Forum - View topicNEWS: New Generation Pictures Opens Shanghai Studio
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khryoleoz
Posts: 158 |
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Actually, what studios should prepare for is the move from DVD to Blu-ray. Given that we share the same region code as Japan, wouldn't that change title acquisition dynamics entirely? I don't really know how this works. But it seems to me that studios would function only to produce English subs and dubs and licensors only to physically move bilingual Japanese releases to North America.
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SharinganEye
Posts: 402 Location: Les Etats-Unis d'Amérique |
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Same region?
I don't how episode packaging and the price would work on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD. Are we going to see large amounts of wasted space or more episodes at an even higher price? |
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Richard J.
Posts: 3367 Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis. |
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It's kind of like the deal with an IT company I read about. They could hire 1 highschool graduate in the US or they could hire 10 university graduates in India, most of whom had graduated from our universities. The costs were the same but, well, you can guess which they thought was a better deal. Plus they'll save a fortune building overseas anyway, because laws in the US mandate that buidlings be constructed with certain expensive extras. (Elevators, handicap ramps and bars, etc.) The frightening truth is they'll probably save money even if they have to fly every single VA in from the US. |
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khryoleoz
Posts: 158 |
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Well we're not going to get DVD material on Blu-ray media. Even if we get the same episode counts as we get on most DVDs, HD content (with uncompressed 1080p video and uncompressed multi-channel PCM audio) would easily fill 25-50GB discs. The price will certainly increase, but that's the nature of the HD format right now until it becomes a commodity the way DVD did.
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SharinganEye
Posts: 402 Location: Les Etats-Unis d'Amérique |
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DVD's fine enough for me. Though if I remember correctly, the 3rd season of House on Blu-Ray is about $10 cheaper than the DVD boxset. |
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khryoleoz
Posts: 158 |
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Then what we must change are the tax laws that overburden domestic operations. It sounds to me that most of the acting pool will come locally from Shangai, and only a small number of higher profile (meaning familiar named) actors would be flown to the studio. Otherwise, a more preferrable move is to build a studio at another state where operational costs are substantially less and travel costs would be proportionate. The "flying actors" bit is an empty statement to appease objectors of their legitimate concerns. I like many dubs. Even when I don't I like to have the option. If New Gen cannot undo this course of action, then I just hope that they are the lone studio to outsource ADR work. May Bang Zoom continue to live well and prosper...in LA! |
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Dargonxtc
Posts: 4463 Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋 |
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Thats a whole other can of worms, and one that would be especially difficult to accomplish in LA, let alone just about everywhere else. i.e. Changing laws like that prove to be difficult and quite maddening. Otherwise I agree with you, but it ain't gonna happen. Sorry. Especially on the account of some anime dubbing outfit, when in the grand scheme of the city is minute. |
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gary leeman
Posts: 70 Location: The Big Apple |
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It's clear that this is a reactionary response to what is happening in the industry. New Gen wants to cash in on the production of cheaper dubs. If they are losing money in LA, why not make it up by "outsource/expansion" into China?
It won't be long before we see other American companies follow suit, as much as they don't want to. And it's not like these companies don't like us fans, but in the end, it's a business, and you have to make money. Sadly, we all suffer from less quality dubs, and the well known voice actors work less. |
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khryoleoz
Posts: 158 |
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It's not as if the tax laws need to change for the sake of one small niche market. The burden of weighty taxes affect all industries. The irony is that they simply go overseas in order to avoid paying them. And when they're not paying them, the consumer does in some form or another. It's better to just make them go away, though I'm not prepared to describe a way how.
The market will determine the venture's success. If the sub/dub quality is bad, then they can expect to lose money regardless. They explain that the writing staff will likely be the same American writers. So their script and direction are probably not going to suffer. Main characters will probably feature the American voice talent, and the Shanghai pool will fill secondary characters. So we're likely not going to see much of a difference. However, another industry that is ALSO in business to make a buck is the recording studio that they go to to record the dub. Why do THEY get the shaft? Sound engineering is hard enough work with long hours and scarce jobs depending on where one is in that industry. Can New Gen explain to me how they get to eat and pay their rent? We have talented resources here that go into their industry with the highest investment in their abilities to produce the quality work that they do. Of course this comes at a certain price. So how dare we even entertain the notion that we will risk reduction in quality however minute at the expense of the revenue that should be going to these talents! So long as the venture is indeed an expansion, then cool. They've opened up new opportunities for themselves by having presence in that part of the world that is indeed expanding. But please, let's pay OUR people that which is their due, not by mere entitlement upon the dictates of politics, but for the simple fact that they'll do the job better than any foreign establishment all the time if given the chance. Last edited by khryoleoz on Fri Aug 24, 2007 8:01 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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inthebiz
Posts: 34 Location: Burbank, CA |
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There doesn't appear to be any logic in flying L.A. voice actors all the way over to Shanghai.
Why not just record them in LA? But if you really want to take them over there to stand in front of a mike, even cheapo airfare cost's about $2000, round trip. (incl. tax, security fees, etc) Plus accommodations, which, in 2007 Shanghai are at least $100/night. (unless you want to live an a bug infested dump) Plus per diem$$: food etc AND, you gotta pay them their LA rate, since they are the LA actors that you want. For EACH actor, it will end up costing at least $3000. This is supposed to be a cost-saving venture?? Over the past 4 months, off and on, I worked in Shanghai, sub-contracted to a major EU ad agency. The English voice talent pool there is pathetic. 99% of VO actors do it as a hobby, and it shows. At one point, we were reduced to auditioning ex-pat financial sector workers for voice overs. I guess if you want bankers and accountants doing your anime voices that's ok How can you possibly be serious about this? |
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chrisb
Subscriber
Posts: 617 Location: USA |
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There actually are alot of good English voice actors in China, sometimes even American or Canadian ones. One that comes to mind is Maggie Blue O'Hara (dub of Tomoyo Cardcaptors and Arjuna in Arjuna), ok you may not like the personality changes of the characters but the acting was done well so I'm not fearing any new bad dubs.
I doubt they'll be sending American actors over to China, if they do, only a select few. They're probably just outsourcing most of the anime dub jobs and only handling a few here in America. It's not cost effective to send American actors to China. |
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bglassbrook
Posts: 1243 Location: Gaithersburg, MD |
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Like many of the others, I hope this turns out well, and is actually warranted due to the still-American prices found in middle-of-nowhere-middle-America.
Then again ...
... anything with that much spin on it reeks of trouble. |
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rg4619
Posts: 163 |
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It's all about profitability here. The problem is that while you might spend a lot of money on anime DVDs, many others aren't picking up the slack.
Yep, they might fly over one or two stars for a particular recording. However, the main idea is to utilize actors living in Shanghai. |
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enurtsol
Posts: 14763 |
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Ironically, as the anime industry grows in North America, license fees from Japan have been going up and eating a larger portion of the production budget, so dub budgets are going down.
They can no longer afford Coastal, Animaze, Ocean Westwood, etc. I suspect more dubbing studios will disappear on the anime landscape, leaving only a few - with a smaller pool of VAs doing all the voices again and again. |
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darkchibi07
Posts: 5469 |
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The guys from Dub Reviewdid an interview with Jonathan Klein in Anime Vegas that talks about this new venture:
http://www.dubreview.com/podcasts/voxcast032-jkinterview.mp3 Hopefully this will clear up some misconceptions about this. At this point, it really more of a wait and see though I am curious what will these dubs from Shanghai will be like. I really hope this will lead other companies to consider them for English dubs so they don't have to go forth the sub-only route (unless the situation doesn't allow them to due to having missing BGMs and sound effects). |
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