Nippon TV, Envision Partner on Scripted Projects

Nippon TV has entered into a deal with London-based Envision Entertainment to co-develop scripted projects for the global market.

The co-pro pact kicks off with a crime drama inspired by Nippon TV’s scripted format Double Booking, following as a group of characters connect with each other online and use their skills to solve mysteries. A Japanese version of the series is planned, with the storyline leading directly into an international English-language series.

Nippon TV and Envision will worth together to develop projects based on Japanese IP with international appeal, and conversations are already underway with leading manga publishers.

Michael Nakan, founder of Envision Entertainment, commented, “Japan has long been a country which the West has admired from afar, capable of creating world-quality content and developing top notch IP in their local market. We’re thrilled to partner with one of Japan’s most storied media organizations, Nippon TV, and to work directly with Japanese creative talent to create innovative projects which are organic collaborations between Eastern and Western creatives. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with Nippon TV to internationalize Japanese content and creatives.”

Itaru Mizuno, creative director of Double Booking in the production division of Nippon TV, added, “I have already witnessed great chemistry that happened by the encounter of the Japanese and U.K. creative teams. It is so exciting to see an Asian narrative being elevated into something universal through this partnership. We are confident of creating a totally unprecedented series full of elements from our modern world where we interact both online and off.”

Sayako Aoki, business producer for international business development at Nippon TV, noted, “The greatest asset we have is our in-house creators with their unique ideas and spirit of challenge which will be essential to this great opportunity. What we are planning to do is to combine a great story with an innovative format to deliver to the global market and I cannot wait to see how our story expands beyond borders.”