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Shonen Jump+ Storyboarding App World Maker, Toho Launch Short Film Contest
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
World Maker, the storyboarding app service for Shueisha's Shonen Jump+ imprint, launched a short film contest with film studio TOHO on Wednesday.
Contestants must submit their storyboards, created through World Maker, for a short of 10 minutes or less. The grand prize winner will receive a 500,000-yen (about US$3,300) cash prize and their storyboards will be turned into a live-action short film by TOHO. Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kong: Skull Island, planned live-action Hollywood Gundam film) is judging the submissions alongside the editorial staff of Shonen Jump+. The contest will accept submissions until November 12.
The World Maker app launched on July 12. The app lets users ("even those who can't draw") create thumbnail layouts for manga or storyboards for animation, live-action shows, movies, and commercials. To create a manga's draft thumbnails in the service, the user drafts the page layouts (or use the provided templates), adjusts and drops in the provided characters and other graphic elements, enters dialogue, adds effects, and then releases the final results.
The staff claims that the app can also machine-translate the thumbnails and storyboards into 17 languages including English, Chinese, Korean, and French. Users can then share the results online for others to follow and comment.
World Maker is also holding the "World Maker Manga Contest" for thumbnails created with the app. The contest is accepting applications from August 1 to October 1. The grand prize winner will get their manga drawn by Taishi Tsutsui (We Never Learn) for release on Shonen Jump+. The winner will also get a 500,000 yen (about US$3,300) cash prize.
Aside from the World Maker Manga Contest, Shonen Jump+ and Netflix will co-sponsor the World Maker Anime Contest.
Sources: World Maker Twitter account, Comic Natalie
