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Madman Entertainment Founder Tim Anderson Establishes Sugoi Co Australian Distributor

Tim Anderson, founder and former CEO of Australian anime streamer and distributor Madman Entertainment, shared with ANN that he and Sylvester "Sly" Ip have founded Sugoi Co, a new anime distribution and licensing company in Australia. Sugoi Co had its soft launch at this year's Anime Expo event, which took place from July 1-4 in Los Angeles. The company has also merged with local brand licensing company JW Brands.

Sugoi Co licensed The First Slam Dunk, the new anime film of Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk basketball manga, for theatrical release in Australia.

Anderson stated that Sugoi Co will focus on marketing and promotion for the local Australian market. The company aims to be a "portfolio kind of business." It plans to be involved in general media distribution, and does not seek to be aligned with a "single platform," instead directing anime to platforms that "make sense" for the license.

Sugoi Co will also focus on licensing merchandise, and will seek to expand anime-related merchandise and brands within the Australian market.

Madman Entertainment was founded in 1996. Madman Media Group sold the anime division of its business to Aniplex in an AU$35 million (then about US$25 million) deal in 2019, after Aniplex invested in Madman Entertainment in February 2018. Sony Pictures Television and Aniplex then consolidated Madman and French distributor Wakanim into Funimation, before ultimately acquiring the anime streaming giant Crunchyroll, and then consolidating and dissolving the Funimation brand within Crunchyroll.

Source: Email correspondence