GKIDS Lands Catalog of Renowned Oscar-Nominated Director Mamoru Hosoda
GKIDS LANDS FILM CATALOG OF RENOWNED, OSCAR®-NOMINATED DIRECTOR MAMORU HOSODA; BECOMES HOME TO ALL HOSODA'S STUDIO CHIZU TITLES
THE DEAL INCLUDES:
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
Summer Wars (2009)
Wolf Children (2012)
The Boy and The Beast (2015)
Titles Join the Academy Award®- and Golden Globe-Nominated Mirai (2018), and BELLE (2021) in the GKIDS Catalog
NEW YORK (March 18, 2024) – GKIDS, the Academy Award®-winning distributor of artist-driven and award-winning animation from around the world, announced today it has acquired the North American distribution rights to the entire film catalog of award-winning director Mamoru Hosoda, internationally renowned for critically acclaimed animated feature films such as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Wolf Children. GKIDS previously released the Academy Award®- and Golden Globe-nominated Mirai (2018), and the critically lauded BELLE (2021), which became Hosoda's highest grossing film to date in North America. Both films made their respective world premieres at the Cannes Film Festival. The director Mamoru Hosoda's six features have all been nominated for, and five have been awarded, the Japan Academy Prize for “Animation of the Year.” Hosoda remains the only Japanese animation director outside of the famed Studio Ghibli to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature. Studio Chizu's catalog is represented internationally by CHARADES, and the deal was negotiated between Eric Beckman at GKIDS and Yohann Comte and Carole Baraton at CHARADES on behalf of Studio Chizu.
Summer Wars and Wolf Children will enter GKIDS' catalog immediately, while The Boy and The Beast and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time will enter the catalog next year. With this deal, GKIDS is committed to expanding the reach and furthering the brand of Studio Chizu and director Hosoda by bringing these titles to the North American audience in renewed ways. As a start, the films will receive new theatrical and home entertainment releases highlighting Mamoru Hosoda's unique artistry, with further details forthcoming.
“One of GKIDS' earliest distribution projects was the theatrical release of Summer Wars, when Mamoru Hosoda had already cemented his position as one of the most exciting animation directors,” said GKIDS' President David Jesteadt. “We were honored to deepen our relationship with the release of his two latest films, Mirai and BELLE, and are excited to now be able to showcase the full breadth of Hosoda's ambitious storytelling across his film catalog, featuring some of the most acclaimed and successful Japanese animated films of all time.”
www.HosodaCollection.com
ABOUT GKIDS
GKIDS is the Academy Award-winning producer and distributor of artist-driven and award-winning animation from around the world. After an astounding 13 Best Animated Feature nominations, the company took home the Oscar in 2024 for Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's acclaimed feature, The Boy and the Heron. The company's previous nominations include The Secret of Kells in 2010, A Cat in Paris and CHiCO & Rita in 2012, Ernest & Celestine in 2014, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya and Song of the Sea in 2015, Boy and the World and When Marnie Was There in 2016, My Life as a Zucchini in 2017, The Breadwinner in 2018, Mirai in 2019, Wolfwalkers in 2021, and The Boy and the Heron in 2024. For more than a decade, GKIDS' influence on cinema has redefined the perception of animation as an artistic medium on par with live-action film through its stewardship of the Studio Ghibli catalog and by introducing American audiences to the critically-acclaimed films of other master filmmakers from around the world such as Mamoru Hosoda (Mirai, BELLE), Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells, Wolfwalkers), Benjamin Renner (Ernest & Celestine), Makoto Shinkai (Weathering With You), Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner), Alberto Vázquez (Unicorn Wars) and Masaaki Yuasa (INU-OH, The Night is Short Walk On, Girl), among countless others. Also, GKIDS is the founder and host of ANIMATION IS FILM, the annual LA-based film festival which embraces the highest aspirations of animation as a cinematic art form, and is a vocal advocate for filmmakers who push the boundaries of the medium to its fullest range of artistic expressions. www.GKIDS.com
ABOUT STUDIO CHIZU
Studio Chizu is Director Mamoru Hosoda's headquarters that was established during the production of Wolf Children. Director Hosoda gave the studio its name, Chizu ("map" in Japanese). The main characters in Hosoda films possess a vitality and life force for choosing and cultivating a future of one's own free will. Studio Chizu's logo manifests that exuberance and energy. Director Hosoda's philosophy of movies is that "they should serve the public like a park where many people gather," and the logo uses "minchotai," a font favored by many newspapers and books. Studio Chizu is a place that embraces Director Hosoda's thoughts and philosophies on movies and is his works themselves. We at Studio Chizu will keep such thoughts and philosophies in mind and remain sharp and resolute in our production of animation films that children and adults can enjoy together.
