd be in any legal trouble since the whole thing is done in-house and private.

Quote: DIC did this alot with old games like Mario and Zelda, so I thought it would be successful and my future company would be able to produce 3 Animes for our first line-up.

This is the first time I've heard of such a thing. Well if there's a precedence, then it will in favor of your new venture. Got any demo reels/videos to share with the rest of us (not of established IPs, but anything animated)?

Not yet, this will take some years, but I like to ask people in advance of what they think.

Quote: Original post by BrioCyrain
So my best was to first hire staff and buy a office building, write a contract out to an animation publisher.

How do you pay salaries and rent until you produce a demo reel impressive enough to sign a contract with a distributor, line up paid work and receive an advance on production? How do you equip your studio with the necessary tools, literature and so on?

These are the real challenges, and this is why animation studios tend to be started by people who have worked at other animation studios - previous employment in the industry has given them an opportunity to build a personal portfolio of projects, network and make contacts, and develop a reputation that investors might be willing to back with cold, hard cash. Also, prior work makes it easier for a distributor or rights holder to enter into a work for hire agreement and provide an advance.

Other than that, your idea is pretty cool. You just have to think about it as an operating business - in terms of income and outlay - and not merely as an artistic endeavor. Good luck! [smile]

There is also another business model you might want to look upon. There is an animation company in Mtl that produces animated episodes for CTRL+ALT+DEL and other webcomics which in turn get customers on a subscription model. Maybe you could hunt down very successful casual games with a strong following and propose animated shorts to them on a subscription model or as a bonus to their already paying members. Maybe very short gag strip-like animations. Even something as simple as a short with the Bookworm Worm (popcap) would be interesting.

"Bri" wrote:
>I like to ask people in advance of what they think.

We could help you better if you'd be more specific with your question. Since you weren't, it's important that we have more information. For instance, how old are you? What level of education have you reached? What is your current occupation, and how long have you been involved in that occupation? And because of the question you asked, we also need to know if you are wealthy or not. And we need to know if you are Japanese, have ever been to Japan, speak any Japanese...

>I have been thinking of creating a Japanese Animation Company.

A "Japanese Animation Company" is a company in Japan that creates animation. Yet you live in South Carolina?

>With a purpose of making Anime out of game properties

Japanese game properties?

>and turning them into epic action and adventure animated epics.

And releasing them into Japanese movie theaters and DVD outlets? I'm very confused. You said you wanted to create a Japanese Animation Company, so if I'm off the mark here, it's because of the limited information you've given us.

>So my best was to first hire staff and buy a office building,

Are you serious? This is what's in your business plan? Step 1: hire staff (how many people, what job descriptions?). Step 2: buy an entire building (why buy, why not rent? Why do you need an entire building from day one? Where's the money coming from?)

>write a contract out to an animation publisher.

Whoa! A "Japanese Animation Company" is not a "publisher"? And what the heck is an "animation publisher" in the first place? Don't you mean "film distributor"?

>Then after that silently start putting together animation reels of what we want to "Re-do in Anime" and after that we send these reels to the original companies and hopefully license said property

This is putting the cart before the horse, is it not? First let's spend a lot of money making a product, then let's ask for permission to do it? You take a huge risk that way!

>and start making an animated series or feature-film based on their original work.
>DIC did this alot with old games like Mario and Zelda, so I thought it would be successful

That company was in the animation business for a long time doing many things beyond just Nintendo licensed IP. You have to start small, develop experience, and after reaching a high enough level, you'll be in a position to approach your target IP owners with enough creds to convince them to deal with you.

>and my future company would be able to produce 3 Animes for our first line-up.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you have not yet created a business plan which outlines the finances involved in producing 3 "animes." If it's not presumptuous, I recommend you start by obtaining a good book on how to write business plans.

You asked a vague question about what people think. If this reply was off the mark, well, it was the best I could do with what you said and asked.

Quote: Original post by tsloper
>I have been thinking of creating a Japanese Animation Company.

A "Japanese Animation Company" is a company in Japan that creates animation. Yet you live in South Carolina?

I just wanted to clarify the term "Japanese Animation" (I think the rest of your advice is spot on).

"Japanese Animation" is anime, wholly distinct from American-style animation in terms of production techniques, aesthetics and, typically, themes. The term is gradually losing meaning as hybridizations (Nickelodeon's Avatar: The Last Airbender is a hybridization of American and Japanese animation) and derivations (South Korea has a booming animation industry that started out creating knock-off versions of Japanese cartoons that, ironically, became extremely popular in Japan) occur.

BrioCyrain is aiming to create anime productions based on game properties, probably from any market he can license in, and probably starting with American games because they're local and familiar. He has no business plan and, seemingly, little understanding of the animation industry, but at least his vision is precise in terms of classification.