Ghibli Tavern - Studio Ghibli is Going to Close

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Studio Ghibli is Going to Close

Shocking this is a rough day

https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/studio-ghibl...-002800885.html

http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2014/07/21/studi...lms-says-report

http://english.cri.cn/4926/2014/07/21/2202s837036.htm

yahoo:

Studio Ghibli To Cease Making Movies?

A recent article on Kotaku has made a startling claim that Studio Ghibli are to cease operating as a working animation studio, according to an insider.

This alleged source originally spoke to News Cafe to reveal some rather shocking news in regard to the Japanese animation studio's future.

It was claimed that this year's 'When Marnie Was There' is to be their last feature, citing that when directing supremo Hayao Miyazaki and legendary producer Toshio Suzuki retired from their prominent roles within the company, there was uncertainty with its future.

Both Miyazaki and Suzuki formed two of the three founding members of the world-famous Studio Ghibli, alongside Isao Takahata, but naturally it was believed that other talented individuals were to take over and continue the running of the studio, like Hayao's son, Goro, who has already directed 'Tales From Earthsea' and 'From Up on Poppy Hill'.

"From here on, it appears as though this won't be a studio that makes new works, but instead, manages its copyrights," claimed the source.

The insider went on to reveal that Studio Ghibli had to make at least 10 billion yen (£58 million) from each film to make a sustainable profit for the company. According to this person, labour costs total at around two billion yen (£11.6 million) each year.

One of Japan's largest papers, Asahi Shimbun ran a story noting that, while most animation studios were hiring overseas staff and cutting costs, Ghibli were gathering more full-time staff in Japan. The paper also reckoned that the Oscar-nominated 'The Wind Rises -- Hayao Miyazaki's final feature -- had also yet to turn a profit; despite taking over 10 billion yen in Japan.

'The Tale of Princess Kaguya' made 5.1 billion yen (£29 million), and was therefore considered a flop, especially as it was meant to have cost more than 'The Wind Rises' to create, which is rather surprising.

The source boldly said: "There's no choice but to dissolve the studio, because it's unable to cross the high hurdle of announcing a new film on an annual basis."

Back in 2010, Miyazaki did speak about dissolving the company during an interview with Cut Magazine, where he said: "Suzuki-san is making a dissolution program for Ghibli." He went on to explicitly confirm what this current insider is saying, but whether the interviewer and readership took his words seriously is another matter. "No joke, we talked about it the other day. For example, Ghibli should be able to continue with about five staff members as a copyright management company even if we smash the studio. So, Ghibli can say 'We stop film production. Goodbye'. I do not have to be there."

If such a claim is true and Studio Ghibli does cease to produce movies, then I will not be alone in mourning the loss of such a great company. However, I cannot actually see this happening, especially with Disney's close ties through John Lasseter, there would surely be some sort of intervention if the worst case scenario was upon them.

Kotaku:

Studio Ghibli Might Quit Making Feature Films, Says Report

By Brian Ashcraft on 21 Jul 2014 at 2:30PM

This summer, there's a new Studio Ghibli movie. According to one reported insider, it could be Ghibli's last.

Studio Ghibli is best known for iconic anime like My Neighbor Totoro, Grave of the Fireflies, and Kiki's Delivery Service. Last year, the creator of many of Ghibli's best known works, Hayao Miyazaki, retired from making feature animated films.

The purported insider told Japanese site News Cafe that Ghibli's latest release, When Marnie Was There, "seems like it will be the last [from Studio Ghibli]." The article appeared on Rakuten, one of Japan's largest web portals. That being said, this is an unconfirmed rumour.

As the insider explained, there was scuttlebutt of the studio's dissolution last year after Miyazaki retired once completing The Wind Rises. Then, this past spring, longtime Ghibli producer and studio co-founder Toshio Suzuki also stepped downfrom producing films. He is now Ghibli's general manager.

"From here on, it appears as though this won't be a studio that makes new works, but instead, manages its copyrights."

So, Studio Ghibli won't be creating new animated works, but rather, making money off the anime its created so far.

The insider added animated films required tremendous amounts of money, so there is pressure for the films to be successful so Ghibli can cover its costly production expenses as well as, I'd imagine, remain healthy and profitable. By the insider's count, each film apparently needs to make at least ten billion yen (£58 million) to cover all its production costs as well as, I'd imagine, turn a healthy profit. Even with a relatively small staff, the insider puts Ghibli's annual labor expenses at supposedly two billion yen (£11.6 million). Note: These numbers are unconfirmed.

