The previous classes featured the following guest speakers and more. This time, selected students will be pitching to a major movie studio. Previous students are now interns at publishers and more.
Previous guests:
Ash Brannon, co-director of the Hollywood animated movies “Surf’s Up” and “Toy Story 2”
Hikaru Sasahara, CEO of Digital Manga, which among many manga titles, is co-publisher of “Berserk” manga
Dallas Middaugh, Associate Editor, Del Rey manga publishing
Eric Calderon, heads creative business development for the Japanese animation studio Gonzo
Maki Terashima-Furuta, President of the U.S. subsidiary of Production I.G., Japanese anime studio
Jeremy Ross, Tokyopop, the publisher of OEL manga
Eugene Son has written for animated shows such as “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, “ATOM” and “Duel Masters”
Robert Napton of Bandai America
You may want to take this class because its a multi-billion dollar industry that has promoted and encouraged creativity throughout its history. Storytelling that is uninhibited, uncensored, and without restrictions. Its not about copying, but learning and applying where you want to your own goals, whether it is creative or business.
Why else take it? Maybe you have:
Interest in manga/anime and a curiosity as to why it is successful
A desire to create your own story and enter the industry
(for instance, besides a writer and artist, you could be an editor, executive, voice artist)
Have not found a medium that meets your needs
Like us you have a love for anime and/or manga
When should I start?
NOW – anime/manga is rapidly entering the US mainstream. It’s the fastest growth area of US fiction
publishing. Huge Hollywood movies are being made from manga and anime, like “Battle Angel Alita” ,
(James Cameron directing) “Speed Racer” (directed by the makers of “The Matrix”) and last week’s
mega-hit release “Transformers”. There are many opportunities in this industry if you can prove
your talent. Such a window of opportunity can’t last forever. What we do in this class is give you the
means to be competitive and the resources to become successful provided that you work hard and
are committed to do your best. By the time the rest of America catches on, it may be too late to have
such easy direct contact with editors and publishers available now.
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