Film production and publishing startup Face White raises 6.2 million RMB to help...

Film production and publishing startup Face White raises 6.2 million RMB to help Chinese animations land on Japanese market

Film production and publishing startup Face White raises 6.2 million RMB to help Chinese animations land on Japanese market

10 hours ago

Chinese film production and distribution company Face White has recently raised its angel round, with 6.2 million yuan in proceeds. Eight Japanese companies participated in this round, including TV Tokyo, one of Japan's top five TV stations, Pierrot, maker of Naruto, Live Viewing Japan, Good Smile Company, Sasaki Kogyo, Daichi Shokai, Movic, and Newjoy.

With the proceeds, Face White Pictures will continue to acquire content rights, recruit talent, and branch out to more venues such as cinema chains, online streaming, and derivatives distribution.

Founded in Tokyo in 2019, Face White focuses on animation film production and distribution of Chinese films in Japan. Since its establishment, the company has initiated and participated in the distribution of film projects in Japan, such as "The Legend of Luo Xiaohe", "White Snake: The Origin", "Boonie Bears: The Wild Life" and "Da Hu Fa".

"The Legend of Luo Xiaohei" grossed over 500 million yen, the highest box office for a Chinese film of the anime genre in Japan, and "White Snake: The Origin", which was distributed in Japan in 2021, has also exceeded 100 million yen at the box office.

Japan has long been recognized as the home of anime and has developed many successful IPs culturally rooted in mainstream Japanese ideologies. Japan's anime and manga industry's work quality is widely acknowledged, evident by One Piece, a series with over 900+ chapters yet almost no potholes.

Japan's anime has a loyal fanbase. Hence it is rare for foreign animation to meet the appetite of Japanese audience. According to Dong Zhiling, the CEO of White Face, less than 50 Chinese films are aired in Japan per year, but that number is expected to grow.

"The Legend of Luo Xiaohei" was an exemplary case. Approximately 90 percent of viewers of the movie in Japan were Japanese, instead of Chinese people living abroad, which often makes up the majority of such viewerships.

According to Dong, Face White will continue to focus on animated films in the future and expand its business to include live-action movies, manga, and other related categories.

Face White's aim falls in line with China's recent emphasis on "cultural exports." Last month, 17 Chinese ministries released the "Notice on several measures to support the high-quality development of the national cultural export", encouraging "traditional cultural products, creative cultural products, films, TV, games and other digital art products" to explore overseas market.

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