Annecy Winner 'The Violinist' Found Italian Partners at 2023 Tokyo Market
Director Ervin Han recounted the deal-making path at a TIFFCOM panel focused on structuring international anime co-productions.
By Sakura Novak ·
Ervin Han, co-founder and CEO of Singapore's Robot Playground Media, told a panel at TIFFCOM that he first met Italian producer Cristiano Bortone and his team at Altri Occhi during a 2023 visit to the market. The meeting brought Italian co-producers onto "The Violinist," which later took the top prize at France's Annecy International Animation Film Festival this year.
The discussion, titled "Anime's New Frontier: Structuring & Financing International Co-Productions," was moderated by Kawano Masao, program manager at Into Global. It took place at TIFFCOM, the content market of the Tokyo International Film Festival. Speakers agreed that overseas partners should be brought in early, with financing, deal structures and rights management addressed from development through release.
Han co-directed and produced "The Violinist." He described the film as a story of friendship spanning a decade, and said the project took 10 years from conception to completion. "With different roles in my projects, I find promotion is even more challenging than production," he said. This year, he returned to TIFFCOM as producer to pitch "A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts," an animated feature about food, horror and temptation, with partners from Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia and Ireland.
Ilan Urroz, CEO of France's Foliascope, said co-production is not new and pointed to platform partnerships. He cited French rules requiring streaming services to invest at least 20% of the revenue they earn in France into European or French-language original film and audiovisual production, rising to 25% for some services that offer films within 12 months of theatrical release. The requirement applies to animation and other genres. Urroz named Netflix, Disney+, Crunchyroll, Prime Video and HBO Max as the leading platforms in France.
Sakurai Taiki, CEO of Salamander Inc., has spent more than 25 years in anime across over 100 titles, and focused on talent. "Partners are the key to success," he said. Asked how to find co-production partners, Urroz said, "Be creative, and don't forget that every project is also a journey of a group of people."
