<html><head></head><body><div style="font-family: Verdana;font-size: 12.0px;"><div>Dear Jonathan,</div>
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<div>thanks for these very valid points. I think you are right that Hibana potentially forms an immensely important point in how subtitles and the international distribution of "media content" work. My suspicion is that you are right that this is the largest simultaneous release in terms of serial (more or less) TV, though I can't say for certain; Knights of Sidonia was an experiment with this for Netflix as well, though its release followed the one in Japan. </div>
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<div>In terms of Yoshimoto Kogyo's involvement, this may have been a logical step for both parties: Netflix was certainly looking for a partner that has power but also is not afraid of shaking up the usual way of doing things. Yoshimoto has been trying – through organizing film festivals, short film projects, and feature film projects – been trying to get into film with limited success, so they are open to experiments as well. Netflix Japan has already greenlighted a second series, again co-produced with Yoshimoto, and again with a comedian theme. The choice of topic may be showing up the limits of this partnership already. </div>
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<div>You're right, I think, that there is an additional important shift in the works that has to do with funding sources. Softbank was an early partner of Netflix in Japan, google recently (in a somewhat strange pairing) teamed up with Toei for a "pop-up studio" project, etc.; IT companies are inching into film in Japan, and Yoshimoto / talent agencies may just be a stepping stone to that kind of shift.</div>
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<div>(Capital aside, one thing that is interesting here is that the staff was very "old film world" in its lineage. Hiroki of course worked in pink film for a long time, and many of the younger directors working on the project are more or less connected to that geneaology: Shiraishi Kazuya had training with Nakamura Genji and Wakamatsu Koji, Kuma Shinji worked with Hiroki and did work in (pinkish) V-Cinema, Mori worked as assistant director with Kurosawa Kiyoshi, and only Okita Shuichi went the film school to TV to feature film route; scriptwriter Kato is an old pink collaborator of Hiroki's from the early 1980s) </div>
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<div>These are things I would have loved to discuss at the Hibana talk, but regrettably the producer couldn't be convinced to come on stage, and the whole entourage (actors, managers, producers, go-betweens etc.) saw this mainly as a very conventional promotion event. They were somewhat shocked when I wouldn't give them a complete list of questions in advance. So we focused on issues of acting and directing, which turned out fine - though it was tricky to get substantial statements about the series out of anyone but Kuma Shinji.</div>
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<div>Jonathan, could you say a bit more about the shifts in subtitling workflow that you sensed coming at the NAB? I would love to hear more about this...</div>
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<div>Best!</div>
<div>Alex</div>
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<div style="margin:0 0 10px 0;"><b>Gesendet:</b> Sonntag, 12. Juni 2016 um 22:26 Uhr<br/>
<b>Von:</b> "Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum via KineJapan" <kinejapan@lists.osu.edu><br/>
<b>An:</b> "Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum" <kinejapan@lists.osu.edu><br/>
<b>Betreff:</b> Re: [KineJapan] Netflix / Hibana</div>
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<div>Dear Alex, </div>
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<div>Thank you for raising this very interesting topic, Alex. I couldn’t make your discussion with the Hibana team in Frankfurt. I wonder if you touched on some of the points below:</div>
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<div>I hope someone will correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Hibana the first non-English language serial to be given a global release with coordinated subtitling in so many languages with simultaneous release. The import of this is large, and I don’t simply mean on when and how subtitling will be handled in the future. Recently attending the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) show in Las Vegas brought home to me the many radical shifts in subtitling workflow that are on the near horizon. But, the re-establishment of some vertical integration in the moving image entertainment industry—and the use of Japanese cultural content for this massive distribution to a niche market—are what make the product of essential study. </div>
