Why David Shin’s Disney+ Crime Thriller ‘House of the Owl’ Is a Test Run for Hollywood-Style Recurring Series Made in Japan
variety.comPatrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief While multiple Korean TV series have connected with global audiences, Japan’s production committees, terrestrial broadcasters and talent agencies have kept their TV industry tightly focused on a local market.
Anime and variety have long remained the Japanese TV industry’s best-known exports, while the premium end of the spectrum has largely escaped Japanese producers.
That is despite multinational shows like Hulu’s “Shogun,” HBO’s “Tokyo Vice” and Netflix’s “House of Ninjas” underscoring the potentially substantial overseas interest in Japan-set live-action drama. “House of the Owl,” set to begin airing on Disney+ and Hulu from next week, is both an outlier and a potential mold breaker.
A crime thriller about a behind-the-scenes political fixer and his chafing rivalry with his son, “House of the Owl” was conceived as a five-season ride along the lines of “House of Cards” or “Succession.” But overcoming the obstacles on the way to bringing “House of the Owl” to the screen has been a 10-year journey for the series and its showrunner, former executive David Shin.
Read more on variety.com