At this year’s Marché du Film at the Cannes film festival, it would be no exaggeration to say that Japanese content and creators were everywhere you turned.
Designated ‘Country of Honour’ at the market, Japan was involved in a slew of panels, workshops and labs; played a prominent role in Cannes flagship programs, including Cannes Animation, Co-Production Day, and Producers Network; and also launched the Japan IP Market, a three-day initiative co-hosted by the Marché and Japan’s leading contents market TIFFCOM.
The Marché decided to shine a spotlight on Japan in recognition of the strength of its content and intellectual property (IP), as well as recent efforts – by the Japanese government, local studios, and independent filmmakers and producers – to engage with the rest of the world. As Deadline noted at TIFFCOM two years ago, Japan was once reliant on its huge domestic market, but is now actively seeking co-production, collaboration and exports, focusing its efforts on North and South America, Europe, and the rest of Asia.
All these efforts are being supported by the Japanese government, which last year launched the ‘Content Industry Growth Investment Support Program’, branded as IP360, which aims to expand overseas sales of Japanese content (across film, anime, games and music) to $126BN (JPY20 trillion) by 2033.
“Historically, sectors including Japanese anime and live-action content have been optimized for the domestic market, lacking an industrial structure designed to expand into global markets,” explains TIFFCOM CEO Yasushi Shiina.
“At Cannes this year, as the Country of Honour, the public and private sectors joined forces to showcase Japan’s key strengths, including anime and manga. In doing so, we built networks with international producers, distributors, and other industry professionals, driving strong momentum toward transforming the sector into an IP-driven industry that generates global revenue.
“Following this, TIFFCOM will leverage the home-ground advantage of being hosted in Japan to promote Japanese IP alongside a diverse array of participants. For international attendees as well, we aim to make TIFFCOM a platform where they can connect directly with Japanese partners and unlock new business opportunities.”
A key program within TIFFCOM is the Tokyo IP Market: Adaptation & Remake (TIPM), an initiative that the Cannes IP event was also based on, which brings together publishers and production companies holding rights to Japanese manga, audiovisual works, novels and games. This year, the number of participating IP holders has expanded from six to ten companies, including content giants such as Amuse Creative Studio, Kadokawa, Nippon Animation, Shochiku and Toei.
TIPM organizes a series of one-on-one meetings between the rights holders and international producers, mostly from North America, Europe and the rest of Asia. In addition, eight of these companies will hold an open pitch event, with audiovisual support from Imagica Group, to present their flagship IP.
“We co-organized the Japan IP Market in Cannes – the Cannes edition of TIPM – with the Marché du Film, and the event generated an exceptionally strong response,” explains TIFFCOM managing director Kaori Ikeda. “Thanks to this success, the Tokyo edition is seeing an increasing number of leading producers attending from Europe and Hollywood. We’re excited to offer everyone in Tokyo this premier opportunity to connect with high-quality Japanese IP.”
Another key TIFFCOM track is the Tokyo Gap Financing Market (TGFM), which presents projects with Asian elements and at least 60% of their funding in place, that are seeking to complete their budgets through co-production, sales, distribution and other forms of investment.
This year, the event has selected 24 projects including Vincci Cheuk’s Hong Kong-Japan co-production 38.83; Boo Junfeng’s multi-territory co-production Trinity; François-Marc Baillet’s animated feature Back To Tomioka; five projects selected through a partnership with Canada’s Frontières genre market, and three in partnership with Italy’s Cinecitta (see here for the full list of selected projects).
In addition, TGFM talk sessions will introduce Japan’s various support schemes – including grants for international co-productions from Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs (Bunka-cho) – alongside funding from Canada and Brazil.
Japanese producers have been co-producing with their East Asian neighbors in Taiwan and South Korea for quite some time but have recently been venturing further afield into Southeast Asia and Europe. “Two factors are driving this,” says Ikeda. “First, production volume is increasing across Asia as a whole, including Southeast Asia, and production capabilities are also rising.
“Second, opportunities to build networks with one another at film festivals and markets across Asia are expanding. Platforms such as TGFM are facilitating mutual introductions, leading to an increasing number of co-production projects with Southeast Asia. Japan also recently joined the new Asian Producers Alliance with the Agency for Cultural Affairs as the representative member.”
In Europe, co-productions between Japan and France have been the most common, but Ikeda observes that projects with Italy have also increased following the signing of an official Japan-Italy co-production treaty in 2024.
Recent co-productions involving Japan include Sleep No More, from Indonesian filmmaker Edwin, which premiered at this year’s Berlinale; Ria, from the Philippines’ Arvin Belarmino, which won the Heart of Eurasia Award at Busan film festival, and Boo’s upcoming Trinity, which has around ten co-producers across Europe and Asia. Trinity, Ria and Janus Victoria’s Japan-Philippines co-production Diamonds In The Sand were all selected for various editions of TGFM.
Meanwhile, TIFFCOM’s conference program will present around 20 sessions organized along thematic lines: intellectual property (IP), artificial intelligence (AI), Japanese TV, Asian Series & Films, market trends and co-production. Key sessions include an ‘Unlocking the Global Potential of Japanese IP’, with speakers from Credeus (Kokuho), Amazon MGM Studios and Netflix’s One Piece; an AI-themed keynote with AGBO’s Chris Brearton and Dominic Hughes; and the annual session by the Association of Japanese Animations, presenting data on the anime industry.
Leading Japanese broadcasters Nippon TV and TBS will host sessions on their international activities; an Anime Co-Production Conference will feature speakers including Ervin Han (The Violinist), and a “Beyond Country of Honour” session has speakers from Toho and K2 Pictures, along with TIFFCOM’s Shiina and Cannes Marché Head of Industry Programs Alexandra Zakharchenko.
Last year’s TIFFCOM had more than 4,600 attendees from 46 countries and regions, an increase of 13% from the previous year, while international participation rose by 10%. As of two weeks before this year’s edition, Ikeda says that visitor registrations – mostly buyers and producers – were up about 10% on the same point last year.
“East Asia continues to drive strong participation, led by Taiwan and South Korea, as well as a dedicated pavilion from Thailand,” Ikeda says. “Some companies from China, including streaming platforms, will also take part. And in a notable new trend, we are also seeing increasing participation from companies offering AI and data analytics solutions.”
TIFFCOM is taking place October 28 to 30 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center in Hamamatsucho district, which is just a few train stops away from Tokyo International Film Festival’s main venues in Hibiya-Ginza. The festival is running from October 26 to November 4.