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<div>What interests me most, though, is the selection of Yoshimoto Koyo, and not a more “conventional,” non-studio aligned creative team. This must have elicited very strong reactions among the studios and among more cinematically self-identified independents, and that’s the place I wish the Japan Times article had gone. Perhaps the writer did try that avenue and was unable to get something attributable for the article. Regardless, two central questions lie in Netlfix’s decision to experiment with a <u>Japanese </u>production for this (fairly) new model of targeted contents production and how Netflix will play with / against the established cinema production studios in Japan and other Asian markets.</div>
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<div>With best wishes,</div>
<div>Jonathan</div>
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<div style="font-family: Calibri;font-size: 11.0pt;text-align: left;color: black;BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none;BORDER-LEFT: medium none;PADDING-BOTTOM: 0.0in;PADDING-LEFT: 0.0in;PADDING-RIGHT: 0.0in;BORDER-TOP: rgb(181,196,223) 1.0pt solid;BORDER-RIGHT: medium none;PADDING-TOP: 3.0pt;"><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION"><span style="font-weight: bold;">From: </span>KineJapan <<a href="kinejapan-bounces+jmhall=pomona.edu@lists.osu.edu" target="_parent">kinejapan-bounces+jmhall=pomona.edu@lists.osu.edu</a>> on behalf of Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum via KineJapan <<a href="kinejapan@lists.osu.edu" target="_parent">kinejapan@lists.osu.edu</a>><br/>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Reply-To: </span>Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum <<a href="kinejapan@lists.osu.edu" target="_parent">kinejapan@lists.osu.edu</a>><br/>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Date: </span>Saturday, June 11, 2016 at 12:14 AM<br/>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">To: </span>Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum <<a href="kinejapan@lists.osu.edu" target="_parent">kinejapan@lists.osu.edu</a>><br/>
<span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject: </span>Re: [KineJapan] Netflix / Hibana</span></div>
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<div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION">Thanks, Alex. But Netflix has made this series available only to online streaming subscribers in the US, not to BluRay/DVD subscribers thus far. In the past I found that Netflix had more older titles available through their BluRay/DVD services.</span><br/>
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<div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION">Bill Thompson</span></div>
<div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION"><a href="wct1@columbia.edu" target="_parent">wct1@columbia.edu</a></span></div>
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<div class="gmail_quote"><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION">On Fri, Jun 10, 2016 at 7:32 AM, Japanese Cinema Discussion Forum via KineJapan <span><<a href="kinejapan@lists.osu.edu" target="_parent">kinejapan@lists.osu.edu</a>></span> wrote:</span>
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<div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION">Hello All,</span></div>
<div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION"> </span></div>
<div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION">just in case some don't know about this, Hibana, the first TV series produced by Netflix Japan is now available for viewing in all Netflix territories.</span></div>
<div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION"> </span></div>
<div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION">The series is based on the bestseller by Matayoshi Naoki, and was supervised by Hiroki Ryuichi – who also directed three of the ten episodes. </span></div>
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<div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION">At Nippon Connection (where Hibana also screened) I moderated a talk event with the two main actors and director Kuma Shinji, and they talked a bit about how the series was designed around Hiroki's vision- and indeed it has a strong "Hiroki" feel to it. The series is pretty incomparable to conventional Japanese TV dorama on many levels, and feels a lot more cinematic than most film from Japan does at the moment. I found it a very promising start for Netflix Japan's production activities, and the distribution route creates all kind of possibilities. It can be a bit slow at times but it's definitely worth watching to the end (some very unexpected things happen). </span></div>
<div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION"> </span></div>
<div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION">Googling one of the other directors I just notices that the Japan Times had an artice on it yesterday:</span></div>
<div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION"><a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2016/06/09/tv/can-netflixs-hibana-spark-revolution-japanese-tv/#.V1qjbceHpEc" target="_blank">http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2016/06/09/tv/can-netflixs-hibana-spark-revolution-japanese-tv/#.V1qjbceHpEc</a></span></div>
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<div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION">Best!</span></div>
<div><span id="OLK_SRC_BODY_SECTION">Alex</span></div>
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