Shochiku restructuring

[Ono Seiko and Aaron Gerow]

It was reported on the business pages in the morning paper that Shochiku, 
having suffering large losses recently, has decided to cut 180 employees 
over the next three years (about a fifth of the total).  In addition to 
the employee cutbacks, the studio will be reorganizing some of its 
divisions and eliminating such experiments as Cinema Japanesque. Under 
the catch copy "Human Dream" the company hopes to revitalize its Japanese 
film production to produce movies "audiences want."

While Shochiku certainly has the right to try to make a profit, the rest 
of the announcement does not bode well for their future output.  Shochiku 
was one of the most interesting studios last year because of Cinema 
Japanesque, but with the asanine "Human Dream" line, it looks they're 
just going to return to stale Yamada Yoji.  Now that Toho has also cut 
its YES experiment with PIA, it looks like none of the major studios are 
making 
any real effort to develop new talent.  

And frankly, I am totally perplexed about their decision to make films 
that "audiences want."  Does that mean that Shochiku in the last few 
years has purposely been making films audiences don't want?  Sounds like 
the statement of a management team that has no idea what they are doing.

Aaron Gerow