THE DEAL INCLUDES:
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)
Summer Wars (2009)
Wolf Children (2012)
The Boy and The Beast (2015)
Titles Join the Academy Award®- and Golden Globe-Nominated Mirai (2018), and BELLE (2021) in the GKIDS Catalog
NEW YORK (March 18, 2024) – GKIDS, the Academy Award®-winning distributor of artist-driven and award-winning animation from around the world, announced today it has acquired the North American distribution rights to the entire film catalog of award-winning director Mamoru Hosoda, internationally renowned for critically acclaimed animated feature films such as The Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Wolf Children. GKIDS previously released the Academy Award®- and Golden Globe-nominated Mirai (2018), and the critically lauded BELLE (2021), which became Hosoda's highest grossing film to date in North America. Both films made their respective world premieres at the Cannes Film Festival. The director Mamoru Hosoda's six features have all been nominated for, and five have been awarded, the Japan Academy Prize for “Animation of the Year.” Hosoda remains the only Japanese animation director outside of the famed Studio Ghibli to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature. Studio Chizu's catalog is represented internationally by CHARADES, and the deal was negotiated between Eric Beckman at GKIDS and Yohann Comte and Carole Baraton at CHARADES on behalf of Studio Chizu.
Summer Wars and Wolf Children will enter GKIDS' catalog immediately, while The Boy and The Beast and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time will enter the catalog next year. With this deal, GKIDS is committed to expanding the reach and furthering the brand of Studio Chizu and director Hosoda by bringing these titles to the North American audience in renewed ways. As a start, the films will receive new theatrical and home entertainment releases highlighting Mamoru Hosoda's unique artistry, with further details forthcoming.
“One of GKIDS' earliest distribution projects was the theatrical release of Summer Wars, when Mamoru Hosoda had already cemented his position as one of the most exciting animation directors,” said GKIDS' President David Jesteadt. “We were honored to deepen our relationship with the release of his two latest films, Mirai and BELLE, and are excited to now be able to showcase the full breadth of Hosoda's ambitious storytelling across his film catalog, featuring some of the most acclaimed and successful Japanese animated films of all time.”
www.HosodaCollection.com
ABOUT GKIDS
GKIDS is the Academy Award-winning producer and distributor of artist-driven and award-winning animation from around the world. After an astounding 13 Best Animated Feature nominations, the company took home the Oscar in 2024 for Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli's acclaimed feature, The Boy and the Heron. The company's previous nominations include The Secret of Kells in 2010, A Cat in Paris and CHiCO & Rita in 2012, Ernest & Celestine in 2014, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya and Song of the Sea in 2015, Boy and the World and When Marnie Was There in 2016, My Life as a Zucchini in 2017, The Breadwinner in 2018, Mirai in 2019, Wolfwalkers in 2021, and The Boy and the Heron in 2024. For more than a decade, GKIDS' influence on cinema has redefined the perception of animation as an artistic medium on par with live-action film through its stewardship of the Studio Ghibli catalog and by introducing American audiences to the critically-acclaimed films of other master filmmakers from around the world such as Mamoru Hosoda (Mirai, BELLE), Tomm Moore (The Secret of Kells, Wolfwalkers), Benjamin Renner (Ernest & Celestine), Makoto Shinkai (Weathering With You), Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner), Alberto Vázquez (Unicorn Wars) and Masaaki Yuasa (INU-OH, The Night is Short Walk On, Girl), among countless others. Also, GKIDS is the founder and host of ANIMATION IS FILM, the annual LA-based film festival which embraces the highest aspirations of animation as a cinematic art form, and is a vocal advocate for filmmakers who push the boundaries of the medium to its fullest range of artistic expressions. www.GKIDS.com
ABOUT STUDIO CHIZU
Studio Chizu is Director Mamoru Hosoda's headquarters that was established during the production of Wolf Children. Director Hosoda gave the studio its name, Chizu ("map" in Japanese). The main characters in Hosoda films possess a vitality and life force for choosing and cultivating a future of one's own free will. Studio Chizu's logo manifests that exuberance and energy. Director Hosoda's philosophy of movies is that "they should serve the public like a park where many people gather," and the logo uses "minchotai," a font favored by many newspapers and books. Studio Chizu is a place that embraces Director Hosoda's thoughts and philosophies on movies and is his works themselves. We at Studio Chizu will keep such thoughts and philosophies in mind and remain sharp and resolute in our production of animation films that children and adults can enjoy together.
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