THE RIGHT STUF INT.
Right
Stuf Productions
How
they went from selling anime to releasing titles of their own.
DVJ:
Why did you decide to produce your own anime?
Shawne Kleckner:The
company started with anime production with 16mm film restoration with
Astro Boy.
DVJ:
Did you have the necessary equipment in place?
SK:
Working with 30 year old film materials gave us a great deal of experience
with 16mm and how to work with it. Our first programs were already
dubbed, so we didn’t begin dubbing of programming until later.
DVJ:
What was your first release? How did it do?
SK:
Astro Boy. It did very well, even appearing on the Billboard sales
chart.
DVJ: What
was the one title your company passed on/ignored that you later wished you
had jumped on?
SK:
One of the joys of being in the market segment that we are in is that no
matter whether we purchase the title or not, we are still able to work
with customers on it.
DVJ: If you had to choose
one release as the one that guaranteed you're place in the anime market,
which would you choose?
SK:
The Irresponsible Captain Tylor. It’s a classic, and I personally
think it’s just an awesome tie of comedy, sci-fi, and philosophy.
DVJ:
How do you decide which titles to produce?
SK:
Depends upon what we feel that is good for our company, cost wise, as well
as what the market is interested in. Many times, we look for titles
which are unusual or unique to the market.
DVJ: Once you decide, how
important is it to keep the story and script translations true to the
original Japanese?
SK:
We generally keep things as close as possible.
DVJ: In some instances,
significant changes are made in character backgrounds and dialogue.
Why?
SK:
The culture of Japan and some language, as well as references, are not
really easy to translate or easy for Americans to understand, especially
if they are not familiar with the cultural differences.
DVJ:
What are your feelings about fan sites and fan cons?
SK:
We’re all for them.
DVJ: If
someone wanted to work in anime production, what skills should they
possess? What would an entry level position be?
SK:
A true love of anime; a meticulous nature, outgoing, and creative; good
English skills, experience with proofreading. Self-motivated, works
well with teams. Ability to speak/read Japanese is a big plus.
DVJ: What projects are
scheduled in the near future.
SK:
Current productions include Comic Party, and Gravitation.
DVJ: Where do you see
anime in 5 years.
SK:
I do think that the Anime industry will continue to grow. As more
and more people are exposed to Anime and manga each day, and more people
grow up with exposure to this type of product, I think that it will become
even more popular. We’re seeing that with the expansion of manga
publishing as well as more merchandise, and additional programming moving
to US television.
DVJ:
Where do you see your company in 5 years?
SK:
Doing more of the same.
DVJ:
What involvement will you have in the anime network?
SK:
We fully support this initiative, and are working closely with ADV to
provide any support we can, including programming, marketing, and
fulfillment support.
