Anime instinct paying off for visionary firm
MSNBC has piece on ADV Films' unveiling of The Anime Network in the last year and how the company is riding the wave of Japanese Animation popularity in America.
A.D. Vision Inc. has gained a reputation as cartoon central for the growing legion of global fans who can't get enough of these highly stylized epic stories featuring gun-wielding schoolgirls, headstrong martial arts experts and a slew of complex and often darker characters than those found in the average American comic book fare.
With the launch of a 24-hour cable channel devoted to the Japanese animation pop-culture phenomenon and a live-action anime film in the pipeline, A.D. Vision is poised to further capitalize on what some entertainment industry observers are touting as a $4 billion industry.
In the past three years, the local company has experienced a 400 percent increase in growth, with six studios in Houston, two in Austin and offices in London and Tokyo.
For 2003, A.D. Vision will show revenue of between $70 million and $150 million, says Kevin Corcoran, chief operating officer.
In addition to 187 employees in the United States, A.D. Vision provides a livelihood for 200 to 250 actresses, actors, directors and private contractors who work on the company's ongoing projects.
Animated avenues
Japanese anime covers various mediums, from animated films and graphic novels to cartoon series and product spinoffs -- all avenues A.D. Vision is either currently invested in or is planning to pursue in the near future.
The company was founded 12 years ago when co-founder John Ledford, now president and CEO, began importing anime from Japan to capitalize on what he saw as a highly underserved market with a high demand for animated stories to accompany popular video games.
Ledford purchased the licensing rights to a film version of a best-selling video game sold by his young import and export firm.
"It made all its money back in 90 days," says Ledford from the company's new office digs at the corner of Highway 59 and Beltway 8. "So I bought another title and it paid for itself in 60 days. I bought a third title and it paid for itself two months before it was even released in pre-orders."
Until recently, A.D. Vision continued to focus primarily on anime home video distribution.
Last year, the company launched NewType USA, now the best-selling monthly anime magazine in America with a monthly circulation of about 100,000. The publication, modeled after a Japanese version, sells for about $10 an issue and is put out by a full staff of editors and designers from the A.D. Vision offices in Houston.
In May of 2003, the company started ADV Manga to market graphic novels (manga in Japanese). The books boast titles like "Those Who Hunt Elves" and the more popular "Full Metal Panic" about a high school girl being tracked by terrorists who believe she possesses special powers. Those novels are also priced at about $10 a pop.
The company's main priority now centers on launching a 24-hour version of the Anime Network, which was first made available to video on-demand customers. In December, local viewers could order the channel through Time Warner Cable.
The company is in discussions with several cable companies to make a linear launch either in the first or second quarter of 2004 according to Corcoran.
"We're told it's just a matter of time," he says.
Rasenberger Media President Cathy Rasenberger was hired by A.D. Vision to convince networks that a full-time anime channel will sell.
"ADV is dedicated to expanding and growing the genre across multiple platforms," says Rasenberger.
Robotic film for jaded fans
In May, ADV Films acquired the rights to produce a live-action feature version of the hugely popular anime TV series "Neon Genesis Evangelion," the tale of a reluctant young man who must pilot a gigantic robotic weapon against an alien invasion.
Working on the pre-production with ADV Films is New Zealand-based Weta Workshop Ltd., the special-effects studio behind the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
The venture doesn't mark the first time that a film featuring human actors will adapt an anime movie, but it does prove to be an aggressive move for the company says Fred Patten, an anime enthusiast and journalist known throughout the industry as an expert on the topic.
Patten says major movie studios have announced and then back-tracked on several live-action productions, and that has left hard-core anime fans skeptical.
"The fans at this point are a little jaded," says Patten.
But he is encouraged by the fact that a smaller company like A.D. Vision, which has been licensing anime already produced in Japan for release, is talking about doing its own production.
"That's impressive," says Patten.
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EarthsMightiestAdmin
1/12/2004
MSN