Shochiku Film Fund

[Aaron Gerow]

Shochiku announced that its planned jidaigeki, Shinobu, starring 
Odagiri Jo and Nakama Yukie, will be partially financed by a "film 
fund" collecting money from individual investors. This is a system that 
already exists in Europe and Korea, but has not really been done in 
Japan. Individual investors will buy a share at 100,000 yen apiece, 
obtain various special goodies (like updates on production, invitation 
to the preview, one's name on the DVD, etc.), and then a share of the 
profits if there are any (even if there is no profit, some of the money 
will return). Shochiku argues this is a new way to finance Japanese 
cinema and involve regular fans and investors in production.

Aaron Gerow
KineJapan owner

Assistant Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University

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