Last autumn, the Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's largest papers, reported that while other animation studios have shipped jobs overseas to save money, Studio Ghibli had hired more permanent full-time employees in Japan, making the films incredibly expensive to make. Asahi reports that even though The Wind Rises had made 9.23 billion yen (£53.4 million), the film had apparently yet to turn a profit. The Tale of Princess Kaguya, apparently, cost even more to create.

"The Tale of Princess Kaguya from director Isao Takahata made 5.1 billion yen (£29 million), and for the studio, it was a flop," the source told News Cafe. "There's no choice but to dissolve the studio, because it's unable cross the high hurdle of announcing a new film on an annual basis."

A bright point is that Goro Miyazaki, Hayao Miyazaki's son, is directing Ghibli's first animated TV series, Ronia the Robber's Daughter. The computer animated series is a co-production, however, with Polygon Pictures and will debut this autumn. The dark cloud is that back in 2010, Hayao Miyazaki did mention breaking up the studio.

"Suzuki-san is making a dissolution program for Ghibli," Miyazaki told Cut Magazine (via Bleeding Cool and Nausicaa.net). "No joke, we talked about it the other day. For example, Ghibli should be able to continue with about five staff members as a copyright management company even if we smash the studio. So, Ghibli can say 'We stop film production. Goodbye'. I do not have to be there."

Chinese Beijing hour:

Studio Ghibli to stop animation production

Studio Ghibli is reportedly going to stop animation production due to financial pressure.

The studio will mainly focus on copyright management work in the future.

The studio has produced a variety of feature films, short films, television commercials and a television film.

Eight of Studio Ghibli's films are among the highest-grossing animation films made in Japan, with Spirited Away being the highest, grossing over 270 million US dollars worldwide.

Hayao Miyazaki, the co-founder of the studio and one of the most respected directors in animation is set to retire.

The president of Studio Ghibli once said that Miyazaki's project, The Wind Rises, would be his last film.

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Post last edited by saviour2012 on 07.26.2014, 03:42 AM.

07.26.2014, 03:41 AM

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Interesting. I remember recently seeing a remark from Miyazaki about Ghibli not being around for ever. And maybe these rumours are true, but let's just wait and see. The TV production might prove to be a hit, and besides, even though the last year hasn't been a huge success, I doubt that would be enough to make them shut down so fast. Especially when the source suggests that Kaguya-hime alone is the reason for closing, that seems odd to me, as one movie isn't going to end it all without them continuing to try for at least a little longer.

And saviour, couldn't you have put a question mark or something in the title? This is an unconfirmed rumour.

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07.26.2014, 04:08 AM

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quote:
Originally posted by arren18
Interesting. I remember recently seeing a remark from Miyazaki about Ghibli not being around for ever. And maybe these rumours are true, but let's just wait and see. The TV production might prove to be a hit, and besides, even though the last year hasn't been a huge success, I doubt that would be enough to make them shut down so fast. Especially when the source suggests that Kaguya-hime alone is the reason for closing, that seems odd to me, as one movie isn't going to end it all without them continuing to try for at least a little longer.

And saviour, couldn't you have put a question mark or something in the title? This is an unconfirmed rumour.

forgot and cant edit title

07.26.2014, 04:59 AM

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I'm not suprised.

The last few films from ghibli hardly lived up to its predecessors; in fact I personally think that Arrietty was the last of Ghibli's best after SA. TCR and Earthsea weren't exactly on par with any of their other movies except Pom Poko, and I never did consider HMC or Ponyo as great films either. Or maybe the back-to-back epic movie releases by Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away) set the bar too high for even the original creators to overcome.

I think they should really have stuck to doing a movie every other year, or one a year. The Totoro/GotF double release was an exception since both were spectacular movies, but releasing Kaguya-Hime on the same year as Kaze Tachinu was a bad company decision, I feel.

That, or they should go back to making originals instead of adaptations. Ghibli always did best from its own creations.

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quote:
Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

07.26.2014, 05:19 AM

Saddletank
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quote:
couldn't you have put a question mark or something in the title? This is an unconfirmed rumour.

Roar, might you be able to edit that?

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07.26.2014, 05:52 AM

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If Kaze Tachinu and Kaguya-hime had been released as a double bill as intended, that might have helped. As it was, they released one moderate success and one that was a bit of a commercial flop, whereas a double-bill would have fared a bit better on average, I think.

