Producers’ Forum: Co-Producing with Japan

On the Tuesday afternoon of MIPTV, the Producers’ Forum—organized in association with World Screen—will feature three regional co-production sessions, focusing on Malaysia, Japan and China. In Japan, pubcaster NHK is major co-production partner for producers worldwide, with 700 titles internationally co-produced in the last 21 years. NHK recently reorganized its international business—combining its NHK Enterprises (NEP) production arm with its sales division MICO—in part to boost its co-production efforts.

"NEP is a leading program-production and content-business company," says Sayumi Horie, the senior producer for international co-productions at NHK. "Unlike a public broadcaster, it will be able to pursue innovative, large-scale international co-pro projects aimed not just at TV broadcasts but also at cinema releases and at digital deployment to websites and mobile devices. Integrating MICO’s successful know-how of international sales and acquisition, and extensive relationships with the overseas trade, the new NEP will enable NHK, as a group, to strategically develop its co-productions," from planning to production to sales to other channels.

Horie says that international co-pros in the factual arena are very important for the pubcaster’s schedule. "NHK is always looking for new-style documentaries, especially for the HD channel, and event programs with new discoveries on a global scale. Our mission is to obtain high-quality content that is applicable to multiple platforms, so that it can survive in this fast-changing media industry. Also, as a broadcaster/producer, we need to continue [meeting] our viewers’ expectations in offering grand-scale doc series, and in order to do that with the current budgetary environment, co-production is essential."

To ensure a successful co-production that all partners are happy with, Horie says that all participants need to explain their needs at the outset. "Each party can modify the program structure depending on its time slot, audience or culture, and we are also quite flexible in terms of business," Horie says. "Our business model varies as much as the number of our projects. We definitely need to understand the difference in the styles of editing and the schedule at each end, and it is always the biggest challenge for both sides to find out the feasible schedule and versioning method to succeed."

For Horie, NHK brings much to the table for potential international partners. "We offer novel footage captured with our state-of-the-art specialized high-definition filming gear, the product of long-term technical development projects, and cutting-edge CGI."

Horie adds, "NHK has a long track record in science and nature programming on major topics such as the Earth, space, the human body, and anthropology, and on human civilization."

As an example, she points to the ambitious Kaguya L.C. Project. "NHK developed an HD camera, and with the help of JAXA [Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency], installed it on Japan’s lunar explorer Kaguya, which continued to send us amazing images and data for 18 months. In co-production with Discovery Canada, National Geographic U.S. and FTD, we showed the first-ever HD images of the Earth rising from the moon as well as images of the moon surface facing opposite of the Earth. Now, we are hoping to do another project installing an ultra-sensitivity HD camera, which will then perhaps allow us to see even more new images, such as our planet Earth seen at night."

Asked about what advice she can give international producers seeking to partner with NHK, Horie stresses that the pubcaster is very selective. "International co-production is one of NHK’s options for getting programs made, but it’s not necessarily the first choice. Any one of NHK’s executive producers can commit to international co-production, but NHK doesn’t have a particular slot dedicated to it. The documentary slots are quite competitive considering that they will be competing with NHK’s big in-house production and other outside production companies in Japan."

As such, Horie looks for three things in particular in a potential co-production: areas that NHK’s own production team cannot access or film, programs that showcase new discoveries or deliver compelling information on a subject, and shows that "have details that facilitate understanding of a bigger picture."

As part of its efforts to find projects to fit those criteria, NHK recently renewed its pact with Singapore’s MediaCorp on The Asian Pitch, which Horie describes as a "collaborative initiative that aims to create new HD documentaries that will make a significant impact in Asia and the world, and to find new talent in Asia." The fourth pitching event for Asian filmmakers will be held in July.

Science documentaries are a key area for NHK, Horie adds. "Since science is of universal interest, blue-chip science documentaries often attract international co-production partners and/or market well overseas."

The "Japan Boosts Co-production Business" session takes place on Tuesday, April 13, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. in Auditorium K, Level 4, in the Palais.