TIFFCOM Market Opens at Tokyo Fest With Record Exhibitors...

The UniJapan Entertainment Forum got into full swing Monday as the focus at the Tokyo International Film Festival shifted to business.

TOKYO -- The TIFFCOM market opened its high-rise doors Monday, as the UniJapan Entertainment Forum got into full swing and the focus at the Tokyo International Film Festival shifted to business.
With tourism way down post-Fukushima, and some entertainment artists still avoiding Japanese tours, many market participants expressed pleasant surprise at the record 226 exhibitors and overall traffic at TIFFCOM. 

"The turnout is really good. We were worried whether people from overseas were going to come. It's good to see the support for Japan," said one local exhibitor.
The U.K. was one of the new country pavilions, with eight companies, including BBC Worldwide, under the Pact (Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television) umbrella.
"Markets like the U.S. are already well exploited, but Japan is still relatively untapped for many of our member companies," said Dawn McCarthy-Simpson, senior policy executive at Pact, who reported there were 27 applications for the eight pavilion slots.
The expanded booth spaces at TIFFCOM were all taken and foot traffic was typically brisk for a first market day. However, there were gripes about the rearrangement of the market layout on the 40th floor of the Roppongi Hills tower.
"There's a new company doing the organizing this year, and there have been a lot of mix-ups with screenings, badges, stuff like that. And the tables in the aisles that we used to use all the time for meetings are gone. Compared to many markets, it's still well organized, but not to Japanese standards," said another exhibitor who asked not to be identified.
For many buyers and sellers, Tokyo has become the middle section of a Busan-TIFFCOM-American Film Market triple, during which prolonged negotiations take place.
Meanwhile, the UniJapan Entertainment Forum has expanded rapidly in its first few years and is now billed by organizers as Asia's largest. With one seminar kicking off proceedings Sunday, things stepped up a gear Tuesday as four seminars took place across the 40th and 49th floors.
"Promoting and Protecting the On-Line Distribution of Films and TV Content in China" was packed beyond capacity as a six-member panel from China, Korea and the U.S. discussed how to tap the fast-growing market and the threats from piracy.
Lucia Rangel, head of anti-piracy for Asia-Pacific and Latin America at Warner Bros. spoke about how her company had cooperated with illegal file-sharing sites to turn them into legitimate partners and revenue providers. Zhu Huilong, vp of one of those former pirate sites, Youku, was now a fellow panelist at the event.
Nearly 50 floors below the seminars and negotiations, legendary actress Kyoko Kagawa was being feted for her long career and recent award from the International Federation of Film Archives. Kagawa appeared in the films of Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, Naruse and Ozu during the golden age of Japanese cinema in the 1950s.
"Seeing the remastered version of Chikamatsu Monogatari [A Story from Chikamatsu by Kenji Mizoguchi, 1954] -- which was one of the toughest films for me to make -- filled me with joy," said Kagawa.
A retrospective of Kagawa's films is being screened during the fest.

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Hulu to Launch in Japan...

UPDATED: Content deal includes "CSI" franchise and marks the streaming firm's first overseas expansion.

TOKYO – Hulu will launch its first international operations with a subscription service in Japan, offering streaming of CBS shows, such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI Miami, CSINY, NICS and 90210, under a content deal with CBS Corp..

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The ad-free service will allow unlimited access to movies and a library of shows, including Numb3rs, Star Trek and Twin Peaks, for 1,480 yen ($19) per month from web-connected TVs, game consoles, Blu-ray players, smartphones, tablets and PC's "With the launch in Japan, Hulu is focused on adding meaningfully to the entertainment choices available to Japanese consumers, while providing a valuable new channel for distribution, increased consumer reach and incremental monetization for our premium content partners," said Johannes Larcher, SVP of international for Hulu.

Hulu announced in August that its first overseas operation would be in Japan, and opened an office in Tokyo, though no further details were given at the time.

"We're thrilled to have CBS's world class content be part of Hulu's first international market and their new venture in Japan," said Armando Nuñez, president, CBS Studios International.

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Hulu announces plans to launch service in Japan...

Hulu plans to expand its reach into Japan.

On Wednesday, Hulu, the popular online video site, said it would ramp up its international expansion later this year by offering a monthly subscription service in Japan.

Hulu declined to say how much it would charge for the service, or how its program line-up might be different from its free Hulu site or its recently introduced $7.99 a month Hulu Plus subscription service available in the U.S. Those details would be revealed closer to launch, a company spokeswoman said.

"Since the very beginning of Hulu, we have had our aspirations firmly set on serving audiences around the globe," Johannes Larcher, the company's senior vice president in charge of international, said in a company blog post.

"In Japan, we also see an unfulfilled market need with respect to premium feature film and TV content, and very favorable environmental factors to a service like ours, including extensive broadband penetration, smart phone and other internet-connected device ubiquity, and strong consumer interest," Larcher said.

