Netflix Brings Positive Change to Anime Industry, Toei Animation Studio Executive Says
Making an anime show is still a process that relies on the painstaking labor of animators, who are overworked and severely underpaid in a lot of cases. The surge in demand for streaming services, Netflix being at the forefront, looks to be turning things around.
The streaming giant is hungry for TV content, so much so that it is spending $8 billion to create new shows, the bulk of which is made up of 30 new anime series. The demand, along with the accompanying funding, has given animation studios and animators, in general, more financial freedom.
Creative freedom has improved as a result, as well, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The sum that Netflix is offering animation studios in Japan is reportedly much larger than the typically small sums offered by domestic TV studios.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
It is these severely tight budgets, as dictated by the TV networks who, until now, have been the sole avenue of airing these shows, led to the deplorable conditions in many studios. Called "black companies," Japanese media has outed some companies of the very low wages they pay to junior animators.
Joseph Chou, producer for Toei Animation that is working on the "Knights of the Zodiac: Saint Seiya"series for Netflix, called out these TV stations. "Lately the media has been bashing the anime industry over working conditions; the TV stations have been reporting on it, but they're a big culprit," he said.
"Netflix is restoring it to a sane business model. You're looking at maybe a 15 percent margin rather than a 5 percent loss," Chou added. Studios often go in the red after a local TV season, where they try to make up with DVD sales and merchandise after they get the much-needed coverage.
Now, animation studios have more options than ever, with Netflix, Crunchyroll, Amazon and Apple all racing to book the top makers. "They're all scrambling to meet with everybody, but Netflix is the most aggressive," Chou said.
"It's not a bonanza or a bubble yet, but nearly all the studios are full booked until 2020," he added. That could only mean more good things to come for the anime industry in the next few years.
