Move over South Korea, there’s a new player in the international arena. Japan’s famously risk-averse broadcasters and studios have woken up to the world outside Japan and are making a bold move on the the U.S. and other international markets.
In part inspired by the global success of Korean content, but also aware that their huge domestic market is shrinking as Japan’s population declines, major players such as Toho, Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) and Fuji Television realize they need to find a source of revenue elsewhere in order to grow. And with deep libraries of anime, manga, movies, formats and games, they’ve also realized that they’re sitting on huge reservoirs of valuable IP.
Toho was among the first Japanese studios to make international moves, under forward-thinking president and CEO Hiro Matsuoka, taking back some rights to its Godzilla franchise and getting involved in merchandising in the U.S., rather than licensing away all the IP. After self-distributing its Japanese-language Godzilla Minus One in the U.S., the ambitious studio has gained an even firmer footing in the North America market by acquiring leading anime distributor Gkids.
Now the other studios and broadcast networks in Japan are taking note. At the TIFFCOM contents market, which wrapped in Tokyo today, TBS Holdings and Fuji TV both gave presentations on their international expansion plans, which include establishing new U.S. offices and selling and packaging their extensive libraries of IP.
“All these companies are now expending considerable resources on selling their formats and programming so they can increase revenue from outside Japan,” says former Disney Japan executive Harry Tanaka, who has co-founded Studio Muso to help U.S. studios navigate the complex world of Japanese IP. “For the longest time, they neglected that business but now they’re all turning in that direction.”
Tanaka explains that format sales is the first step, but many of these companies are also talking about co-producing and co-investing with international partners to produce English-language content based on their properties, rather than passively licensing to third parties.
During TIFFCOM, TBS Holdings president Masamine Ryuho unveiled an ambitious expansion strategy, involving investment of $1BN (JPY160BN), new offices in Los Angeles and Seoul and the acquisition of New York-based formats licensing group Bellon Entertainment.
“TBS International plans to build a strong sales network in Europe and the U.S. mainly focusing on format sales, while in Korea we will develop new content, mainly dramas and remakes, building a strong foundation in Asia,” Ryuho said.
“In addition, with Tokyo being the hub of global operations, we are building a strategy to enter new markets in Southeast Asia, India, Europe and the Middle East. In order to realize all this growth, we will select business partners and engage in activities such as M&A, cooperative content investment and business alliances.”
TBS International vice president Goshu Segawa, who heads the new LA office, and Bellon Entertainment founder Gregory Bellon also took to the stage to announce expansion plans for Ninja Warrior and other TBS properties in North America. Bellon is TBS’ long-term partner in the exploitation of its Ninja Warrior IP across multiple platforms and markets, which already includes a FAST channel and adventure parks in the UK.
“The key to realizing the potential of these properties it to adapt them for Western audiences,” said Segawa. “And to do so, my ambition is to team up with producers in Hollywood to unlock this potential.”
TBS International has also struck a deal with LeBron James’ Springhill Company to adapt an unscripted format based on the broadcaster’s IP. The company’s Japanese-language content is also going global through shows produced by in-house division The Seven for Netflix, including the third season of sci-fi thriller Alice In Borderland and action fantasy YuYu Hakusho.
Fuji TV also gave updates on its global strategy during TIFFCOM, including collaborations with Thailand’s GMM Studios International, POPS Worldwide in Southeast Asia, and Korea’s Kakao Entertainment and short drama producer Playlist.
Among other projects, Fuji TV is co-producing a Japanese remake of GMM Studios’ drama Girl From Nowhere; co-producing short dramas with Playlist and Kakao, leveraging the latter’s experience in webtoons; and co-producing and handling international distribution of kids’ short music content with POPS Worldwide.
“By co-creating with overseas studios and platforms, we will develop IP that will be accepted around the world,” said Koji Ishii, Fuji TV senior executive director and Head of Content Business Strategy. “We will also develop IP that can be used globally, such as video adaptations from webtoons and licensing business from short animations. By exploring new areas and co-creating with new partners, we will expand the IP business market from Japan to the entire world.”
While it didn’t make a presentation at TIFFCOM, Toei also recently announced a global expansion strategy, which includes production of content aimed at international audiences, with a focus on Southeast Asia, Chinese-speaking territories and the U.S.
Nippon Television has been expanding its international business for several years, mostly through format sales of both scripted and unscripted properties, including its female-focused drama series Mother, which has so far been acquired for local-language remakes in 11 countries, with recent deals including Greece and the Philippines.
Other factors driving these expansion plans – the emergence of the streamers, providing a global distribution platform for both English and Japanese-language content, which has been behind the phenomenal growth in anime consumption over the past few years.
There’s also been a changing of the guard at the Japanese studios with more internationally focused executives such as Toho’s Matsuoka and Toei’s Noriyuki Tada taking over and shaking up previously conservative and insular companies.
And with ever-increasing demand for new stories and ideas to fill the pipelines of global streamers and studios, the interest appears to be reciprocated, at least from the U.S.
“One of the reasons I’m doing this business is because I saw increasing demand for Japanese ideas,” says Tanaka, who is working with TBS, Japanese publisher Shueisha and other players to identify and secure Japanese IP for the U.S.
“Marketwise, maybe it’s still China or India, but when it comes to ideas and projects we find that many U.S. executives already have an affinity with Japanese culture. The issues have been that, due to geographical distance, language barriers and the closed, conservative nature of Japanese studios, they haven’t been able to access or communicate with that culture in the way that they wanted.”
Liz Shackleton
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