MANGA GOES TO HOLLYWOOD, BABY!
I know for a fact that the magic buzzword in Hollywood these days is "manga."
How do I know this? Because 7Seas happens to be Hollywood-based (and no, I don't mean Hollywood, Florida).
So, let's talk Hollywood. My real education in Hollywood began when we teamed up with management firm extraordinaire, Circle of Confusion, who represent the Wachowski Brothers, of The Matrix fame, and tons of famous comic book writers and well known "genre" screenwriters, such as the writers of the X-Men & Fantastic Four movies, as well as the director of V For Vendetta, and the list goes on. My pals over at Circle are well known in Hollywood as the guys to go to for sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and comic-related projects and writers. They also represent 7seas and regularly send me out on meetings to the studios and with producers, large and small. Why? Because everybody in Hollywood knows at this point that manga is The Next Big Thing.
BUT... nobody in Hollywood seems to know what to do with manga just yet. To the uninitiated, I suppose, manga comes across as a confusing and intimidating jumble of pictures and words. Whereas you and I see a wealth of diverse storylines and art styles, all very distinctive and innovative, other people's eyes tend to glaze over at the barrage of big eyes, spiky hair, big sound effects and random panty shots.
In the course of my meetings in Hollywood, as I've pitched our manga and met with various execs and producers, I've learned many an interesting thing, some of which I'll share with you now.
You might want to sit down for this one, but the biggest shocker of them all-and you probably won't believe this when I tell you-is that people in the Hollywood biz are not as sleazy and stupid as you might expect! Ha! Shocked you there, didn't I? But I kid you not. I've found that the clichés are, for the most part, untrue. Maybe I'm just lucky, but in my experience the many people I've met who work in this industry are overwhelmingly intelligent, creative and talented. I'm talking about the producer level or creative-development types (I can't vouch for actors or agents, who are a different and unsavory breed altogether). But it sort of makes sense, doesn't it? The rewards are great if you actually get a movie made, and the competition is greater. To rise to the top in such a competitive field, you really have to earn it, and not through mere b.s., which will only take you so far, but through genuine talent, good judgment, and above all, by being a team player (in the collaborative sense; not being a kiss ass). Otherwise, no one would want to work with you. In other words, it's a very small sandbox, so be nice to the other kids, or no one will want to play with you.
Now, the reason Hollywood wants to play with comic and manga publishers is because they need content. It's said that content is king, but it's got to be the right kind of content, of course. The goal at Seven Seas, since its inception, has always been to create an ever-growing library of original manga titles that are well-suited for film/television production. Sure, we love our Japanese manga and the thrill of licensing in, but my personal passion lies in creating and developing original works. Now, I've been told by skeptics or ignoramuses in the publishing industry that this is a foolhardy course to follow and that it's pie in the sky dreaming to ever think that our works would become movies. Seems to me those people never heard of a little company called Marvel Comics (or Dark Horse, for that matter).
It's true, though, that getting a movie made from a comic or manga ain't easy, and admittedly, most people have little chance of making it happen. That's because it's a multi-year process, and in order to really get it done, as a publisher, you basically have to make it your second career. You have to be right here in the middle of things, doing lunches, making pitches, getting to know the right players, speaking the "language" and knowing the culture, and developing a network of friends and supporters in this biz who help steer you in the right direction, just like in any other industry. You also have to know what makes a good concept, what makes a bad concept, how to pitch your works effectively, what Hollywood is looking for right now and what they're not looking for, and what they may be looking for next year.
It seems to me that there's currently a niche to be filled here in Tinseltown. There is yet to be a single prominent emissary of manga, someone who demystifies it for the studio types, and bridges the gap between Japan and Hollywood. I know that there are more than a few players who seek to fill this role. There's a growing number of independent producers who are going to Japan regularly trying to gobble up rights of your favorite manga/anime properties, in order to shop them around to Hollywood for live action remakes. I'm well aware that the studios are looking at scores of manga properties, left and right. I even know this one creepy American guy lurking about who pretends he has film rights to all sorts of big Japanese properties and goes around pitching them to studios without the creator's permission. When the studios pass due to his inept presentation, it ruins the chance for the people who actually do hold the rights and bring it to the same studios later on-"No thanks, we've already passed on that one." (The fact that there are already parasites of this sort shows that this niche field is growing bigger.) So, is there ample room for someone else to step in and become the next Avi Arad of manga? I believe there is.
Currently, there's a gold rush mentality towards Japanese properties in Hollywood, with everybody and his brother scrambling to get film rights. Now, if every single one of these titles ended up getting made, we'd have about 50 live action manga-based movies over the next decade...or more! I don't think that's going to happen. But I do think a golden age of manga-based movies in Hollywood is on its way. All we need is one big hit, and the floodgates will open. Will it be James Cameron's upcoming production of Battle Angel Alita? Or the supposed Evangelion live action films? Or something else? Whatever it is, it just seems inevitable.
Of course, one of the challenges in adapting Japanese manga to the big screen, as wonderfully imaginative and compelling as the stories may be, is that they usually don't have a crystallized central concept. The stories bounce all over the place, across sweeping multi-volume series. Let's take a global hit like Dragon Ball, for example, which Fox tried to make into a wildly expensive live action film before they finally gave up on it: A movie about a kid with a monkey's tail who's from outer space who wants to become the strongest martial artist in the world??! NEXT! How about this one: a bounty hunter on another planet who carries a massive gun around in the shape of a cross?!
The problem is, most Japanese manga are simply too wacky, meandering and unfocused to work as a standard Hollywood film, with its three act structure, plot points on pages 30 and 90, and big climaxes where all the loose ends are neatly tied up with a bow on top and everything happens for a reason...literally. But it can be done! It's just that the concepts need to be just what the script doctor ordered. 7Seas was actually instrumental in bringing a couple high profile and highly suitable Japanese manga projects to Hollywood recently. One of them is now in the process of getting optioned by a major television network.
As for original properties, Hollywood just loves "source material." Not only do they adore that particular buzzword, but it's just so much easier to "fast track" and "green light" a project if it's based on something visual like a graphic novel or manga. To be sure, the vast majority of the highest grossing films in recent years have been comic-based. It's not such a leap, though, to assume we'll have a glut of super hero movies soon enough. Both studios and audiences will tire of them, I suspect. And it may be that manga-based films are the next flavor of the decade.
Which is why I plan to continue to expand our original library, mixing western-style storytelling with a strong manga aesthetic. We've already gotten lots of Hollywood interest in many of our titles, as we continue to develop more. Currently, our original manga Unearthly is at a well-known Sony-based production company with a live action script in the works. Whether that goes into production ultimately, who can say, but it's one of our many irons in the fire. Let the naysayers continue saying nay. The future of manga is in Hollywood, and we'll be there when it happens.
Jason DeAngelis
June 21, 2007
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