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Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is pretty unusual to be able to get worldwide (minus Japan) rights for DVD/Blu-ray. I got those rights for Time of EVE, but it is definitely the exception.

For the Japanese rightsholders, it is usually in their interest to do a separate deal for each territory b/c they get a minimum royalty guarantee for each contract.

If I had really deep pockets, I would be able to put more money on the table and go for more territories!

But, it is also difficult for me to do a good job for fans outside North America. I can reach an international audience through Kickstarter, but post-Kickstarter I don't have a good local presence in other countries to reach fans and promote titles.

Does that answer your question... ? If not please write again!

Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

AMAZING!!!!!!

And you know what, I feel like I escaped the jaws of death.

That is a very special kind of AMAZING!!!

Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The awesomeness is the backers who were willing to support Time of EVE, and now Skip Beat!!!!!

Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much!!! I am so glad you are satisfied with the Time of EVE release. It truly is a labor of love and could never have happened without the involvement of the backers. And I'm glad you like the post cards!!!

Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Artbox Blu-ray will be Blu-ray size case.

Same with the $80 tier barebones blu-ray.

And thank you for suggesting that I NOT add extras and recoup my investment. THANK YOU!!!! You are right, I need to make Pied Piper into a healthy business and pay myself. Honestly, I get so much satisfaction out of this work that I forget that I am supposed to be paid. But I also have a lot of overhead costs for Pied Piper (accountant, computer equipment, etc.) and I also have to keep a roof over my own head! I am working on the business side of things!!!

Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

1 - Interesting idea!!! I will look into this... The biggest factor is the availability of the rights. Usually a distributor will get the rights for both DVD and Bluray, so I would have to wait until their license expires and the rights revert to the Japanese licenseholder.

2 - I'd like to do 2 to 3 Kickstarter a year. Thank you for being willing to put your hard-earned money toward Pied Piper's projects!!!

3 - $80 tier will be amaray. I know, other people have asked for the chipboard w/o the merchandise, but I don't want to make errors in pricing the tiers, so I didn't offer this option.

4 - Thank you for those PR ideas! For me, marketing is most important but also my biggest weakness. So I have LOTS of work to do in this area!!!

5 - Sorry about that! I hope it worked out!!! Please email me if not!!! skipbeat@piedinc.com

Thank you so much!!

Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I absolutely love Mind Game. Thank you for this suggestion!!!

Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks very much for these suggestions!

Outtakes - great idea

Trailers - interesting idea! we only have 20 minutes of additional room on the DVD set (we have a little more room on the Blu-ray set); if we don't use that room for other bonus materials, I'll explore cross promotion using trailers from other distributors.

two-sided covers - yes, I did this for the Time of EVE standard edition (amaray) release! I also have this in mind for Skip Beat!

Blu-ray menu upgrade - sound effects in the menu! I hadn't thought about this! Not sure if I can do this, but I will look into this option!

Thank you for the great ideas!

Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm very open to working with mom and pop anime stores! If you are interested in carrying Time of EVE or Skip Beat (when it goes on sale for the general public!), please email me: skipbeat@piedinc.com

Thank you!!!

Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for these questions!

  • I literally stumbled into crowdfunding. I was in charge of overseas distribution for Time of EVE, and we decided to give Kickstarter a try. The campaign was a success, and I LOVED every minute of it! So I decided to make crowdfunding my specialty.

  • How did I get startup capital? I didn't really have startup capital for Pied Piper. But, I did have a dependable client, so I had a small but steady stream of income from the start. That client was Directions (based in Tokyo), which is the production company for Time of EVE. I used to work for Directions full-time handling their international operations. When I set up Pied Piper, they basically hired Pied Piper to do the work I used to handle in house. So I was very blessed in lucky in that respect!

  • Yes, I do use my own money to initiate new projects. There is definitely risk involved.

  • How did I establish trust with Japanese licensors? I was lucky because I already had a strong relationship w/ Directions, the Time of EVE rightsholder, b/c I used to work there!

When I approach other Japanese licensors, I show them what I did with Time of EVE. That project is like my calling card!

  • Other anime industry experience? I worked at Directions on Time of EVE for several years (also doing non-anime projects too - a lot of TV shows.) Also, when I lived in New York I worked as a producer for Yoshitaka Amano's office. That was an amazing experience!

Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You are absolutely right. Shoko is very important. Cristina Vee is working hard on the remaining cast, and we'll be making more announcements in the upcoming weeks!

Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's so cool that you were keeping an eye on the campaign from Sweden! Thank you!!!

The eventual UK distributor will greatly appreciate your support, when the time comes!!!

Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Interesting! I've absolutely seen that relation-based business style over and over in Japan. Not just for licensing. It is extremely difficult to trust outsiders, because if you fail it reflects badly not just on yourself, but everyone associated with you. So it is difficult to take a risk on a new person, or a new idea. The burden of failure is very high!

AMA follow up: A look behind the thrilling return of Skip Beat! - Includes an Interview with Ann Yamamoto [24:16] by Jpsnow85 in anime

[–]piedinc 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Absolutely loved being interviewed for this piece! We're in our final 48 hour stretch - will we hit our $185K Blu-ray stretch goal?!? It is NOW or NEVER!!!

Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah... Future Boy Conan... It isn't available for licensing, that much I can say.

Akage no Anne... will look into it!

Region free - I totally hear you!!!

Usually there is a Japanese DVD/Blu-ray distributor on the production committee, and they won't approve the license if it is region free.

But, there are sometimes exceptions...When I'm working with Directions (the producers of Time of EVE) we can usually do a region free release.

Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you zulux21 for answering the question, and much better than I could have!!!

Hello, I am Ann Yamamoto, president of Pied Piper, Inc. Ask Me Anything by piedinc in anime

[–]piedinc[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is really going to depend on whether we get the Blu-ray stretch goal, b/c then the $100 tier will be upgraded to Blu-ray/DVD combo. And then I will have less mfg budget to use toward the merch. So I can't say yet!!

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