Hulu also is dipping its toe into original productions. On Aug. 17, it plans to unveil a documentary series -- exclusive to Hulu -- called "A Day in the Life" and produced by Morgan Spurlock, the filmmaker behind "Super Size Me" and "The Greatest Movie Ever Sold."

In "A Day in the Life," Spurlock spends 24 hours following interesting personalities, including British business mogul Richard Branson, rapper and songwriter will.i.am and comedian Russell Peters.

The company is hoping to make itself attractive to possible investors. The owners of Hulu -- Walt Disney Co., News Corp., NBCUniversal and Providence Equity Partners -- are quietly shopping the 3-year-old service to strategic partners, including Amazon.com Inc., Yahoo Inc., Google Inc. and Apple Inc.

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What Hollywood Is Doing to Help Japan...

Several media companies and talent agencies -- as well as celebrities including Lady Gaga and Katy Perry -- have announced humanitarian aid programs for the beleaguered country.
In the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, a bevy of entertainment companies have announced humanitarian aid programs for the beleaguered country.
The support ranges from direct charitable giving and donations of supplies to programs that match company employees' charitable giving.
For many of the studios, the March 11 disaster and ensuing nuclear crisis hits close to home. Disney, for example, is a partner in Tokyo Disneyland, which remains shuttered pending safety inspections. And Sony Corp., the parent of Sony Pictures Entertainment, is based in Japan.
"Sony Pictures has a strong presence in Japan, as does Sony itself, and we know directly from our colleagues there how serious this crisis is for the country, and how urgent is the need for assistance," says Janice Pober, senior vp global corporate social responsibility at Sony Pictures.
While countless film, television and music stars have taken to Twitter and other outlets to urge their fans to give, a handful have gotten in on the act themselves. Lady Gaga, for example, has pledged to donate the proceeds of "We pray for Japan" bracelets to relief efforts. She announced on the microblogging site March 14 that her effort had so far raised $250,000. And singer Katy Perry announced March 15 that she was donating proceeds from the sale of light-up wands on her current tour to the Japanese Red Cross Society.
Here's a rundown of how entertainment companies are coming to the aid of Japan:

-- Sony has given roughly $3.6 million to relief efforts, in addition to the donation of 30,000 radios and 500,000 batteries. The company also is establishing a matching gift program. It's worth noting that the hardest-hit Tohoku region is important for Sony, which maintains manufacturing facilities in the area.

-- Disney has said it will donate $2.5 million to the American Red Cross to support aid efforts. It will also match employee donations to the Japanese Red Cross, Pacific Tsunami Fund and Save the Children, up to $1 million total.

-- Warner Bros. has said that proceeds of the sale of the DVD and Blu-ray versions of Hereafter will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross. The donation will reportedly be in the $1 million range. (Hereafter, which opens with a re-creation of the destructive 2004 tsunami in Thailand, was pulled from theaters by Warners in the aftermath of the Japan disaster). Further plans for aid to Japan are said to be in the works.

-- NBCUniversal has a handful of aid programs in place. The company's Asian Pacific Americans Affinity group co-hosted with NBC Los Angeles a fundraiser at Dodger Stadium on March 15. The event raised $558,347 for the American Red Cross. And the Asian Pacific Americans Affinity group is partnering with restaurants in New York on March 23 for a fundraiser that will see participating eateries donate about 5% of sales to the Red Cross. NBCUniversal is also planning donate $500,000 to the Red Cross. Meanwhile, parent company Comcast is providing free calls to Japan through April 10 for its Xfinity Voice and Business Class Voice customers.

-- Viacom is matching employees' contributions to the Red Cross. All Viacom entities, including Paramount and MTV Networks, may participate in the program. There is no cap on what the company will match.

-- News Corp. has yet to finalize is charitable giving plans, though it has encouraged employees to donate to three organizations that the company supports through its FoxGives charity program. Those three groups, Doctors Without Borders, Real Medicine and Save the Children, are all working on disaster relief in Japan.

-- Several talent agencies have or are planning to contribute to aid efforts. Paradigm is matching its employees' donations to the Red Cross; UTA's foundation co-hosted with the American Red Cross a disaster preparedness briefing at the Red Cross headquarters in Los Angeles on March 15 (and several UTA employees are running in this month's Los Angeles Marathon to raise money for the Red Cross in support of aid to the victims); ICM and APA have or will donate undisclosed sums to the organization; and CAA is making donations of undisclosed amounts to several aid organizations.
Entertainment companies aren't alone in their support. Big donations have come from the likes of Dow Chemical Co., which has pledged up to $6 million in aid; JPMorgan Chase, which is making a $5 million donation; and Boeing Co., which has pledged $2 million.

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