New People Entertainment And The Japan Foundation Combine Comedy And A Useful Look At Japanese Culture For The Release Of Happy Family Plan

As part of J Cinema Project by The Japan Foundation, Sydney, Film Comedy About A Japanese Family Trying To Win A Quirky Game Show Comes With A Useful Language Resource Disc That Teaches Handy Expressions And Offers Insights Into Japanese Culture And Customs

San Francisco, CA – September 12, 2012– NEW PEOPLE Entertainment, a film division of NEW PEOPLE, Inc. that focuses on the licensing and distribution of Japanese films and media, partners with The Japan Foundation, Sydney to invite audiences to enjoy Japanese cinema on a whole new level with the North American release of Happy Family Plan on DVD on September 17th.

Happy Family Plan has been released as the first title of “J Cinema Project,” a unique educational campaign to provide enhanced resources to learn about Japanese language and culture through film. The Happy Family Plan release contains the feature film as well as Japanese language resource kit as bonus-disc produced by The Japan Foundation, Sydney. The Japan Foundation, Sydney has teamed with NEW PEOPLE Entertainment to make the film available in U.S. For more details, visit www.HappyFamilyPlan.com

The Happy Family Plan release follows the comedic exploits of a family trying to win big on a quirky Japanese game show and also includes a special bonus language disc that can be used as a handy resource for learning about Japanese culture and language. Happy Family Plan will carry an MSRP of $29.99. DVD is now available at NEW PEOPLE the Store (store.newpeopleworld.com/HFP01.html), Amazon (www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00948K4BY), and other retail outlets.

Director Tsutomu Abe's hilarious comedy follows a dysfunctional Japanese family that is selected to compete on a popular game show called the Happy Family Plan. The prize is an irresistible 3 million Yen but the challenge that looms ahead is next to impossible. A clumsy tone-deaf father named Fujio is expected to learn and play the song “Home Sweet Home” on the piano, live on national TV, in just 7 days. With the family in complete disarray, the pressure to succeed is overwhelming. In times of economic uncertainty, Fujio completing this insurmountable task is the family's only hope! Will he succeed?

The Happy Family Plan DVD release also includes an easy-to-use Japanese language resource disc. Presented in a fun Japanese game show style, two lively hosts take viewers on a basic walk through Japanese culture and offer handy expressions, phrases and useful vocabulary, and explain key cultural customs. The educational aspects continue with expert commentary from two social academics that discuss various issues faced by modern Japanese society such as fatherhood and family, work, relationships and school culture.

Audiences and educators are encouraged to also visit www.HappyFamilyPlan.com for easy access to a variety of fun games and puzzles based on scenes from the film, interactive quizzes, downloadable worksheets, suitable for classroom and general use, and several other useful materials for Japanese language and cultural learning.

“We are excited about partnering with NEW PEOPLE to release Happy Family Plan in the U.S.,” says Masafumi Konomi, Executive Producer of the J Cinema Project from The Japan Foundation, Sydney, “This is a unique and long term project to educate people who are willing to learn Japanese through enjoying the film but of course this film is a great entertainment to general audience as well.”


About The Japan Foundation:
The Japan Foundation is an independent administrative institution whose purpose is to promote international cultural exchange and mutual understanding between Japan and overseas countries. The Japan Foundation provides a wide range of programs relating to the exchange of persons, support for Japanese Studies and Japanese-language instruction, exchanges in the arts, and assistance for media-related projects such as publications, translations, and film or video productions. The Japan Foundation is headquartered in Tokyo with 22 offices overseas in 21 countries. More information is available at: www.jflalc.org.

About NEW PEOPLE, Inc.
Based in San Francisco, California, NEW PEOPLE, Inc. (www.newpeopleworld.com) offers the latest films, art, fashion and retail brands from Japan through its unique entertainment destination as well as through licensing and distribution of selective Japanese films. NEW PEOPLE Entertainment (www.newpeopleent.com), a film division of NEW PEOPLE, Inc. strives to offer the most entertaining motion pictures straight from the "Kingdom of Pop" for audiences of all ages, especially the manga and Anime Generation, in North America. Some titles include DEATH NOTE, GANTZ, KAMIKAZE GIRLS, and THE TASTE OF TEA.