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Madman Entertainment in 2014 and Beyond – Interview

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Kill la Kill
Kill la Kill

As 2014 comes to a close, it is time to reflect on just how big a year this has been. It has undoubtedly been a massive year for the Australian anime industry with the rise of simulcasting / online streaming, numerous conventions with high turn-outs, a wealth of anime releases and a few other surprises and treats along the way. As I did last year, I have reached out to representatives from each of Australia’s major anime publishers with some questions about the year – and potential plans for 2015.

Madman Entertainment have managed to solidify themselves once again as the major mainstream anime publisher in the country, with a plethora of anime releases across these past 12 months, in addition to several theatrical screenings and launching Australia’s largest video-on-demand service AnimeLab. Last year I had the opportunity to interview Sylvester “Sly” Ip, Product Manager for Madman Entertainment, who shared their insight on the industry/company in 2013 and aspirations for 2014. To shake things up a little bit this year, I have been able to get some questions out to Madman’s Publicity Manager Ben Pollock, who clearly has a lot to share with everyone. Scroll down to see what Madman has to say about 2014 and beyond…

Attack on Titan
Attack on Titan

With another year in the Australian anime market under your belt, can you share a bit about how it has been for Madman Entertainment?

2014 has been an exciting, challenging and exhilarating year for us. It has seen big successes including the likes of sold out Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods theatrical screenings, the launch of AnimeLab and some seriously strong releases and acquisitions (The Wind RisesAttack on TitanKill La KillPuella Magi Madoka Magica movies, Tokyo GhoulSailor Moonto name a few) and even the return of some classics (Grave of the FirefliesNinja ScrollThe Castle of Cagliostro).

We’ve also seen rewards for hard work done. For example, whilst the reaction from fans so far has been amazing, seeing all those Limited Edition sets in the flesh (Studio Ghibli, Attack on Titan, Madoka Movies) was a thrill for us inside the business too. These types of projects reaffirm why we do what we do. We geek out as much as fans do when we get this stuff in hand. Plus, you wouldn’t believe the amount of manpower and collaboration it takes to pull them together – from licensing and approvals through to production.

We’re pretty excited to be officially getting into collectibles now too!

In terms of challenges, we’ve certainly seen a lot of strong competition this year. But it’s really great for the industry and the consumer as a whole – it pushes everything forward, offers choice and challenges the status quo.

With so many anime releases and acquisitions made this year for both home video and VOD distribution, were there any titles that have drawn in a greater than expected reception in terms of sales / public interest?

As mentioned above, the response to the Battle of Gods screenings really blew us away. We obviously know it’s still a strong and beloved property, but fans old and new came out in droves to attend these screenings, which were initially only a one day only event. We started adding extra sessions to meet demand, and eventually the film ended up playing on for a few weeks in some locations.

The launch of Attack on Titan was also an interesting case. Not accounting for those who had already sourced it through less than legal channels, we had been streaming it for free for months before a physical release – even on our old Screening Room throughout the last quarter of 2013 – and it still managed to sell incredibly well when the first collection made it to DVD & Blu-ray in June. It’s a great example of how the landscape has changed, how a wide level of awareness can factor into the success of a property on a global scale and how we are striving to offer more value, choice and timely content for local audiences, the former points specifically referring to the mix of limited edition and standard edition versions of both collections.

still_41998

This year saw Reel Anime adapted from an approximately month-long event into a series of shorter film screenings throughout the year. How do you feel these smaller screenings fared this year? Do you see this as being an approach you will adopt in later years, or can anime fans expect to possibly see the simultaneous screening of four-five films at one time as was the case in 2010, 2012, 2013 etc.

I think it was absolutely the right call, and an approach we’ll be sticking with for the foreseeable future. We may do a multi-film showcase again – a good example was the The Tale of Studio Ghibli Showcase – but to be honest with you, the mixed selection format has proven somewhat underwhelming for us in recent years. Perhaps it was too broad a selection of material for a 2-week showcase, or a mix of titles with a lack of true focus… but the success of these individual and specifically themed screenings has proven this approach to be not only more manageable for us, the cinema AND the cinema goer, but it allows us to more calendar events per year and get films and content in front of fans quicker.

One of the big announcements from Madman Entertainment this year was the new AnimeLab website. From your experience, what has the reception from the community been like so far? Can you share some of your goals or hopes for the service in 2015?

The response has been great. User feedback has been really strong so far, whilst the catalogue has expanded significantly. We’ve managed to launch an Android app and added a stack of back-catalogue and new simulcast shows. We have put in place a really strong team dedicated to the service 24/7. While I can’t offer you any major revelations just yet, I think you can continue to see it grow and evolve in 2015.

still_43362
Psycho-Pass

With 2015 almost upon us, what can fans of anime and manga expect from your team in the New Year?

Takes deep breath…* We’re kicking things off strong in January with our first theatrical event – national screenings of The Last: Naruto the Movie. It’s currently scheduled to run on 18 screens across the country, as well as a number in NZ.

Outside of AnimeLab, the traditional side of the business will continue to grow and hopefully deliver a few surprises along the way. There will be some great releases in store too, such as Sailor MoonThe Collected Works of Hayao Miyazaki, Spirited Away on Blu-ray, The Tale of the Princess KaguyaSpace Dandy and heaps more we can’t announce just yet. Plus some great live action/Eastern Eye titles in-store such as Tokyo TribeWhy Don’t You Play In Hell?Rurouni Kenshin Kyoto Inferno & The Legend Ends and Lupin the Third.

In terms of our manga offering, 2014 saw some particularly strong releases, including local debuts of Seraph of the End, Terra Formars, Sunny, Gantgsta and Kazue Kato’s Timekillers; 3-in-1 editions of Fullmetal AlchemistRanma ½ and Neon Genesis Evangelion; reissued classics – Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, 20th Century Boys and Pluto: Urasawa X Tezuka, plus, I have to mention the VIZBIG editions of Vagabond (a personal fave). Then there’s the Haikasoru range of novels (Brave Story, Mardock Scramble, Edge of Tomorrow, The Future is Japanese et al) and a slew of artbooks from Studio Ghibli and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto in Der Mond: The Art of Neon Genesis Evangelion… we anticipate 2015 will hold a similarly strong and diverse offering, including – the one and only – Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.

Finally, we have more Tamashii Nations, Banpresto and Megahouse collectables to add to the merchandise catalogue. All up, we’re pretty excited about the year ahead!

To wrap things up, if you were to personally name three favourite anime releases from 2014, what would they be?

I’m just going to go ahead and give you five. The Studio Ghibli Limited Edition sets are things of beauty, but I’m particularly fond of The Wind Rises one. And I’m beyond happy to now own Princess Mononoke and Grave of the Fireflies on Blu-ray. I’m pretty old-school in my tastes, so the return of Ninja Scroll and the arrival of the original Ghost in the Shell remastered for Blu-ray were a big deal for me

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.
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