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Interview: Danny Choo

Again, how is this different, really, from last week's "New Voice Productions"?

Akihabara is a red light district...on a low level, there's no actual sex, but its filled with maid cafes. Which are basically Japan's version of Hooters.

Akihabara is a red light district...on a low level, there's no actual sex, but its filled with maid cafes. Which are basically Japan's version of Hooters

His "production company" *self-admittedly* consists of only two people.

_V_ wrote:

Akihabara is a red light district...on a low level, there's no actual sex, but its filled with maid cafes. Which are basically Japan's version of Hooters

I suggest you go to Akiba, you wouldn't even know that there were maid cafes except for the maids out drumming up business by manding out fliers on the sidwalks.

Hell go spend an evening in Kabukicho, or if you swing that way walk over to Shinjuku 2-chome or Shinbashi. Then see if you can talk about Akiba being a red light district.

As for Danny I have a great respect for the guy, and envy for his being in the holy land making a living doing cool stuff.

Ahh...the things you read in forums.

Personally, I find the venom directed at Danny Choo to be quite perplexing as he is (IMO) a refreshing addition to the Otaku community. If I had the resources and the time, I would do the same thing. To be able to turn your fandom into a career is a blessing. I say, "Good for you, Danny!" and "Stay geeky, my friend!"

You have been involved with Otacool 1 and 2 and I want you to be involved with Chinka too. There will be scenes for you to illustrate or color in and we will feature your name in the credits. You get to have your work featured in an anime which I would say is a great opportunity for those who want to expose their work or get into the industry. More details to come. Hope you are as excited as I am!

BuffaloStyle wrote:

Ahh...the things you read in forums. Personally, I find the venom directed at Danny Choo to be quite perplexing as he is (IMO) a refreshing addition to the Otaku community. If I had the resources and the time, I would do the same thing. To be able to turn your fandom into a career is a blessing. I say, "Good for you, Danny!" and "Stay geeky, my friend!"

The venom directed at Danny Choo is not really born out of the fact that his father is/was a multi-millionaire shoe designer or that he's turned his fandom into his career. It's his methods, which come across as exploitating the enthusiasm and goodwill of people for his own personal profit.

Take a look at the Chinka announcement page at http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25524/Chinka.html . (Be careful; I have noticed that when sites critical of Danny Choo link to this article, it redirects to his motivational page or "dealing with haters" article instead. Currently that link goes to where it should, but Mr. Choo is an IT professional...). Pay attention to one of the last paragraphs:

DannyChoo.com wrote:

You have been involved with Otacool 1 and 2 and I want you to be involved with Chinka too. There will be scenes for you to illustrate or color in and we will feature your name in the credits. You get to have your work featured in an anime which I would say is a great opportunity for those who want to expose their work or get into the industry. More details to come. Hope you are as excited as I am!

Do you understand what this is saying? He's asking for fans to do animation work, and in exchange you get your name featured in the credits. It says that it "is a great opportunity for those who want to expose their work or get into the industry." It does NOT say anything about you getting paid for your work.

For reference, the "Otacool 1 and 2" books he mentioned are two picture books that he published. The details of both of those are here:

http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25279/Otacool.html
http://www.dannychoo.com/post/en/25358/Otacool+2+Submissions+Open.html

These two books--the site promises a third in the works--were labeled "consumer generated media" and came about by the following process:

• You send Danny Choo your photographs in high resolution with no watermarks [because a watermark implies someone else owns it]
  
• Danny Choo compiles the images and releases the book. In exchange, you get no monetary compensation...but he does!
  
• Oh yeah, the book needs other artwork too! Well, if you just send in your artwork and character designs for it..."your character design will likely gain popularity throughout the otakusphere globally - meaning that once your work has been recognized, you should expect more commission work especially from Japanese companies."

Do you see the pattern here? He has released books for which other people took the photographs and did the artwork for without being paid to do so, on the promise that doing so is a way to get your foot into the Japanese anime/manga industry. The majority of the actual WORK was not done by him, yet he gets the actual money and can now market himself to the public as a published author. This helps establish a media narrative that he is an credible authority figure. Now he is doing work on an animated series for which some unspecified portion of it is going to be produced in similar fashion. Should that come to pass, he will then be able to market himself as a producer and bona fide member of the anime industry. He'll also be the one collecting the profits on the merchandising and DVD/Blu-Ray sales.

As Levar Burton famously said, you don't have to take MY word for it. Go actually click on those links. Read them yourself. Don't just skim. Then read the other portions of his site related to how he also wants 3D modelers. Notice how none of these "job listings" make any mention of salary, hourly wage, or benefits. Notice that they don't even imply that such things exist and just aren't listed on the page. It's not that I am fundamentally opposed to doing work without pay on certain projects. But if I'm not getting paid for a project, then nobody had better be getting paid. If a small group of people at the top are collecting a check off of the efforts of unpaid volunteers, that to me is exploitation.

Danny Choo is a master of commercial marketing and promotion with easy access to people who've made millions of dollars in the culture/fashion industry. He knows exactly what he is doing. He himself is quite well-off in his own right, and he knows that there are tons of people whose dream it is to work in Japan. He is nefariously taking advantage of these people while simultaneously convincing them all that he's really just doing them a favor. To achieve this, he romanticizes Japan as an otaku Mecca, then sells people on that image. "I'm the nerd living his dream as a Stormtrooper in Japan...AND YOU CAN TOO! Keep reading to find out how!" Everyone who ever was a hard-line pusher of the "Cool Japan" narrative has been someone who's got a book to sell or some other such product.

I'm let down that this interview made no attempt whatsoever to directly confront Danny on these concerns. Granted, his marketing and PR acumen is at a level not typically seen in the US anime industry (Tokyopop's the closest to emulating his methods), and so he would undoubtedly expertly deflect the question with a non-answer. But I do feel this is a legitimate concern people need to bring up more when discussing Danny Choo.

Maybe those FANS send him their works out of their APPRECIATION. I mean just like some websites ask for donation from their visitors. As someone who frequently visits and enjoy the pretty photos on his site I would like to give something in return. I don't see anything wrong with that.