This Keynote Panel brought together representatives from different media outlets to predict and discuss where anime is heading in all its varied forms. The panelists included representatives from:
- ADV
- ImaginAsian Television
- Comcast/Select On Demand
- Spike TV/ MTV
- GDH International
- Bang Zoom! Entertainment
Zac Bertschy of Anime News Network was the moderator. Debra Kennedy, Senior Vice-President of Marketing and New Media for FUNimation opened the panel with her keynote speech wherein she discussed the rising popularity of anime. She stated that 794,000 videos on YouTube have the word anime in the title. There’s 5,000 groups on MySpace related to anime. A recent study by Compete Inc. determined that 26% of the top 100 Wikipedia searches are related to anime. Anime is the second largest search topic on that site.
However, DVD sales are going down just as anime’s popularity is on the rise. Companies are looking to reinvent themselves to change with this new challenge. What people are seeing in the anime business world is a re-imaging of corporate business models. All this experimentation may be frustrating from a fan’s point of view since none of the companies have settled on a concrete solution and stuck with it.
According to Debra Kennedy, “It’s very important for the industry right now to make that change.” No matter where this experimentation leads, DVDs will be around for a long time to come since technologies do come and go at a quick pace. DVDs, though, have been around long enough to become established as a viable technology.
Broadcasting is one of the many options companies are considering as a way to get anime out there affordably. It takes about eight years, however, to get an anime channel into a decent number of households.
Facing Challenges in the market place
Companies are looking at different ways to approach the market place that aren’t directly linked to DVDs. Doing web shows, like Anime TV, having interactive blogs, and generally just listening to what the fans want are the latest efforts by Bang Zoom! Entertainment.
Terry Kalagian of ADV spoke of going a more digital route and looking outside TV as another option to overcoming some of the newest obstacles. They launched Anime Network to reach more fans but ADV is trying the whole gamut of media to overcome the block the industry is facing.
ImginAsian TV specifically targets what they broadcast. According to ImaginAsian’s representative Justin Sevakis:
“The days of buying anything that looks like anime and slapping it on TV and expecting it to sell are really, really, over.”
IATV is also one of the few television outlets who regularly subtitle their series. They’re focusing on a really tight market instead of appealing to as many potential and established fans as possible.
New Media
Video On Demand isn’t the cure all. Video on Demand is going to be bigger and will grow, but utilizing all types of media is important. People are more mobile than they’ve ever been. With iPods and mobile phones offering the capability to watch TV on the go, it’s crucial to address the mobile market.
Some panelists aren’t looking at lower DVD sales as a serious setback as much as low sales being a sign that it’s time to become more innovative. Web shows will become more prevalent to keep up with new technologies and the fans that use them.
Companies are also looking at what the new format will be. Formats change so fast its hard to keep up with not only the new technology, but the demands of fans who use them.
High Definition
VOD will start offering more shows in HD. Overall though, people are waiting to see which technology will be the winner before they place all their resources into one. For example: HD versus Blu-ray. It’s too soon to tell which technology will come out on top and be the one that companies concentrate on. Therefore, no one is pouring all their resources into one yet.
Content
Leo Chu of Spike TV says that content is often overlooked in regards to the distribution of anime. Co-productions are important in appealing to a wider audience, especially in the US. It’s difficult to tweak, subtract and expand themes but that’s why co-productions are integral to the future of anime. Working closely with Japan will help ensure a viable product outside of Japan.
Doing away with dubs and only having quality subtitles in some anime also goes back to content. Focusing on what fans want in their anime is just as important as how they get it.
Defining Anime
Anime isn’t just about the animation. It’s about the storytelling. Keeping the voice of anime is a concern when East-West co-productions are involved. No matter where anime is created or high the quality of anime, if the spark is missing, it really isn’t anime.
Differences in East and West
Co-productions are very difficult processes. It takes a long time to do, in part due to the difference in the filming hierarchy in Japan and America.
The director is the ultimate authority in Japanese productions and the only person the director listens to is the creator. In America, first and foremost is the network, then writers, and then, maybe, the director. The power dynamic is different and that’s where some of the conflicts occur.
Also, America tends to jump all over the latest technology and wants to make it the biggest and the best. The Japanese however, tend to step back and watch and wait to see what will happen.
Licensing in Japan is still fairly difficult. There are a myriad of issues on the Japanese end that they have to slug through that their American counterparts don’t like or want to deal with.
Fansubbing
Fansubs are cutting into DVD and legitimate sales. The industry knows that the huge gap (1-2) years between Japanese releases and US releases is a major factor that spurs people to download. They’re trying to close that gap and shorten it to maybe one week between the release dates. At least one of the panelist felt it wouldn’t make a difference to actively pursue and shut down fansubbers since another one would spring right back up in its place and piss off fans in the process.
Eric Calderon of GDH International had a suggestion on the topic: There’s so much out of the companies’ control involving piracy and the like, but GDH is trying to focus on what they can control. They’re putting added features onto the DVDs that can’t be seen anywhere else. They’re trying to push the merchandise and are getting a good handle on what they can control instead of trying to quash piracy. Maybe companies should accept what they can’t change and change what they have the power to do so was Mr. Calderon’s suggestion.
The panel ended abruptly as time had run out without anyone realizing it. The conversation could have continued indefinitely on the topic of where anime is headed and how it’ll get there.
Thanks for the coverage; this seems in-line with what I’ve been seeing from most other industry sources.