MAHO FILM's President Junji Murata on Creating a Better Anime Studio
by Richard Eisenbeis,
Junji Murata is an industry veteran. “I've been working in the anime industry for about 25 years,” he began. “In terms of my career, I graduated from a regular university, got a regular job, went to art school, and then I entered this industry.” His educational background lets him see both sides of the anime industry, or as he puts it: “I am a producer who understands art.”
The creation of MAHO FILM was in response to problems at the studio he previously worked at. “Everyone had to leave. Since it was all people I had been mentoring, I took them with me and we all decided to go independent.” This allowed Murata and his coworkers to address the problems they'd been forced to deal with over the years. “We've been trying to improve things by providing good wages to all the staff, providing a stable working environment, and holding various [internal company] events,” Murata boasted. “So now that we've become an independent company that can do these things, I make sure we do them.”
To put it another way, MAHO FILM is Murata's attempt at creating an ideal anime studio. This goal isn't exactly subtle—after all, MAHO FILM translates to “Magic Film” in English. “One reason [for our name] is that we want to create fun, dream-like works—and there's also another meaning to that 'magic.'” Murata explained. “We believe that a company belongs to all of its employees. So, our corporate philosophy is that we want to be a company where everyone can have fun, work hard, and continue to create.”
One aspect that sets MAHO FILM apart is its animation staff. Not only are the animators all full-time employees, but the studio is only interested in hiring and investing in young talent. “We don't hire mid-career employees—and the ones we do have are veterans who said they wanted to join because of their connection to me. Everyone else has graduated from a vocational school, university, art school, or other regular university—and some of them are just people who drew as a hobby,” Murata told me. “So we teach those who don't know how to make animation and we continue to mentor them. That's how they get better and move on to various positions [within the company]. And the more people we have, the better and more stable our production system becomes.”
Of course, with a total staff of just over sixty members, MAHO FILM often has to work with other companies to produce anime. According to Murata, many of these are outside of Japan: “Nowadays, we mainly need a lot of people for in-betweens—not keyframe animation—so that's why we often get help from companies overseas. In the past, it was mostly Korea but now we have a lot of companies from across Asia—including China, Vietnam, and the Philippines—helping us out.”
“Another thing to remember is that the production period, from starting the script to delivery—from greenlight to completion—takes about three years,” Murata continued. “I think we're doing about 2.5 projects a year—not including live-action projects [we're involved in]. We're trying to do everything just right without lowering the quality. We're also making sure to incorporate mandatory vacations. Our current number of projects is just right for our current staff number.”
One other aspect that sets MAHO FILM apart is the production schedule. “We are a company where most of our anime are already completed in full before broadcasting begins,” Murata explained. “Depending on the anime, delivery can be completed three months in advance—and for some anime, it is completed even earlier. In the meantime, while the anime is being completed, they do dubbing and various other things to sell the anime overseas.”
“We mainly make anime that we want people all over the world to see,” Murata was quick to note on the topic of international distribution. While MAHO FILM wants their anime to be popular worldwide, they don't simply pick properties with overseas fame to adapt. It's a bit more nuanced than that: “I look at it from the perspective of whether it's likely to sell overseas or whether people overseas will watch it. Whether [the IP] is popular at the moment isn't what's most important; it's if it's fun or not.”
When it comes to airing a series abroad, there is no set route. “There are occasions when a foreign distribution company joins the production committee and we work together,” Murata told me. “But when we sell an anime overseas, it's often the case that we sell it to a distribution company.”
“We want to keep releasing fun, surprising, and thrilling anime. I hope everyone will enjoy them.” Murata said, thinking about the future of the company, “And as the quality of our animation becomes more stable, we will continue to expand—and the number of titles we produce will also increase.”
discuss this in the forum (4 posts) |
