2006
2005
Establishment of LLP for Producing Animation Projects in Hollywood.
"First Time LLP Gets Utilized for a Contents Development Committee in Japan"
This is to announce that Think Corp. (Minato-ku, Tokyo. CEO: Yuji Mori) and CoMixWave Inc. (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. CEO: Hiroaki Takeuchi ne Yutaka Takeuchi) have established together a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) as a contents development committee on August 1st, the day of the implementation of the LLP law.

The organization is called Japanimation Partners Limited Liability Partnership. This LLP has been established as an operating body (or contents development committee) for Japanese animation productions. Production titles include animation projects based on popular Hollywood movie series planned to come out in 2007. And animated version will be released before the movie. It is the first case in Japan to utilize LLP as a contents development committee.

  • Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

    LLP is the institution established for a corporate structure to support contents development, funds operation, and consulting on commercial basis. In Europe and the United States, institutions for partnership have been developed to settle basis for contents creators like producers and movie directors. To establish contents business in Japan, LLP has been introduced on Aug. 1st. It would encourage not only big companies but also medium and small sized companies and creators to enter into contents business.
  • LLP as contents development committee

    For financing of budget, planning, production, and management of copyrights, contents development committee had been adopted to utilize a system of spontaneous partnership. Before, the qualifications were solely for professional traders. And production companies who took charge of production could not take part in the contents development committee, thus gaining no incentive fees but only production costs.

    But with LLP's characteristics: 1) limited liability 2) self-government 3) taxation on members, it is possible to enable non-anime-oriented companies to join in on the contents development committee, and production companies to gain incentive fees according to their contribution to the projects. LLP realizes the participation of a wide range of people, and an economic structure benefiting each participator.

    This LLP is innovative because it can be applied to contents development committee and it also enables overseas company to participate in the business.

  • The projects produced by Japanimation Partners LLP

    This LLP will produce an animation project based on popular Hollywood movie series whose latest title is planned to come out. And the animation version is to be released before the movie. Its production cost would be about 900,000,000 yen in total. It will take a form of an anthology consisting of a few short stories of 10-20 minutes, and based on screenplays co-produced by a movie company of Hollywood. This LLP takes charge of financing of budget, planning, and arrangement for production in Japan. And the movie company of Hollywood takes charge of distribution. This scheme of co-producing has never been challenged in Japan before.

    The producer on the Japan side is Hiroaki Takeuchi, who produced "Animatrixh (Warner Homevideo), an animation anthology of famous sci-fi action "Matrix." Teaming up with Hollywood, and adopting up-and-coming animation directors from Japan, Korea, France, and the United States, he is going to produce a cutting-edge animation that will show us various animation techniques.

【 Company profiles 】
  • Think Corp.

    Yuji Mori became CEO in the spring of 2005. Having worked for Microsoft Corporation and McKinsey & Company, he has wide experience in business development. He started development, investment, and supervision of visual art contents like animation, computer graphics in addition to existing business of web system development. Possessing a global view and a creator-like mind, he has been taking notice of the possibilities of LLP in the field of contents business, and made presentations about the utilization of LLP at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry sponsored contents business symposiums. He plans to set up innovative investing funds for contents business.

    Address: Holland-Hills-Mori-Tower RoP 708, Toranomon 5-11-1, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Year of foundation: 1988

    Description of business: Designing and production of web contents. Investment and production of animations and computer graphics (since spring of 2005).

    URL: http://www.think. ne.jp/

  • CoMixWave Inc.

    Address: Ohashi-bldg. 6F, Yoyogi 1-59-1, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Year of foundation: 1998

    Description of business: Planning, development, distribution of manga/anime-related product. Management of copyrights. Supervision of animations. Has experience of production management of international projects like "Animatrix". Scouting and fostering promising new animation creators.

    URL: http://www.comixwave.com/

【 For further information please contact 】

Think Corp.
Business Development & Investment Section
Contact person : Takahashi
TEL : +81-3-5405-3774
e-mail : press@think.ne.jp