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07.26.2014, 06:27 AM

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I think the taste of people has changed. Today people do not want to watch sad things. And ghibli does not have a clearcut fans. I think i have said many times that people dont talk about ghibli. Which many of you think is not a big deal but the fact is it is a very big deal. It is this talk(gossip in a sense) that makes money for the movie in the end. I think ghibli's old school marketing policy is not going to work anymore. Such as i am quite sure they dont not even know that there is a english forum(which is us) existent or a whole wikipedia site(nausicaa.net) made entirely for the studio(which even many live action studios dont have) . In spite of having these kind of fan not able to make both ends is in my opinion a fault of the company. specially that japan oriented release. If 100 million is what they want, then they must think international now.

I think i practically joined this site to say these things. You can see my earlier posts they were actually adressing these issues. Funny that i wrote those things two years ago. However even if ghibli continues which i hope it does. i think it should start taking fans into account. All the studio do this whether it is movie or games or bla bla bla. In case ghibli only the fans are enough to produce 50millions plus if you consider ghibli museum's ticket sells and the number of foreign visitors.

What i am more concerned about is what will happen if it closes. I think the appeal of ghibli to ensure greener world will be forgotten. The films will be remembered individually but the directors will be forgotten and so will be their messages.

nb: might have many spelling errors .

07.27.2014, 04:26 PM

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And it's true! I don't have a direct source to the announcement, only English reports regarding it, but yep: http://oh-totoro.com/post/93700803450/st...e-toshio-suzuki

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08.03.2014, 09:36 PM

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Well this link makes it a bit more official.

http://www.hypable.com/2014/08/03/studio...ounces-closure/

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quote:
Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

08.04.2014, 01:06 AM

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I wont panic. I will post i after arrive at uni.

08.04.2014, 01:43 AM

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I was about to post another link which shows that it is not closure but a break. However, I see that the post Roar linked has been updated to show this. What I posted first was the first source available and of course it only included a limited interpretation of the interview.

So to wrap up, they aren't necessarily closing for ever, but they're going to take a break of some sort. Maybe with that TV anime being made, they're waiting to see how that goes to see if TV might be a more lucrative direction to take. But that part is just my thoughts.

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08.04.2014, 02:10 AM

Saddletank
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What a sad day. Time for me to buy the last few DVDs I haven't got yet.

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08.04.2014, 06:38 AM

foreignfilmfreak
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Yeah, it seems most places are reporting now that it's a break, not closure for good.

08.04.2014, 09:21 AM

Saddletank
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Perhaps us fans will be lucky and the animators they lay off might set up a new company of their own? Maybe with Goro directing?

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08.04.2014, 09:40 AM

Seiji Amasawa
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I'm afraid that a break may lead to a closure I hope I'm wrong, but its a path they could take.

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08.04.2014, 11:31 PM

foreignfilmfreak
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If they close, does that mean the museum does too?

08.05.2014, 12:01 AM

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quote:
Originally posted by foreignfilmfreak
If they close, does that mean the museum does too?

Highly doubt that. The museum is rather profitable, if daily attendance is of any indication.

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quote:
Originally posted by fenkashi
Screw your opinions, they are not relevant ^^.

08.05.2014, 01:36 AM

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Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 10669

If they do close, it'll be the animation side of things that stops. Administrative things will continue, so I don't see why they'd shut the museum in that case.

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08.05.2014, 07:19 AM

Theowne
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I was at a Q&A with Takahata at the TIFF festival yesterday, and someone asked him for clarification on the matter. It was interesting to note that although he had just created a film for Ghibli, he didn't personally feel like he was still involved enough with the company to know anything about its future or its operations. His comment was simply that he hoped that one would exist.

The question of Ghibli existing or not existing has not really troubled me through the past months when it was a hot topic. Ghibli is simply a brand, and the reason I was a fan of the brand was because of the people associated with it (Miyazaki, Takahata, Kondo, Hisaishi, etc). I was a fan of their approach to animation and the type of stories they wanted to put out. If Ghibli was forever remembered as the company that made a collection of classics and then closed when the founders retired, that would not be such a bad thing to me. It would be great, of course, if their legacy of filmmaking could be passed on, but I haven't felt satisfied with the newer directors to feel that this is happening.

Post last edited by Theowne on 09.06.2014, 10:12 PM.

09.06.2014, 10:10 PM