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Shonen Jump+ Storyboarding App World Maker & Netflix Launch Anime-Making Contest
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
World Maker, the storyboarding app service for Shueisha's Shonen Jump+ imprint, launched a short anime film contest with Netflix 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 an anime by Netflix. The contest will accept submissions until January 8. Only original works may be submitted, with the contest accepting stories, illustrations, and characters that have previously not appeared in a commercial work.
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. According to the staff, over 20,000 users have created about 37,000 works in the three months since the app's launch.
World Maker also held the "World Maker Manga Contest" for thumbnails created with the app. The contest accepted 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.
Similarly, World Maker is also holding a separate short film contest with TOHO, which is accepting applications from September 13 to November 12. 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+.
Sources: World Maker website, Comic Natalie
