The big boss of Production IG Mitsuhisa Ishikawa invited me over to his offices the other day. After having a chit chat with him he said that he would like to bring me to a "secret place" which has not been revealed to the public yet. That secret place turned out to be their new studios which they recently setup to soley produce movies.
The production IG studios are located in Mitaka along the Chuo Line. This is Mitaka station in the morning.
I found out from IG why most of the major animation studios are located on the Chuo Line - its because animators and producers are "loaned" to other studios for certain projects and being on the Chuo line means that its easy for them to get around.
This is why when you watch the credits for a Ghibli movie for example, you may see many other animation studio names in there too.
Then Ghibli would then loan its animators or producers to the other studios. Its the barter thing - you help me out now and I'll help you out later.
T'was the rainy season when I visited Production IG.
With Ishikawa-san - the boss of Production IG who I've been spending a lot of time with lately. Just last week we were in Malaysia together on stage at the Anime Festival Asia Malaysia.
Today we are going over a few things which include an IG project that will be revealed soon.
Cant talk about the project right now but will leave you with this:-
"Do you want to make something for the masses and sacrifice what you truly want to make?"
A difficult dilemma because when making something for the masses then recoupment of costs are guaranteed to a certain extent whereas when you make something that you really believe in, it may end up being for a niche group where recoupment of costs are uncertain.
Many folks told me that Moekana would not sell but because it was a product that I truly believed in, I went ahead to invest most of our capital into the project which turned out a great success - thanks to you!
Because you are passionate about what you truly believe in, you will always find a way.
For some reason Production IG was filming our conversation...
There is a poll embedded in this article.
To my left is Sakurai-san who is a producer at Production IG working on one of their up n coming movie titles.
Second season for LAGRANGE!
There is a poll embedded in this article.
Another title that IG worked on - Yamato 2199.
There is a poll embedded in this article.
After spending time with Ishikawa-san, Sakurai-san takes me to their new movie production studios nearby-ish.
Here Sakurai-san is working on one of their up n coming movie titles which looks great! But wont be announced for another year and a half though.
This is where they plan to have barbecue in the Summer.
Bookshelves ready to carry a ton of anime, manga and industry related books including the Worldwide Otaku Report.
They've just set up these studios which is why its so empty - will start to fill up very soon.
This is called the "Rush Room" - and if you dont know why its called that then you need to watch how anime studios make anime in the "How Anime is made" episode of Culture Japan.
The director sits in the corner facing the window - his animators sit infront of him on the other sides of the partitions.
Throughout the morning there was a fresh smell of coffee - one of the producers makes a lovely cuppa ^^
This scanner is used to scan the hand drawn sheets which are then brought into Paintman to color in.
The typical setup for an animators workspace. Any of you fancy working in the anime industry? If so why and of not why not?
Animators dont make enough to by a Porche when they first start but I dont think they expect to either. Folks who stick it out for 3 years move on to become something big according to Ishikawa-san.
When I first started out in society I did so as a waiter carrying dishes, washing dishes but mostly breaking dishes. Didn't expect to be able to buy a Porche on my initial earnings but I learned a lot on the job.
Hard work now = rewards later.
No hard work now = nothing later.
The server room also in the middle of being setup. These machines hold data shared between Production IG HQ and also do rendering too.
And this is my desk! I've been working with IG for a few months now - not as an animator though...
Sakurai-san gives advice regarding Mirai Millennium - scenario should be ready for anime and manga production later this year.
Heading out for noms.
Japanese rail crossings are gorgeous.
Cutie and beer. I dont drink though - not beer anyway.
Sushi for lunch!
Brought somebody along with me.
At station about to head back to base.
Waiting for the JR Yamanote line.
A load of prezzies from Ishikawa-san ^o^
