Sony to Launch Anime Academy as Audience for Japanese Animation Grows

variety.com:

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sony is to launch an academy that will develop talent involved in the creation of anime, it was announced on Thursday.

The initiative was revealed as part of Japanese electronics and entertainment conglomerate Sony Group Corporation’s annual corporate strategy presentation. “The launch of a project to establish an academy [comes] with the aim of nurturing anime creators in global markets, mainly by Aniplex and Crunchyroll with collaboration from across the industry,” said Sony Group chairman and CEO Yoshida Kenichiro and president, COO and CFO Totoki Hiroki.

Anime is a significant and growing portion of Sony’s business, though it is split across different divisions. Aniplex which is a creator and distributor of Japanese animation is currently a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) which is part of the wider music division.

It has enjoyed success with anime franchises such as “Demon Slayer.” Specialist streaming service and anime distributor Crunchyroll, however, falls within Sony’s ‘pictures division,’ the business segment that includes the U.S.-based Sony Pictures Entertainment content production and distribution operations and Sony’s TV channels business.