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Sanzigen, Ordet, Trigger Form Ultra Super Pictures Holding Firm (Updated)
posted on by Egan Loo
ASCII.jp journalist Atsushi Matsumoto reported from the Good Smile & Karaoke no Tetsujin Cafe project press conference on Thursday that Ultra Super Pictures is being established as the joint holding company for the anime studios Sanzigen, Ordet, and Trigger. The software studio Nitroplus and the artist site pixiv are taking part in the holding company, and the holding company also received foreign equity investment. Ordet founder Yutaka Yamamoto (Fractale, Kannagi) is serving as a director of the holding company.
According to Matsumoto, the press conference also revealed that the previously announced Black Rock Shooter television anime series will run for eight episodes on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block starting in January.
Sanzigen was formally incorporated by former Gonzo employees in 2006 as a studio for computer animation. Yamamoto founded Ordet in 2007 after leaving Kyoto Animation, while animator Masahiko Ohtsuka (Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt), director Hiroyuki Imaishi (Gurren Lagann, Panty & Stocking), and producer Kazuya Masumoto (Panty & Stocking) established Trigger this year after working together at Gainax.
[Via Yaraon!]
Update: Takaaki Kidani, the CEO of the card game maker Bushiroad, reported on Thursday that his company is also taking part in Ultra Super Pictures.
Update 2: Sanzigen's Hiroaki Matsuura will serve as Ultra Super Pictures' representative. The seven executives of the new company include Matsuura, Good Smile Company CEO Takanori Aki, Yamamoto, and Ohtsuka. The companies providing capital are Good Smile Company, Max Factory, Bushiroad, Nitroplus, and pixiv. Nitroplus and pixiv will also collaborate on the company's scenario production team.
Ultra Super Pictures intends to invite investors from Hollywood and elsewhere in the world. The motivation for creating the company is to consolidate and manage licenses for the member companies' works, as well as to benefit from the synergy in employee training and other shared resources. Ultra Super Pictures is producing the Black Rock Shooter television anime series.
Source: animeanime.biz
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